Marquette Boys Finish D1 Strive for 5
February 27, 2017
By James Cook
Special for Second Half
HARBOR SPRINGS – Bradley Seaborg doesn’t think this is the end of the road for Marquette’s boys skiing championships.
The Redmen graduate four seniors from a team that won Monday’s Division 1 title for the fifth straight year, more than doubling runner-up Traverse City Central.
“I don’t think this is the end at all,” Seaborg said. “We’ve still got Andrew Thomas, who is a very good junior. We’re losing four good guys, but we’re picking up a couple good freshmen next year.”
Seaborg is one of those seniors, but he went out by taking the individual slalom championship.
He and the rest of the team also went out a different way.
In shorts.
The entire Redmen team showed up to the awards ceremony – which was held outdoors at Nub’s Nob in Harbor Springs – in khaki shorts, much to the amusement of the crowd gathered.
Besides, the Redmen had their Upper Peninsula championships canceled because of unseasonably warm weather, so why not celebrate being able to win another crown in mild conditions?
“We were all like, ‘What should we wear for awards?’ and we were thinking khakis,” Seaborg said. “Then it was going to be pretty hot, so why not khaki shorts?”
First-year coach Dan Menze didn’t wear shorts, but wasn’t about to stop his boys from doing what they wanted after winning a school-record fifth straight title.
“You have to be professional throughout the day,” Menze said. “But at the end of the day, if you want to have a little fun and celebrate winning five championships in a row, I feel like they deserve to celebrate.”
The Redmen won four straight from 2000-03, a mark now eclipsed by this group’s streak of five.
“For us to break that and get our fifth is pretty sweet,” said Seaborg, who was involved in three of those titles.
Seaborg is a six-time first-team all-state selection, taking fifth in giant slalom in addition to his slalom championship.
He also won slalom last season and was top five in GS. He was top 10 in both as a freshman before taking off his sophomore season to focus on club skiing.
Menze said he inherited a great program, and added the pressure was on to continue its winning ways.
“I was blessed with an extremely talented team that I walked into coaching,” Menze said. “I’ve coached a lot of these guys coming up.”
Like Seaborg, Menze also isn’t willing to concede that the Redmen’s run could end next season.
“We had a lot of freshmen competing for spots on that A team,” Menze said. “We will have a slight rebuild. You can’t say you’re not going to after you had first and second on one side were seniors and three in the top 10 on the other side. It’ll be an interesting year next year. It’ll be a lot closer than it has been for years.”
Traverse City Central was second, 53 points behind Marquette (35). Rochester (110) was third, followed by Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern/Eastern (164) and Brighton (187).
“We expected to get second, and we got second,” said Central junior Joe Aulicino, who was seventh in slalom and ninth in GS. “It was kind of exactly what we thought would happen. It’s still pretty cool.”
Seaborg and teammates Eric Gencheff and Andrew Thomas gave the Redmen three of the top four slalom spots. Dylan Robinia was 11th, Adam Skendzel 20th and Truman Durand 21st.
Forest Hills Northern/Eastern’s Ben Meyers was the only non-Marquette skier in the top four of the event, taking third.
Meyers also won the giant slalom championship, holding off runner-up Gencheff on the second run.
PHOTOS: (Top) Marquette's Dylan Robinia comes around a gate during the Division 1 Finals at Nub's Nob. (Middle) Traverse City Central's Joe Aulicino helps the Trojans to a team runner-up finish. (Photos by James Cook.)
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.)