Lewandowski Sweep Paces TC West Boys' 3rd-Straight Championship Run
By
James Cook
Special for MHSAA.com
February 27, 2023
BELLAIRE – Dubs turned into trips, which could become quads.
Traverse City West won its third straight Division 1 boys skiing championship Monday at Schuss Mountain in Bellaire.
Titans junior Caleb Lewandowski won both the slalom and giant slalom, his third individual Finals crowns and his family's fourth (his older brother Aiden won the 2021 GS title), and next year three younger brothers who are part of quadruplets will join the West program as freshmen as well.
The Titans girls edged Central as well at their Division 1 Finals on Monday, making West just the sixth school to win boys and girls skiing state titles in the same year, joining TC Central, Petoskey, Cadillac, Harbor Springs and Marquette. Only Central, West and Marquette did that at the Division 1 (or Class A, previously) level.
After the Titans (52) and Traverse City Central (57) boys, Marquette placed third with 106 points, followed by Brighton (167), Clarkston (177), Fenton-Linden-Lake Fenton (194), Birmingham (238), Rochester Adams (256) and Milford (277).
TC West and Central combined for 24 of the 40 first-team all-state spots, including eight of 10 in boys slalom.
"It's exciting just for Traverse City in general to see first and second place from both sides," said West head coach Ed Johnson, who now has six Finals championships, three each for boys and girls. "Obviously, we love to win, but it's really cool to see how many trophies we took home to Traverse City today. It speaks highly of the programs that are going on there right now and the junior programs and the up-and-comers."
Four trophies were handed out Monday — two champions and two runners-up. All went back to Traverse City.
There wasn't much question about it, either. The third-place team resided at least 30 points back on both sides.
"Coming into it, I knew it was a real possibility that we could do it, but everything had to come together at the right time," Johnson said. "We've been working on getting the kids to peak at the right time in the season, and it's worked out pretty well."
"For a second year in a row we have shown the state how strong our skiing is here in Traverse City," said Central head coach Amy Kudary, who led the Trojans to back-to-back girls titles in 2021 and 2022. "That’s something we can all be proud of.”
Luke Wiersema's first slalom run wasn't great. The TC West junior hiked after missing a gate and still managed to sit in 22nd place. Then his second run was the third-fastest to move him all the way up to ninth place and a first-team all-state finish.
That move essentially boosted West's score by 13. The Titans won the boys championship by five.
"I just kind of leaned in (too much) and then just had to hike a little bit, but then made it down," Wiersema said. "(The second) was an awesome, surreal run."
Wiersema said the second run was his best of the season.
"Everyone's happy, so it's good," Wiersema said. "We've definitely put in a lot of hard work. Skiing in the rain and when it's 50 degrees, it's been a lot of hard work."
West's boys scored 18 in slalom. For reference, a perfect score in which all four top spots go to the same team would be 10.
Lewandowski also had won the slalom last season as a sophomore.
"It feels amazing," Lewandowski said. "Just to help my team out, helped my boys."
Lewandowski posted three of the day's four fastest times, with Wiersema getting the other one in his second GS run.
"I don't really want to sound cocky, but all of us were wanting to win it really bad," Lewandowski said. "We thought we could. We had a few mess-ups that gave us some pushback, but we fought hard and we came away with it."
The top 10 in giant slalom – who all earn first-team all-state honors – were Lewandowski, Wiersema, Marquette's Sam Dehlin, TC Central's Jace Rowell, Lake Orion's Broden Janczarek, Brighton's Cru Smith, TC Central's Asher Paul, TC West's Isaac Shapiro, TC Central's Didier Ramoie and Flushing's Anthony Trovato.
The top 10 in GS were Lewandowski, Dehlin, Paul, TC West's Ben Schramski, Shapiro, Rowell, Ramoie, Trovato, Wiersema and TC Central's Luke Farella.
PHOTOS (Top) Traverse City West's Caleb Lewandowski approaches a gate during one of his runs Monday. (Middle) The Titans celebrate their championship at Schuss Mountain. (Click for more from Sports in Motion - Division 1.)
Petoskey Runs Title Reign to 6 Seasons
March 19, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A few more things are in play when a team wins six straight MHSAA championships, as opposed to the still-incredible two or three in a row.
For starters, a six-time reigning champion like the Petoskey boys ski team has maintained that streak with help from up to nine classes at a school, counting the seniors on the first winner and the freshmen on the latest.
A six-time champion must stay on top and stay ahead through the rises and falls of the rest of its opponents – in this case, half the schools in Michigan with high school boys ski programs.
And the Northmen also have continued this streak through the changing of a coach midway through – although that really didn’t include much of an adjustment at all.
Petoskey finished with 44 points at this season’s Division 2 Final, a point shy of half runner-up Elk Rapids/St. Francis’ total at Schuss Mountain. The Northmen – the Applebee’s Team of the Month for February – is now tied for the third-longest active championship streak across all MHSAA sports, and they are approaching the boys ski record of eight straight championships set by the former Traverse City High School from 1988-95.
“I think we really train the right way. And the kids really buy into it, are really accountable,” said coach Erik Lundteigen, who took over the program three seasons ago but has coached high school skiing since 1982. “The neat thing about ski racing, is as a coach, you can’t call timeout. All that work, tactics, technique, all of it has to be done way ahead of time. And the reason we’re successful is we train the right way.
“My son (Garret) said it best; he’s a senior, and he said it’s just getting to the bottom of the hill as best as you can.”
The Northmen took four of the top 10 places in the slalom at the Final, led by champion Garret Lundteigen and runner-up Mitch Makala. Makala won the giant slalom and Lundteigen was third as the team earned three of the top nine places in that race.
Petoskey admittedly has a great setup for success, located in the heart of ski country and with a strong relationship with Nub’s Nob in nearby Harbor Springs that allows for flexible training opportunities.
But the Northmen also thrive, continuing to meet a championship expectation year after year.
As supportive as teammates are during meets, practices are incredibly competitive, Erik Lundteigen said. Any of 10 skiers could make the six who compete at a given event. Tristan Akins finished ninth in the slalom at the Final – in only his second varsity race of this season. Lundteigen never sets an order of his skiers, allowing for competition for the top spots to remain all season long.
His athletes also are well-rounded, which pays off on the slopes. The team’s combined grade-point average of 3.48 ranked 11th in Division 2 this season, and Lundteigen is especially pleased with how most participate in a number of other activities as well, whether it be school extracurriculars like band, community activities or in many cases multiple sports.
“That’s huge as a coach. A kid comes in with discipline, time management, all the things that as a ski racer you have to have,” Lundteigen said of his multi-sport athletes. “The more practice you get whether it be playing soccer, football, baseball, I think it’s really good when athletes do other things."
Past Teams of the Month, 2015-16:
January: Spring Lake boys swimming & diving – Report
December: Saginaw Heritage girls basketball – Report
November: Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard volleyball – Report
October: Benton Harbor football – Report
September: Mason and Okemos boys soccer – Report
PHOTOS: (Top) Petoskey poses with its championship trophy Feb. 29 at Schuss Mountain. (Middle) David Paquette races during the Division 2 Finals. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)