Above it all

Nordic ski teen a standout in lonesome sport

By Rich Landers | The Spokesman-Review • Published January 27, 2009

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No stranger to cold and darkness, Annie Pokorny has a headlamp ready as she powers through another winter sunset. The after-school workout is paced by bursts of steam from her lungs when she streaks past her father and pierces the dusky hush of Mount Spokane with a rhythmic swish-swish of her skating skis across the groomed snow.

"I just get those little glimpses," Al Pokorny said while skiing in a more relaxed pace. "I can't keep up with her."

Almost everyone had abandoned the state park's cross-country ski trails for the day, but the 16-year-old nordic standout had at least one faithful training companion.

"My heart-rate monitor," she said later. "It's easy to slack off when you're up here doing intervals alone. The monitor keeps me in the zone when I'm not with my team."

Hinting at the drive that pushes her limits in a taxing workout nobody else can see, she added, "A lot of other girls in America are doing intervals and I want to be better than they are."

After applying herself to ski racing for only a year, Pokorny came out of nowhere to win the women's title in the 2008 Langlauf 10-kilometer cross-country ski race on Mount Spokane last February. She hasn't looked back.

"My friends know that it's winter racing season, so Annie's in a different world and hard to get hold of," she said, assessing her social life. The payoff for the Lewis and Clark High School sophomore is succeeding in her initial goal to be ranked among the top female cross-country skiers in the Pacific Northwest.

"She's a soccer player," said Matt Halloran, assistant coach for the Spokane Junior Nordic Team, noting that Pokorny loves playing for the Spokane Shadow Youth Soccer Club and made LC's varsity as a freshman.

"She's only been getting serious about ski racing for two years, and she's making strides. She has a natural motor, and since she recovers faster than most skiers, she can train harder. She's absolutely coachable."

Three weekends ago, Pokorny was in a league of her own among girls from the region's 13 nordic ski clubs competing in the Junior Olympic qualifying race at Mount Spokane.

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