Petoskey Boys Rule D2 Mountain Again
February 27, 2017
By Brett A. Sommers
Special for Second Half
HARBOR SPRINGS — King in the North.
Petoskey’s hold on the crown grew even tighter with the program’s seventh consecutive boys team skiing championship Monday.
The Northmen (61) nearly halved the score of runner up Great North Alpine (109.5), winning both disciplines — slalom and giant slalom (GS) — with a dominant Division 2 victory at Boyne Highlands Resort.
Mitch Makela led the Northmen with an individual title in the GS and a runner-up finish in the slalom.
“There is definitely a little pressure (to keep winning),” Makela said. “I know a lot of the guys that started the streak a long time ago. They text me each year I’ve been a part of it, ‘Better not loose the streak.’
“Two individual championships would have been awesome, but I’m not going to complain with just one.”
Makela had time to make up following his first slalom run, during which he registered the fourth-fasted time. But Makela (1:00.31) slid 11 hundredths of a second ahead of Charlevoix’s Brad Klinger (1:00.42) for the win following the second set of runs.
“I knew I had room to make up,” Makela said. “I knew there were definitely mistakes and things I could clean up. I put it out there and got down there as fast as I could.”
Klinger posted the fastest time in the first run, but the fourth-fastest in the second. Makela had the fastest final run.
“I knew my second run was wasn’t as good as my first one,” Klinger said. “I had a little hiccup in the middle. I knew it was going to be close.
“I’m happy. Me and Mitch are always neck and neck. We’re good buddies.”
Petoskey head coach Erik Lundteigen said it is skiers like Makela that keep the Northmen program going strong.
“It’s nice when you have the best skiers in the state,” he said. “It helps the program because all the kids have someone to look after and emulate. I guarantee there are other kids who will want to be up (on the podium) where Makela was. We’ve been fortunate over the years to have quite a few of those kids. It builds on itself.”
Makela’s teammate Ethan Siegwart (1:01.45) finished third in the slalom; Flint Powers Catholic’s Devin Hope (1:01.53) was fourth. Great North Alpine’s Christian Stellin (1:01.67) and Finn Husband (1:01.86) finished 5-6, and Cadillac’s Alex Netzley (1:01.91) was seventh. Cranbrook Kingswood’s Jevon Hovey (1:03.21) was eighth, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central’s Ben Finkelstein (1:03.25) ninth and Benzie Central’s Gabriel Johnson (1:03.53) 10th.
Netzley wasn’t disappointed with his slalom finish after beginning the day with an individual title in the GS (56.91).
The Vikings sophomore won by four tenths of a second over Makela, who Netzley had been battling all season in Big North Conference competition.
“We’ve had a lot of good skiers come through Cadillac, so it’s cool to put my name up with them,” Netzley said. “I’m just really excited. It’s fun to go out there and ski. I’m just happy I had a good result today.”
Netzley said he used last season’s trip to the MHSAA Finals, as a freshman, as a learning tool, and he hopes Monday’s championship will provide much the same in his next two years.
Great North Alpine — in its first season using the team name — completed another successful run as the runner-up.
The Grand Traverse-area co-op, formerly referred to as Elk Rapids-Traverse City St. Francis, was runner-up in 2016 as well.
“It’s awesome to be up there with that trophy two years in a row,” Stellin said. “Last year was cool, but this year with the name it’s more of a team. You feel closer to every one and more unified. It was really cool to bring the trophy to that name.”
Great North Alpine coach Doug White commended the champion Northmen simply by saying, “You’re not going to catch Petoskey.”
Stellin (57.46) finished third in the GS, giving him two top-five finishes on the day. Klinger (58.29) was fourth, Siegwart (58.73) fifth, Harbor Springs’ Max Sydow (58.85) sixth and Charlevoix’s Matt Good (59.36) seventh. Harbor Springs’ Sam Bailey (59.40) was eighth, East Grand Rapids’ Johnny Southwell (59.56) ninth and Cranbrook Kingswood’s Hovey (59.73) 10th.
Cranbrook Kingswood (121) finished third as a team, Harbor Springs (129.5) fourth, Cadillac (150) fifth, Flint Powers Catholic (172) sixth, East Grand Rapids (180.5) seventh, Caledonia (236) eighth and Pontiac Notre Dame Prep (237.5) ninth.
PHOTOS: (Top) Petoskey’s Mitch Makela approaches a gate during the Division 2 Finals on Monday at Boyne Highlands. (Middle) Great North Alpine’s Jonas Pryde leans into a turn during one of his runs. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Marquette Boys Extend Title Streak to 7
February 25, 2019
By Chris Dobrowolski
Special for Second Half
BELLAIRE — The dynasty of the Marquette boys skiing team is alive and well.
The Redmen captured their seventh consecutive MHSAA Division 1 championship Monday at Schuss Mountain, and their 14th overall, when they finished 27 points ahead of runner-up Traverse City West, 65-92, to take a convincing victory. Brighton took third with 111 points.
Marquette had the top two finishers in the giant slalom, with Hayden Kauppila finishing first in 47.25 seconds and Aaron Grzelak taking second in 47.54, and had three finishers among the top 10. The Redmen were able to overcome two skiers going down in the slalom by getting four across the finish line in the top 25.
“It feels pretty good for all the work we put in, and it finally pays off,” said Grzelak. “I think it feels pretty cool. All clean runs and a lot of people finishing. We are pretty excited.”
Kauppila led the way as the sophomore posted the top Marquette time in both disciplines, coming in second in the slalom in 1:00.58.
“It’s an awesome experience,” Kauppila said of winning another championship. “I thought I did a great job, personally. I’ve had a pretty good season.”
Keaton Jones, the lone senior among Marquette’s contributors, also recorded a top-10 finish in the slalom, taking ninth in 1:05.11. Logan Audette was 15th in the giant slalom (50.48) and 17th in the slalom (1:07.55), Truman Durand took 10th in the giant slalom (50.07) and Drake Scheidt was 25th in the slalom (1:09.52).
Head coach Dan Menze, who had been in charge of the last three championships for the Redmen, said his team definitely feels some pressure with the bulls-eye on its back each season. But he said his skiers are able to rise above it and perform at a high level.
“It helps because we’ve been there before,” he said. “Most of the teams racing here have some experience, but we’ve got a lot of experience with kids who have raced at this race before or races just as big. So, the nerves for the boys aren’t really much of a factor. It helps them with being calm and being ready to race. There’s definitely pressure to try and produce. We have a lot of great skiers up there. They’re used to it. It’s easier on them than it is myself. I get a little nervous at times.”
Rockford’s Nick Rupert, who won the Division 1 giant slalom a year ago, captured the slalom this season after recording the only time under one minute with a 59.9 to edge Kauppila by just over a half of a second.
Marquette could become the third boys ski team in MHSAA history to win eight championships in a row — joining Traverse City from 1988-95 and Petoskey from 2011-18 — if it wins another title in 2020. With three juniors (Grzelak, Durand and Scheidt) and two sophomores (Kauppila and Audette) eligible to return, the Redmen don’t appear to be going away any time soon.
“I’m very fortunate to have a great program up in Marquette that kind of feeds the high school and makes my job a lot easier,” said Menze.
PHOTOS: (Top) Marquette's Hayden Kauppila races downhill during a slalom run Monday at Schuss Mountain. (Middle) Rockford's Nick Rupert speeds toward the Division 1 slalom championship. (Photos by Jake Atnip. For more from Monday's Finals, see Sports in Motion.)