Ellie Munger, seventh grader at West Junior High, is in a unique position as the youngest of 14 varsity skiers on the HHS nordic ski team.

“We’ve had seventh graders [on the team] before, but it’s not usual. Some of my skiers now started like Ellie,” said the head coach, Rob Fuhr, Technology Education.

Munger has been skiing for 11 years, starting her seventh grade season on the varsity nordic team. Munger grew up skiing, with her dad, John Munger, being a founder of the Loppet Foundation.

The Loppet Foundation provides the chance for people to get outdoors and create a passion for different outdoor activities and adventures in the metro area year round. Munger’s father is the Director.

“My dad is the Director of the Loppet. He is kind of in charge of everything. He runs around making sure everything is getting done,” said Munger.

Munger will sometimes go to the Loppet events and help her father in all different types of ways.

“I do a lot of the events, like the Loppet, the Tour, the Tri-Loppet, and the Trail Loppet mostly. I’ve also done volunteer stuff before like cleaning up the trails in the spring or fall. I’ve also done the adventure camps,” said Munger.

Loppet also has training for nordic skiing during the summer.

“I train with Loppet Nordic Racing, and it’s a summer program for 13-year-olds to 19-year-olds and you train for the season, but it’s really hard,” said Munger.

With parents who have been skiing for as long as Munger can remember and being a part of the Loppet Foundation, it makes sense that this is Munger’s 11th year in skiing.

“I’ve been skiing since I was two,” Munger said. “My parents skied a lot, but when I was younger I didn’t really like skiing. My parents forced me to, but now I love it. I pretty much started out by standing on my skis and falling, then getting back up and falling.”

This season, Munger has placed 12th, 19th, and 13th individually in the varsity races.

“(Being a varsity skier) is pretty fun. Everyone’s older than me, but really nice,” Munger said.

Katie Craemer, senior captain, doesn’t feel like Munger is the odd one out because of her age. Instead she feels that Munger fits in because of her ability to perform.

“She doesn’t really seem like a seventh grader because she is very good, and she is mature,” Craemer said.

Craemer sees a lot of potential for Munger going into the future.

“I think she is going to be very good, she just needs to get a little bit stronger, older, and bigger,” Craemer said.

In Nordic, like in most sports, there is a team goal. Though they may all sound similar, athletes and coaches work hard to reach those goals.

“Our team goal is to perform as well as we possibly can, and hopefully go to state,” Fuhr said.

Fuhr hopes that Munger doesn’t feel increased pressure and continues to focus on her love of skiing.

“Right now we are not pressuring her to do anything,” Fuhr said. “We just want her to be a seventh grader and enjoy being on the team, then eventually stay on the team and evolve into a state contender as an individual and as a team member.”