NISSWA — Even in the rain and fog, the Brainerd Warrior girls performed to their standard Friday, Dec. 27, at Mount Ski Gull.Despite being without Piper Grillo, the Warrior girls placed first with 149 points. Cecelya Rasinski led the way with a third-place time of 52.07. She ran a 25.01 first run, which was seventh best. She improved her position on her second run with the third-best time of 27.06. ADVERTISEMENT “We were sweating the weather out because we thought it was going to rain all day and it sprinkled a little bit while we were setting up the courses early this morning, but the race actually went off really well,” Warriors’ head coach Jim Ruttger said. “Snow conditions were excellent. We salted the course before inspection and so that hardened it up. Cece finishing on the podium was a bit of a surprise. We’ve seen her skills improve so much since the end of last season.” Teagan Burton finished fourth with a 52.22. She raced down in 24.89 for her first run and 27.33 on her second run.Katja Yliniemi placed 11th in 56.47 while Svea Streeter finished 13th in 56.78. Sophia Blanck, who was Brainerd’s top skier on Dec. 20, did not complete two clean runs.“We didn’t have Piper and Sophia had some issues today, so we’re trying to figure out what girls are going to really step to the plate and fill some stops and some girls really did that today,” Ruttger said. “Teagan, Katja, Svea and Cece really showed our depth and made a difference today.”Brainerd boys earned third place behind Lakes Area (an Alexandria and Fergus Falls co-op) and champion Hopkins. Brainerd’s Drew Cline was the top Warrior finisher with a fourth-place time of 44.59. Cline finished his first run in third place in 22.86. He eased up on his second run and placed eighth with a 21.73. Brainerd's Drew Cline competes Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, at Mount Ski Gull.Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch Reef Sampson recorded sixth in 45.16. He was in sixth after his first run and was able to hold his position after the second run.“Hopkins really dominated today,” Ruttger said. “Drew had a quick run to start and I don’t know if he held back a little bit on the second run, but for him to be in a podium position after the first run is right where he’s expected. Same goes for Reef. He’s really proficient and it’s going to be fun to see how he progresses throughout the year.” ADVERTISEMENT Beau Thuringer tallied 14th place in 49.76 and Hudson Brekken was 16th in 50.11. Jagger Klecatsky was Brainerd’s fifth-best skier in 24th. He ran the sixth fastest time in his second run at 21.65, which vaulted him up the leaderboard. Brainerd's Jagger Klecatsky competes Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, at Mount Ski Gull.Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch “Jagger just got his wisdom teeth out, so he wasn’t 100% today,” Ruttger said. “He hadn’t skied in a few days, so when the boys are firing on all cylinders I think they will be a really good team.”The boys were without Drew and Jacob Halbur for Friday’s meet as well.Brainerd is back in action Monday, Jan. 6, in Detroit Lakes.“Today was the first time we really had a chance to get everybody out there and see how they’re going to stack up against others,” Ruttger said. “It was a good benchmark to set and set the tone for the rest of the meets.” Brainerd's Teagan Burton competes Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, at Mount Ski Gull.Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch Boys team scores: 1-Hopkins, 2-Lakes Area 155, 3-Brainerd 152, 4-St. Cloud 127, 5-Detroit Lakes 109, 6-Annandale 52 Individual winner: Haaken Dohse (Hopkins) 42.25 Brainerd results: 4-Drew Cline 44.59, 6-Reef Sampson 45.16, 14-Beau Thuringer 49.76, 16-Hudson Brekken 50.11, 24-Jagger Klecatsky 56.14, 26-Jace Anderson 58.24, DNF-Max Spartz, DNF-Ari Sibbert ADVERTISEMENT Girls team scores: 1-Brainerd 149, 2-Hopkins 144, 3-Annandale 121, 4-Detroit Lakes 113, 5-Lake Area 110, 6-St. Cloud 86 Individual winner: Mary Foster (Hopkins) 50.59 Brainerd results: 3-Cecelya Rasinski 52.07, 4-Teagan Burton 52.22, 11-Katja Yliniemi 56.47, 13-Svea Streeter 56.78, 17-Kelsey Pape 59.18, 21-Grace Rangen 1:05.87, DNF-Sophia Blanck, DNF-Kamryn Kraemer Next: Brainerd at Detroit Lakes 4 p.m. Monday, Jan. 6.