Petoskey Continues Decade of Dominance
February 23, 2015
By Chris Dobrowolski
Special for Second Half
HARBOR SPRINGS – Petoskey boys skiing coach Erik Lundteigen doesn't know if he would call his team's string of titles a dynasty.
But after five straight MHSAA Division 2 boys championships, there's no other word for the Northmen's domination over the rest of the last half-decade.
Petoskey's fifth consecutive crown came Monday at Nub's Nob, where the Northmen came out on top of both the giant slalom and slalom to win by eight points over Birmingham Brother Rice (78-86). Cadillac placed third with 91 points.
"I tell you it's a nice run, for sure. You can see them get better all year," said Lundteigen. "Some good talent and some good training. That's what it's all about. The right training environment. The kids know there's accountability, too. It's not just the coach telling them what to do. They've got to buy into it themselves."
Even without Lundteigen's son Garret, Petoskey's top skier, who was out with a broken hand, the Northmen found a way to win once again.
Mitch Makela earned top-five finishes in slalom and giant slalom, taking second in GS (52.52) and fourth in slalom (1:05), and was one of three all-staters for Petoskey in slalom. Teammates Patrick Sheperd (7th, 1:05.68) and Ethan Siegwart (10th, 1:08.05) also reached the medal stand in that discipline.
Sheperd added a 13th-place finish in GS (54.96). Silas Lee (24th, 56.45) and David Paquette (25th, 56.69) were the other counters in GS, while Josh Pemberton (23rd, 1:11.99) rounded out the counters in slalom.
"A lot of people stepped up. It all worked out in our favor. To do this we needed everybody to play a key role. Everybody stepped up and did what they needed to do," Makela said.
He also admitted the Northmen feel some pressure to match what previous Petoskey teams had accomplished, but he didn't seem to mind facing those high expectations.
"It's a good pressure," Makela added. "The win is what the people are looking for.
"I think we're going to come back with a pretty good team next year, so we'll see (if we can keep it going)."
Cadillac's Keenan Cooper, the individual champion in both races last year, repeated as winner of the slalom in a time of 1:04.01. Ben Hicks from Elk Rapids/Traverse City St. Francis took top honors in GS (52.3).
Robbie Cort, Thomas Hamill and Daniel Lunghamer led the way to Brother Rice's runner-up finish. Cort was a double medalist after taking sixth in slalom (1:05.37) and sixth in GS (53.8). Lunghamer earned an eighth-place finish in slalom (1:07.58) and was 27th in GS (56.73). Hamill turned in a 12th-place time of 1:09.33 in slalom and a 15th-place time in GS (55.22). Max Radecky placed 17th for the Warriors in slalom (1:10.22), and
Michael Richard was 22nd in GS (56.32).
PHOTO: (Top) Members of Petoskey's boys ski team pose with their trophy after winning their fifth straight MHSAA championship. (Middle) A competitor passes a gate during a race Monday. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Marquette Shines Again in Repeat
February 24, 2014
By Chris Dobrowolski
Special to Second Half
BELLAIRE — The pressure was on.
But Marquette still managed to thrive at the MHSAA Division 1 Boys Skiing Final at Schuss Mountain.
Despite winning the title last year, and even though it recorded a perfect score at the Regional to enter this year's championship meet as the prohibitive favorite, the Redmen didn't have any type of letdown in winning the school's second consecutive skiing crown.
"To win back-to-back, it's really difficult to do," Marquette coach Marty Paulsen said. "There was huge pressure. I preferred being the underdog. Coming in last year we were a little bit of an underdog.
“We were a little under ranked at the beginning of the year. We came down for Petoskey's invitational and showed a little bit of the depth that the boys have. At our Regionals (at Marquette Mountain) we had a little bit of a home hill advantage. They really shined there, and then we come here and the pressure's on. Our boys, it wasn't spotless. We've been getting perfect scores, but they held together in slalom, skied like a team and they won as a team."
The Redmen finished with 49 points, well ahead of second-place Traverse City Central, which had 92.5. Clarkston was third with 134.
Marquette had three in the top 10 in giant slalom and three in the top four of slalom to run away from the field.
Marquette's Luke Johnson was the top slalom finisher with a combined total of 1:00.02, while Nick Weber was brilliant in both disciplines, taking second in giant slalom (47.21) and third in slalom (1:01.89). Bradley Seaborg finished fourth in slalom (1:02.25) and was ninth in giant slalom (48.68), and Dylan Larson took 11th in giant slalom (48.85) and 12th in slalom (1:03.86). Matt Anderson captured a seventh-place finish in giant slalom (48.19) for the defending champs.
"This is a really special group of seniors we have," said Paulsen, who has helped guide Marquette to two titles and a runner-up finish in four years coaching at the school. "You could see their potential when they were freshmen."
Traverse City Central had seen what the Redmen were capable of when it saw them win the Regional title earlier in the month. So finishing second wasn't a disappointment whatsoever for Central boys coach Nick Stanek.
"We were happy to get second," said Stanek. "It was kind of our goal to get second because we knew Marquette had such a strong team. We knew how good their team was, and we just wanted to try and close the gap. Ultimately, we knew second was an option, and Clarkston was our main competition for that so we were able to handle and take down Clarkston.
"(Marquette) is probably one of the best teams, the best group of kids I've seen in the time I've coached. You've got six kids right there, and every one of them could potentially win the state title themselves."
Dirk Phelps topped the Trojans with a sixth-place finish (1:02.96), Tyler Sepanik was eighth (1:03.4), Kurt Frick took 10th (1:03.6) and Zak Collins claimed 16th (1:04.37). Led by giant slalom champion Derek Vanitallie (46.69), Clarkston finished second as a team in giant slalom, but Central was close enough (52.5 points) to make it count in the final overall standings.
"We definitely wanted to win it all, but we were happy getting second because we all skied solid today," said Sepanik, who added a 14th-place finish (49.2) in giant slalom for Central. "It was pretty awesome."
Frick added a fifth-place finish to lead Central in giant slalom (48.1).
"It was a good way to close out my high school career," Frick said. "I did what I could for the team."
Lars Hornburg (15th, 49.22) and Phelps (18th, 49.55) rounded out Central's GS counters.
PHOTO: (Top) Marquette skiers celebrate their latest championship. (Middle) Lake Orion's Justin Pavliscak comes around a gate during one of his runs. (Middle photo courtesy of Schuss Mountain.)