In late February, two Shorewood High School students from the combined Nicolet-Shorewood ski team  qualified for the state ski meet. The event took place in La Crosse, Wisconsin, from February 17–19. 

According to Maia Pawar, freshman on the girls varsity team, the environment of the state meet was significantly more competitive than other meets throughout the ski season. 

“High school races are [a lot] less intense than that,” said Pawar. “It was definitely stressful; [I] got very nervous, especially it being my first time.” 

More than two hundred skiers across the state competed in the meet. 

“It pulls around from most of the state, but a majority of the people are from the south [and] southeast corner [of] the Milwaukee area,” said Ryan Optekar, sophomore on the boys varsity team.

Aside from Pawar, six girls on the varsity team, not from Shorewood, qualified for state, with Optekar qualifying individually from the boys varsity team.

“[The team] is combined with Nicolet, and most of the girls who qualified [for State] were on Nicolet,” Optekar said.

Due to the length of the meet, the team stayed in the area overnight. 

“We stayed at a hotel Saturday [and] Sunday night as a team,” Pawar said. “We were assigned roommates, partners… It was fun getting to know people from other schools.”

According to Pawar, the team performed better than anticipated. 

“We were expecting to get [around] last, [which] we didn’t,” Pawar said. “[We placed] 19th out of 22.”

Optekar underwent a total of three runs.

“Two of the runs, I did fairly well– I was in the top 50 of 160 plus [students],” Optekar said. “And then on my third run I [fell].” 

Optekar reflected on the challenges he encountered on the hills.

“The course had a lot of difficulties, especially the second one, as one kid front-flipped into the netting at one point,” Optekar said. “I wish I just attacked the course more. I was really there with no expectations and just having fun.”

Optekar also noted an improvement in his skills and a deeper enjoyment of the competition compared to last year.

“[State] felt like a very positive experience, especially considering my performance last year; I don’t think I was skiing as well,” Optekar said. “This year was definitely an uptick in performance and just having fun.”

For Pawar, the State experience was similarly positive.

“State was definitely my favorite memory, [and] everything just allowed the race to be very fun,” Pawar said.