Mora's Callie Smith, an eight grader, placed 13th out of 46 girls with a time of 40.01 at last week's section championships, earning her a berth into the state ski meet.

"Callie earned this honor by working hard and putting in a lot of training hours during the off-season," Jessica Olen, head coach of Mora's Nordic ski team, said. "Last summer, Callie set a goal of making it to state, and by staying focused her dream came true."

Coach Olen said Smith attended an intensive Nordic training program called "NordicWerks" over the summer and that for additional training she attended races that were not on the high school racing calendar.

Smith has been skiing since she was a small child.

"Callie is strong, confident and quiet person," coach Olen said.

Smith also likes to play volleyball in the fall and enjoys participating in track during the spring.

The state meet will take place on Thursday, Feb. 10, at Giants Ridge in Biwabik, MN.

Skiers must compete in a pursuit event, skating 5k in the morning and classical skiing 5k in the afternoon.

Check next week's paper for coverage for an update on Smith's performance.