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.)
Skiing Finals: Downhill Champions Rise
February 29, 2012
The MHSAA Skiing Finals frequently are dominated by teams that have built stacks of championships over the years.
But occasionally, a new contender enters the mix -- and dominates like the Clarkston boys did Monday at the Division 1 Final at Nub's Nob.
The Wolves moved up one spot from their 2011 runner-up finish to claim their first MHSAA team skiing championship with 81 points, 38 ahead of runner-up Marquette.
Clarkston placed three among the top 13 in the slalom and four among the top 17 in the giant slalom. Derek Vanitallie finished fourth in both the slalom (1:14.91) and giant slalom (49.47), while teammate Grant Huber was 13th in the slalom (1:18.79) and fifth in the giant (49.54).
The Wolves were the only first-time team champion at the four boys and girls Finals this season. But all four meets had their share of storylines:
- The Harbor Springs girls also moved up from a 2011 runner-up finish to claim the Division 2 team championship at Boyne Highlands, their first MHSAA title since 2004. The Rams finished 20 points ahead of reigning champion Petoskey, led by Rose Pellegrom's sixth place in the giant slalom and 10th in the slalom.
- Manistee/Traverse City St. Francis' Nathalie Kenny, Maple City Glen Lake's Christina Rennie and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood's Mandy Haferkorn made their ways to the top of both Division 2 race results. Kenny became the ninth girl to win multiple MHSAA giant slalom championships by finishing first with a two-run 59.79, while Rennie became the fifth girl to win multiple MHSAA slalom titles by taking first in that race with a 1:12.16. Kenny was second in the slalom, Rennie was fourth in the giant, and Haferkorn was second in the giant and third in the slalom.
The Traverse City West girls edged Big North Conference rival Traverse City Central by three points to win the Division 1 Final with 70 total. The win was West's first since 2007, while Central finished Division 1 runner-up for the fifth straight season. Lili Lockwood led West with a fifth place in the giant slalom (53.46) and a fourth in the slalom (1:15.59). - Five others joined Lockwood among contenders in both Division 1 races, including a trio of individual qualifiers. Lake Orion individual qualifier Marie Dohm took first in the giant slalom (52.75) and seventh in the slalom. Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills/Lowell/Comstock Park's Abi Ellis was second in the slalom and seventh in the giant, while Marquette's Whitney Stilwell was second in the giant and fifth in the slalom -- Ellis and Stilwell also were individual Finals qualifiers. White Lake Lakeland's Kelsey Griffin was the individual champion in the slalom (1:12.95) and was eighth in the giant. Bloomfield Hills Marian's Kelly Lunghamer finished her stellar high school career by taking third in the slalom and sixth in the giant as her team finished third overall.
- Saginaw Heritage's Bobby Leddy had qualified for the Finals all four years of high school, with a high finish of seventh. But this time, the Hawks' individual qualifier swept the Division 1 individual races, finishing in 1:11.67 to win the slalom and 48.72 to win the giant. Traverse City West's Ryan Ness took second in the slalom and third in the giant.
- The Petoskey boys repeated as Division 2 team champions with 66 points, 20 fewer than Cranbrook-Kingswood. Gunner Lundteigen took fourth in the slalom and teammate Noah Honaker was fifth in the giant for the Northmen.
- Four individuals dominated the individual standings in Division 2. Maple City Glen Lake's Thomas Waning won the giant slalom (58.86) and finished second in the slalom, while Manistee/St. Francis' Stephen Siddall was first in the slalom (1:13.09) and fourth in the giant. Manistee/St. Francis' Cole McCardel finished third in both races, and Cranbrook-Kingswood's John Briggs was runner-up in the giant and eighth in the slalom.
Click for full Division 1 boys and girls results, Division 2 boys and Division 2 girls.
PHOTOS: (Top) Clarkston's Grant Huber and (middle) Traverse City West's Lili Lockwood. See more photos at High School Sports Scene.