Petoskey Boys Go 8 Straight to Tie Record
February 26, 2018
By James Cook
Special for Second Half
BELLAIRE — Ethan Siegwart knows nothing but winning MHSAA Finals championships.
The Petoskey senior saw that through to its conclusion Monday, leading the Northmen to the school's eighth consecutive Division 2 crown at Schuss Mountain.
The streak matches Traverse City Central's from 1988-95 as the longest in state skiing history.
"There's been a lot of energy all season," said Siegwart, who placed second in giant slalom and fourth in slalom to earn his fourth and fifth first-team all-state finishes. "Coach always tells us it's hard to win it, and once you do, it's ever harder to keep winning it. It's never been easy. To keep up that record has been a goal since we were in middle school."
Petoskey led Great North Alpine — a cooperative program of Traverse City St. Francis, Elk Rapids, Central Lake and Grand Traverse Academy — by 16 points after the morning's giant slalom. The Northmen typically specialize in the slalom, but a few bobbles and some great GNA times saw the lead advance only 7.5 points.
The Northmen ended with 82.5 points to GNA's 106. The rest of the leaders were Pontiac Notre Dame (132), Benzie Central (136), Harbor Springs (146.5), Cadillac (186), Flint Powers Catholic (186.5), East Grand Rapids (195.5) and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood (294).
Siegwart said a friendly rivalry with Great North Alpine — which finished second for the third consecutive year — has been a good thing for everyone involved.
"We were watching them, for sure," Siegwart said. "I'm pretty good friends with all the guys over there. We're always egging each other on. Last night and this morning, we were texting each other to make sure we were on our toes. Just a lot of trash talk going back and forth, which is healthy. It pushed everyone."
GNA coach Doug White held the runner-up trophy after team photos Monday. Aside from a contrasting hue, the first and second-place trophies look almost exactly alike.
"Just a little bit different," White said. "Theirs is gold, ours is silver.
"Naturally, do you want to walk away with first place? But second-place isn’t that bad. To beat Petoskey, you can’t make a mistake."
GNA's Finn Husband won the slalom, and was the only entrant to finish two runs in under a combined one minute.
"Petoskey is a juggernaut, for sure," Husband said. "What is it, eight years now? They're deep and have a lot of guys who can put down a good run. It's really difficult for other teams to sneak in there. We're a young team this year, so hopefully we can take it next year. Eight is enough for them. We need one."
Husband had the second-best time on his first slalom run, and shaved almost 0.8 seconds off that the second time around.
"His first run in slalom, he came down and had a really clean run," White said. "He was sitting in second at that time, back by just a couple hundredths of a second. He came down that second time, and you just had to hold your breath a couple times. It looks like he was going to come out, but he’s very athletic and held it in the course. He pushed that to the limit."
His second run came in at 29.55 seconds — the only one under 30 seconds all day.
"The snow was a little iffy for me, running in the second seed, but I felt like I was able to take control of it and just feel it through," Husband said. "Speed-wise, on the second run, I just kind of sent it and really hoped for the best. Obviously, it worked. I almost blew out a couple times. Just had to hold it."
Cadillac's Alex Netzley trailed Flint Powers' Devin Hope and Husband after the GS' first runs, but posting the best time the second time down the hill leapfrogged him into first as he won the race for the second straight year.
"My first run wasn't great," Netzley said. "I skied a little conservatively. I knew that second run I just had to attack and lay down a good run."
The junior also placed third in slalom, improving upon last year's result by four spots.
"I just wanted to go out and lay down four good runs," Netzley said. "I was happy. I just skied solid in both events."
Hope finished second in giant slalom, followed by Husband, Siegwart, GNA's Cooper Kerkhof, Benzie Central's Gabe Johnson, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep's Joseph Warsecke, Onekama's Keagan Thomas and the Petoskey duo of David Paquette and William Thomas.
William Thomas' 10th-place finish in GS made him the only D2 racer with a top-10 finish out of the fifth or sixth flight. He also took seventh in slalom.
Husband, Siegwart, Netzley and Johnson occupied the top four slalom spots to each double up on first-team all-state honors for the day. Keagan Thomas was again eighth, with East Grand Rapids' Rori Anderson sixth, William Thomas seventh, Benzie Central's Bowen Stoops ninth and Harbor Springs' Andrew Truman 10th.
Siegwart said proximity to good ski slopes is a major factor in Petoskey's dynasty.
"Location for us is huge," Siegwart said. "We have Nubs (Nob) and Boyne (Highlands) right there on our backdoor, so it's easy to get good, free skiing in."
Northmen coach Erik Lundteigen wouldn't even rule out winning a ninth title in a row next year.
"We'll be pretty strong," Lundteigen said. "We'll be losing some great seniors, but we always do. The key to the program is building it up. We've got underclassmen that learned this year, and they'll step into that role next year. I'm optimistic."
PHOTOS: (Top) Petoskey’s Ethan Siegwart sends up a spray of snow during one of his runs Monday. (Middle) Finn Husband was the slalom champion, representing Great Northern Alpine. (Photos by James Cook.)
Lowell's Byrne Siblings Speed Into Finals
February 12, 2021
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
LOWELL – Kaylee Byrne became emotional upon completion of the giant slalom course at this week’s MHSAA Division 2 Regional.
The Lowell junior skier has endured an up-and-down season, so a first-place finish was a gratifying accomplishment.
“I actually shed a few tears at the bottom of the GS course, but they were tears of joy,” Byrne said. “It was a little rocky to begin the season, so finishing like that felt really good.
“I had high hopes and a lot of confidence going into Regionals. I knew I could ski well enough to finish like that, so I’m just glad I pulled it out.”
Byrne clocked a winning time of 52.88 seconds to win the giant slalom and also finished runner-up in the slalom (1:05.51).
She qualified as an individual for the Finals, which will take place Feb. 22 at Boyne Highlands.
Byrne’s younger brother, Colton, also advanced to the Finals by placing second and third, respectively, in the slalom and giant slalom.
The opportunity to compete this season amid the pandemic has been a blessing for the siblings.
“It’s been great,” Kaylee Byrne said. “Skiing is a huge part of my life, so if I had missed that it would have crushed me a little bit. I was really thankful for that.”
Skiing, non-contact and competed outdoors, was allowed to begin activity first among winter sports, on Dec. 21.
Lowell ski coach Karla Byrne was thrilled to see her children return to the sport toward which they’ve dedicated many hours.
“It’s been amazing, and we feel so lucky,” Karla Byrne said. “I know how much my kids love the sport and how detrimental they would feel not to be out there. We knew we might not have a season, and we prepped them all summer long that it might not happen and for them to be pleasantly surprised if it did.
“When we found out that we could compete, we felt so fortunate to be one of the sports allowed to be out there and we’ve taken every precaution to stay out there.”
Kaylee Byrne has been racing competitively for the past seven years and has taken part in competitions in Colorado and the Upper Peninsula.
She has continued to improve since she first inquired about the racing gates at Cannonsburg Ski Area at a young age.
Kayla Byrne said her daughter is a student of the sport.
“She’s extremely dedicated and she’s training year around to make herself better,” Kayla said. “She’s super knowledgeable about the sport and studies it. She’s a way better coach than I’ll ever be. She reads, she learns and she watches. She takes that all to heart, and that truly puts her over the top.”
Kaylee Byrne enjoyed the camaraderie of the sport when she was younger, as well as the thrill of victory.
“My first two years racing, I had this group of friends and we were so close,” Kaylee Byrne said. “We caused so much trouble together, and then I started winning races. I was like, ‘I like winning, that’s cool’ and it just helped to have a great community and friendships that I made.”
Colton Byrne, a sophomore, said he and his sister encourage and support each other while pushing the other to ski their best.
“It’s a lot of sibling coaching,” Colton Byrne said. “We see each other ski so often that we know when something is off. The small things that not everyone sees, but we do because we see each other ski every day.
“It’s definitely competitive, and we go back and forth a lot. We have good days and bad days at different times. One day I’ll beat her, and the other day she will beat me.”
Added Kaylee Byrne: “We train on dual courses, and every time we race we’re both going all out trying to see who can beat the other one. It’s 50-50, and you just never know who’s going to win.”
The sibling rivalry has forged a close-knit bond.
“They really are best buddies, but there will always be a little competitiveness there,” Karla Byrne said. “If the two are out on the hill, you can bet they are trying to one-up each other a little bit, especially as Colton is growing and getting bigger and stronger.
“She certainly doesn’t ever want him to beat her, but it’s always been very friendly competition for sure.”
Skiing has become a family affair for the Byrnes, who also have a seventh-grader, Cooper.
The sport has allowed them to spend quality time together.
“We got wrapped up into it by chance almost, and it’s a great thing for them to do all winter long and it keeps us busy,” Karla Byrne said. “We go everywhere as a family together all winter long, which is really nice. It’s pretty unique to be able to do that.”
Kaylee Byrne, who also runs cross country and is a thrower in track & field, finished third in the giant slalom a year ago at the Finals.
She has similar aspirations this time around.
“I’m definitely gunning for top three, and I think I could potentially take first,” she said. “That’s always the goal.”
Colton Byrne, who’s been racing for the past six years, qualified for the Finals as a freshman and finished 23rd in the giant slalom.
“I think he can be competitive up there and finish in the top 16,” Karla Byrne said. “And we are hopeful that Kaylee can be in the top spots again, hopefully in both events.”
Dean Holzwarth has covered primarily high school sports for Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV for four years after serving at the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years along with shorter stints at the Ionia Sentinel and WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Lowell’s Kaylee Byrne races past a ski gate. (Middle) Brother Colton Byrne leans into a turn. (Below) Kaylee Byrne, middle, stands with the rest of the top-10 giant slalom finishers at last season’s Division 2 Finals at Nub’s Nob. (Top and middle photo courtesy of Byrne family, bottom photo by Sports in Motion.)