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Lourdes' Anna Peikert excels at national meet, is a cross-country skiing All-American

MIDWAY, Utah — Anna Peikert had something specific in mind.

The Lourdes senior was giving herself a decent chance of achieving it as she competed in the Junior National Cross Country Ski Championships.

The event was March 10-15 at breathtaking Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, the course surrounded by mountains.

Peikert’s aspiration was heady stuff. Her desire was to walk away from the competition an All-American, a distinction going to the top 10 finishers in any of the event’s races, the 18-year-old Peikert competing in the under-20 bracket.

Consider it done.

Peikert achieved All-America status and resoundingly so, the Lourdes senior finishing a mind-bending third overall in the 15K national skate race. There were three individual races overall in the nearly week-long competition, Peikert just missing All-America status in the first two. She was 12th in the initial race, the 7.5K classic race. Two days later she was 15th in the 1.3K skate sprint race.

Finally, this past Friday came the race she knew she’d be best at, the 15K skate.

This was precisely in Peikert’s wheelhouse, skate skiing the discipline she was most trained in as a six-year member of the Rochester Nordic Ski Team.

And those just-misses at All-America status in the first two races last week just further motivated her.

“I was looking forward to the skate distance race the most,” Peikert said. “And because I was close in those other events, I was confident I had a good chance in the skate race. So I felt good about a top-10 finish.”

Peikert’s confidence soared even more about one-third into the race. At that point, she was sitting in the top five, with three other skiers from her Midwest team either in front or just behind her. That group broke off from the rest of the pack and decidedly so. Peikert knew, barring something completely unforeseen, that she was going to reach her goal. She was going to be an All-American.

And she was going to do it alongside a handful of Midwest teammates who she’d grown close to over the years. She beamed with pride over their standing in this national test. Peikert and her teammates dominated.

“I realized I was going to finish in the top five pretty early on,” Peikert said. “I was really excited about that. But I also stayed focused on the race because I wanted to place as high as I could. But that was the best I’ve ever raced. I had a lot better preparation going into it than I’d ever had before and I felt stronger than usual through the entire race. Plus, my technique has improved.”

Peikert’s previous high finish in a Junior National race had been 23rd. That she’d now landed third in her final high school crack at it blew her away.

“Third place definitely surprised me,” Peikert said. “Before, I’d never done that great at Junior Nationals. So I was just hoping to finish somewhere in the top 10. But to be in the top three, that was great.”

It has Peikert thinking about next year, when she is no longer a part of her beloved Rochester Nordic Ski team and is racing in college. She’s not sure where she will end up yet, but it will be somewhere where cross country skiing is offered.

“What I accomplished, that has me really excited about what I can achieve in college,” Peikert said. “I am also really excited about the upcoming track season.”

Yes, Peikert has slid her skis into a safe place and has now replaced them with her running shoes. She’s got big aspirations in track as well. A state-qualifying individual finish in the 800 meters would be just the thing in her final season at Lourdes.

Peikert knows all about setting and accomplishing goals. Don’t doubt her.

Pat has been a Post Bulletin sports reporter since 1994. He covers Rochester John Marshall football, as well as a variety of other southeastern Minnesota football teams. Among my other southeastern Minnesota high school beats are girls basketball, boys and girls tennis, boys and girls track and field, high school and American Legion baseball, volleyball, University of Minnesota sports (on occasion) and the Timberwolves (on occasion). Readers can reach Pat at 507-285-7723 or pruff@postbulletin.com.

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