Cold temperatures plus a four-minute opening climb — all on an aerobically demanding course with a working downhill finish (and as one coach put it, “zero-recovery”) — are apparently the perfect ingredients in Ella Bullock’s dream Nordic ski soufflé.

“The harder Ella has to work, the happier she is,” said Lake County assistant coach Christine Horning.

Bullock was one of the few skiers in Thursday’s 52-athlete Colorado High School Ski League state Nordic ski meet field who is capable of maintaining a powerful V2 technique all the way to the crest of the 5-kilometer course’s opening ascent. The Panther junior was the class of the field in the first day of action at the Frisco Nordic Center, winning the girls individual start skate title by 32 seconds in a time of 17 minutes, 53.8 seconds.

“It feels pretty good,” Bullock said of her first individual state championship. A member of Lake County’s back-to-back cross-country team championships, she was second in both the skate and classic races in 2022, but made a noticeable jump in the off-season.

“She’s just an all-around stronger athlete and she’s trained well and it’s paying off,” said Horning. 

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“I feel like I have gotten better with training and racing smart,” Bullock added. “My technique has gotten better.”

Battle Mountain’s Lindsey Whitton rushed from the giant slalom state race at Copper Mountain, changed into her Nordic uniform, and proceeded to place second overall in 18:25.1. Summit’s Ella Hagen rounded out the podium in 18:29.2.

“I’m very surprised, honestly. I felt like I was skiing fast, but not second-place fast. It was a pleasant surprise for sure,” Whitton said. “I didn’t really have a strategy coming in because I came from the Alpine race at Copper, so I didn’t really get to inspect the course.”

The constant climbing over the first two-thirds of the one-lap course, however, played into the runner’s spirit and strengths. “It was catch one girl at a time, one hill at a time,” she said. Whitton led the three Husky scorers into the top six with Addison Beuche placing fifth and Kira Hower following.

“It was fun, I’m glad the team did well,” Beuche said. “I didn’t have the best day – I was hoping to place higher — but it was fun.”

The Huskies scored 170 points in the Nordic team standings, first-place on the day. The defending girls champions’ combined Alpine and Nordic score — which is used to determine the CHSAA state ski team winner — is 310, one back from day one-leader Aspen.

“We did really well today,” Bueche said. “Let’s do it again tomorrow. I’m excited for the warmth. The wax will be difficult, but it will be fun.”

Ava Bergsten (21:28.4) led Eagle Valley with a 24th-place finish, with her sister Emma (22:34.2, 34th) and Justine St. John (23:14.1, 41st) guiding the Devils to eighth.

Summit’s James Sowers took the boys individual title with a strong time of 15:02.6, leading the Tigers to a first-place team score (161) on their home course. His win comes one week after hopping in the 20-kilometer Gold Rush citizens race, where he placed ninth. Steamboat Spring’s Griffin Rillos (15:21.0) and Lake County’s Jace Peters (15:31.0) rounded out the podium.

Vail Mountain School’s scoring trio of Will Brunner (15:47.9, fifth), Mason Cruz-Abrams (16:19.0, eighth) and Cyrus Creasy (17:02, 17th) guided the Gore Rangers to a second-place team position after the first day. Battle Mountain (149) sat in third, led by Finn Sullivan (16:21.2, ninth), Miles McKenzie (16:40.7, 10th) and Kyle Ross (16:58.1, 16th), but was the day one-leader in the overall standings, leading Summit by just four points.

The young squad from Eagle Valley, which placed seventh as a team, was led by Ethan Barber’s (16:42.6) 13th-place finish and saw Kai Skellion (17:42) and Tyler Blair (17:51.2) place 29th and 31st, respectively.

Day two continues with a slalom at Copper Mountain for Alpine skiers and a 5-kilometer mass start classic race at Frisco Nordic Center. Full team scores, top-30 individual finishers and image galleries from the Nordic races can be found on VailDaily.com.