Skiing: Vail Mountain’s Elton Repeats as State Champion in Nordic Skate
Photo: Wallace Photography
Elton finished the 5-kilometer course in 17 minutes, 30.08 seconds, just over 25 seconds better than second-place finisher Kajsa Wik of Nederland and more than a minute better than all other competitors.
Elton is the first back-to-back state champion in skate since Elise Weiss of Aspen in 2020 and 2021. She won last year’s classic race as well – the 2026 classic championship is Saturday.
Summit skiers placed third (Lucy Greenwood, 18:30.56), fourth (Maeve Niemkiewicz, 18:32.20) and ninth (Marin Little, 20:02.12), while defending Nordic team champion Lake County had skiers take fifth (Finnley Stanek, 19:06.36), seventh (Chloe King, 19:43.63) and eighth (Hattie Mallozzi, 19:52.25). Last year, King was third and Stanek was fourth, and King was fifth in the event in 2024.
The rest of Friday’s top 10 included: Evie Fisher of Steamboat Springs (sixth, 19:03.36) and Bree Byrnes of Middle Park (20:18.46).
Following the first of two days of competition, Lake County holds a one-point lead over Summit, 212-211, in the team race. Middle Park sits third with 182 points, while Battle Mountain is fourth (178), Steamboat Springs fifth (176), and Vail Mountain sixth (147). Eagle Valley and Nederland are tied for seven with 146 points each, with Poudre sitting ninth at 138 points and Aspen 10th with 120 points.
Also of note, Eden DeMino of Battle Mountain – winner of Thursday’s Alpine slalom state championship – placed 11th in 20:22.91, and her older sister Ruthie, the 2025 Alpine giant slalom champion, was 16th in 20:51.65.
Team scoring leaders after the first event:
1 Lake County 212
2 Summit 211
3 Middle Park 182
4 Battle Mt. 178
5 Steamboat 176
6 Vail Mt. 147
7 Eagle Valley 146
7 Nederland 146
9 Poudre 138
10 Aspen 120
