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.)
Petoskey Racing for Record Title Streak
February 23, 2019
By Chris Dobrowolski
Special for Second Half
PETOSKEY — The Petoskey boys ski team is no stranger to being king of the hill.
However, one more ascension to the summit will put the Northmen in exclusive company.
Petoskey is aiming for its ninth straight Division 2 boys skiing championship when it competes at Monday’s Finals at Boyne Mountain. It would be an unprecedented streak in this state, eclipsing the record of eight straight Finals championships the Northmen share with Traverse City, which won its eight in a row from 1988-95.
“That was when Traverse City was one big school. I think they had 2,200 kids or something,” said Petoskey coach Erik Lundteigen. “If we were to win number nine, we’d have that by ourselves, which would be kind of cool. Either way we’ve had a good run. The kids are excited about it, though.”
This year’s Petoskey team has experience, but not as much as others. Davis Blint is the lone senior, and the team is led by a pair of juniors in Tripp Thomas and Jimmy Flom. The talent level remains high, though, and expectations haven’t wavered.
“I really hope to keep the streak going,” said Thomas. “I think we have the tools to do it. Everybody just needs to finish. We’re excited just to be going back and getting the opportunity to race, to keep on going and trying to uphold our title.”
It will be Petoskey’s first meet at Boyne Mountain this season, but it’s a venue Lundteigen knows well. Petoskey also won its 2011 title there.
“The (giant slalom) hill has some pitch to it,” Lundteigen said. “It’s fairly steep, but then it has a long flat. A racer has to be good on the steeps, but also glide well on the flats. The slalom hill is probably one of the best in Michigan. It’s a very sustained pitch going down and very little flat at the bottom.”
Thomas said discussion of setting the record for most consecutive Finals titles has come up at times during the year, but has waned of late as the Northmen are trying to remain more dialed in to the task at hand – being mentally prepared to go out and ski their best on the biggest stage of the season.
“This week we’ve tried not to focus on it too hard,” said Thomas. “We don’t want to dwell on it.”
Petoskey will certainly have its work cut out for it. The Northmen finished second in the Regional to Great North Alpine — a co-operative team made up of skiers from Elk Rapids, Traverse City St. Francis and Grand Traverse Academy. Great North Alpine has finished as the Division 2 runner-up each of the last three years and four times total since Petoskey’s run began in 2011.
It was Petoskey’s third runner-up finish at the Regional in the past nine years. The Northmen were second to Harbor Springs in 2017 and Ironwood in 2015, but came back in the Finals to finish first both times.
“The best team is going to win on Monday,” said Lundteigen. “It could be us. It could be them. Maybe somebody else might slip in their too. I’d say we’re right there. It’ll be a good race.
“We’ve got eight (straight). They’re still looking for their first one. I’m sure they’d love (to win), but we don’t want to give it up.”
Lundteigen took over the program in 2014, after the Northmen already had three straight championships under their belt. He was able to coach his sons, Gunner and then Garret — between them they won three individual Finals titles besides the team championships — and has watched the success continue now three years since Garret graduated.
“It’s good to keep this rolling,” said Erik Lundteigen. “We’ve had some really good skiers in our program over the years and that really breeds success in itself. Kids look up to one guy, then that guy graduates and other people step in. It’s been a lot of fun to be a part of.”
A good middle school program, as well as opportunities to ski race with the Nub’s Nob Racing Team and Boyne Racing Team have been important for developing young skiers and maintaining the pipeline to success at the high school level. Even before this latest string of championships, Petoskey had been one of the model programs in Michigan. The Northmen captured 11 team Finals titles between 1982 and 2008 and have had 10 skiers claim an individual championship in their history.
“We’ve always got a pretty good mix of older kids leading, moving forward, and then younger kids learning how to do it, and then meshing the two together,” said Lundteigen. “When these seniors graduate, there’s somebody who’s ready to step in.”
And when skiers get to the high school squad, they learn the value of training hard to get to an elite level.
“I hang my hat on the fact that we train really well,” said Lundteigen. “We train with shape, which is really important in skiing. A lot of people ski really direct. A lot of courses are set very straight. That doesn’t necessarily make a good ski racer. Our courses are challenging. We train that way all year. That doesn’t guarantee success, but it puts you in a better position to be successful.”
Thomas says growing up watching the high school team have the kind of success it does year in and year out was inspiring, and he feels fortunate to now be a part of it.
“It’s a great program,” he said. “I love the coaching, and I love all the people. It’s a great dynasty. It’s a great honor to be a part of this program that’s been so great throughout the years. It makes me want to keep living up to that expectation.”
High expectations, no doubt, but the Northmen have been here before and they’ve proven adept at getting the job done. Eight times in a row, in fact.
“We’re looking forward to it,” said Lundteigen. “We’ve had some good practices, some good training. I’ve seen a lot of developing as the season has gone on. We’re looking forward to Boyne Mountain on Monday.”
Chris Dobrowolski has covered northern Lower Peninsula sports since 1999 at the Ogemaw County Herald, Alpena News, Traverse City Record-Eagle and currently as sports editor at the Antrim Kalkaska Review since 2016. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS: Petoskey’s Tripp Thomas, here during last week’s Regional at Nubs Nob, finished second in the slalom and third in the giant slalom. (Middle) Jimmy Flom will be another key contributor as the Northmen go for a ninth straight Finals championship Monday. (Photos by RD Sports Photo.)