St. Paul Academy coach Nathan Goldman had a chat with star skier Caden Burns at the start of every Alpine high school season, with the conversation centering on how often Burns could be around during the campaign.

Burns’ skiing takes him around the country in the winter, and the travels can often conflict with high school competitions. It’s why Burns hadn’t competed in a state meet since he was a seventh grader.

But things worked out this winter for Burns, now a senior. The postseason was finally a possibility. He would indeed get a chance to compete for a state title.

And he capitalized.

Burns threw down two monster runs at Giants Ridge on Tuesday in Biwabik, finishing with the top time by more than seven-tenths of a second on each of the two hills en route to a two-run time of 1 minute, 12.97 seconds — more than a second and a half faster than the next closest competitor.

That was no surprise to Goldman, who watched Burns win every conference meet this season, as well as sections. This is what the senior does.

“Caden really has a strong ability to study the course and know where he’s going to take up time,” Goldman said.

“He knows the sections that are going to be good for him, and the sections that he’s going to need to watch out for. And he was really able to just capitalize on that today and get the best out of both runs. … I’m not surprised by his win.”

But delighted, yes.

Eden Prairie’s Tate Wilker finished in second, while St. Thomas Academy sophomore Toren Piltingsrud came in fourth.

Burns has always featured a masterful blend of tactics and technique. Goldman called him “a real student of the sport.”

“He’s really strong technique-wise and is able to apply that on a course. That’s the hard thing to do, right?” Goldman said. “There’s a lot of skiers here that have really strong technique, but can’t necessarily adapt it to every variance and every different course and every different set. But Caden has a really strong ability to take that inspection run and turn it into a really good race result.”

He passes on his knowledge to his Spartans teammates. He’d bring them with him on those meticulous inspections and share his insights. Goldman called Burns “a great teammate.” He was active with the team all the way back to the group’s dryland work.

And, in the end, he provided an example of what it takes to be a champion.

“I was really excited to hear that he was going to be able to be here for the whole year this year, and excited to see him qualify last week and sections and have a great night tonight,” Goldman said. “Really a fun way for him to kind of end that senior year. That’s a great way to go out.”

Minnetonka team wins

Minnetonka won the team title with 176 points. Cook County was second with 149, and Hill-Murray was third with 134.