'Ordinary' GNA Achieves Extraordinary Feat
February 25, 2019
By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half
BOYNE FALLS – Coming into this year’s Division 2 Boys Ski Finals at Boyne Mountain, Great North Alpine senior Finn Husband had reasons to be both motivated and reassured based on last year’s results at the championship meet.
Finn felt confident he could win the slalom after doing the same last year, but he also was inspired because a bad turn cost him a chance to win last season’s giant slalom, as he instead finished third in that race.
“I remember that it was my own fault, and I could’ve been a better skier,” Finn said.
Finn certainly couldn’t have been a better skier this time around, as he won both the giant slalom and slalom races Monday.
Even better, Finn’s performance led to some noteworthy news from a team perspective.
For the first time in nine years, a team other than Petoskey won the Division 2 championship.
GNA, comprised of skiers from Elk Rapids, Traverse City St. Francis, Central Lake and Grand Traverse Academy, ended Petoskey’s reign as champion by collecting 48 points, comfortably ahead of Petoskey’s total of 83. Petoskey’s streak of eight straight titles was tied for the longest in MHSAA boys skiing history.
GNA also had defeated Petoskey at their Regional two weeks ago.
“I told them (Sunday night) that they didn’t have to be extraordinary, they just had to be ordinary,” said GNA co-coach Ben Ferris. “You just have to ordinary. Just be you. You already ski fast. That was kind of the message.”
Leading the way was Husband, who won the giant slalom with a time of 1:09.49 and the slalom in 1:02.88.
Conditions at Boyne certainly were a lot different than last year, when it was nearly 40 degrees and slushy.
Following a blizzard and windstorm Sunday night, the course was firm throughout.
“What we had when it rained and then froze up again made it a really nice base here,” Husband said. “Last year, it was starting to get slushy and made it (sink) the course. We had a good base where we can push off of that.”
Andrew Truman of Harbor Springs finished second in both events, finishing with a time of 1:10.50 in the giant slalom and 1:03.89 in the slalom.
Tripp Thomas of Petoskey was fourth in both events, earning a time of 1:11.43 in the giant slalom and 1:04.60 in the slalom, and Will Blackmer of Rochester Hills Stoney Creek had two fifth-place finishes, with a time of 1:11.64 in the giant slalom and 1:05.59 in the slalom.
The only deviation in the top-5 between the events was that Alex Netzley of Cadillac finished third in the giant slalom in a time of 1:10.63, while Colin Dehart of Rochester Adams took third in the slalom in 1:04.52.
Ultimately though, every other team bowed to GNA, which ended Petoskey’s quest to take over the championship streak record alone.
“They are awesome guys, and I love them all,” Husband said of Petoskey. “But I think we really deserved it. I think we came out and showed them what we had. It was a team effort to really take it.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Great North Alpine's Finn Husband skis the slalom course on the way to winning both event titles Monday. (Middle) Tripp Thomas, here in the slalom, led Petoskey to the runner-up team finish. (Photos by James Cook. For more from Monday's Finals, see Sports in Motion.)
Marquette Ski Teams Lead Chase Again
March 16, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
There are communities all over Michigan known for nurturing their athletes from the youngest levels through high school – football towns, basketball towns, volleyball towns, etc.
Marquette is a skiing town, with a decades-old infrastructure that would seem to guarantee no slowing down for the Marquette High boys team that has won six straight Division 1 championships and the girls team that last month clinched its third consecutive title.
Marquette’s boys and girls ski teams are the MHSAA/Applebee’s Teams of the Month for February after continuing those impressive streaks.
In Marquette, skiers who fill the high school teams came up on the local Marquette Mountain Race Team and Great Lakes Ski Academy. And every once in a while there’s an athlete with especially high aspirations who chooses to continue competing solely outside the high school.
But second-year coach Dan Menze – who has coached in both non-school programs and skied for the Redmen through graduation in 2009 – said over the last two seasons every student who ski races has raced with his high school teams.
“The amount of skiing that’s available to these kids to make them better athletes and come to high school as already accomplished skiers – this wouldn’t be possible if we didn’t have the programs that do bring those kids up,” Menze said.
“They teach skiing the right way. When they come to the high school, (athletes) already have a good foundation and good base. It’s just taking them to the next level for me, which I don’t usually have a ton of kids that I have to bring up to that level.”
The boys team won its title Feb. 26 at Boyne Mountain with 56 points, as Traverse City Central came in second for the fifth straight season this time with 80.5. The Redettes scored 48 points to finish ahead of Traverse City West’s 76.
Sophomore Ainsley Kirk and senior Sadah Scheidt took first and second in the girls slalom, and junior teammate Natalie Robinia was sixth. Kirk was then third in the giant slalom, and sophomore Jacey Johnson was seventh.
On the boys side, sophomore Aaron Grzelak, senior Andrew Thomas and freshman Haydn Kauppila took the first three places, respectively, in the slalom. They then finished second, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the giant slalom.
If the feeder programs are the key, Marquette Mountain’s participation is nearly as important. Menze said the hill “bends over backwards” to make it easier for the Redmen and Redettes to get in their training runs – and with the ability to set up courses comparable to any of the terrain the teams might see elsewhere.
Marquette High, the largest school in the Upper Peninsula, dominates in a number of sports throughout the school year. But also making the ski teams’ accomplishments impressive is the competition – skiing and hockey are two sports where Marquette regularly sees and succeeds against teams from both the Upper Peninsula and downstate.
The boys team has won 13 MHSAA Finals titles, dating to its first in 1997. The girls have won 11 going back to 1999.
“There’s not really a lot of other teams at the high school that get to compete with a lot of these teams from downstate,” Menze said. “It is nice to go down there; we’re in our element.
“The last 30 years we’ve been fairly consistent and competitive, and it’s awesome to bring that back to the school.”
Past Teams of the Month, 2017-18
January: Sterling Heights Stevenson competitive cheer - Report
December: Cadillac boys bowling - Report
November: Ottawa Lake Whiteford football - Report
October: Beaverton volleyball - Report
September: Shepherd girls golf - Report
PHOTO: Marquette’s girls and boys ski teams hold up their latest MHSAA championship trophies last month at Boyne Mountain. (Photo by Keith Dunlap.)