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.)

MHSAA Winter Sports Start with Extended Basketball Schedules, New Wrestling Weights

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

December 13, 2022

The addition of two games to basketball regular-season schedules and a new series of wrestling weight classes are likely the most noticeable Winter 2022-23 changes as an estimated 65,000 athletes statewide take part in 13 sports for which the Michigan High School Athletic Association sponsors postseason tournaments.

Girls gymnastics and boys ice hockey teams were able to begin practice Oct. 31, with the rest of those sports beginning in November – including also girls and boys basketball, girls and boys bowling, girls competitive cheer, girls and boys skiing, Upper Peninsula girls and boys and Lower Peninsula boys swimming & diving, and girls and boys wrestling.

A variety of changes are in effect for winter sports this season, including a several that will be noteworthy and noticeable to teams and spectators alike.

Basketball remains the most-participated winter sport for MHSAA member schools with 33,000 athletes taking part last season, and for the first time, basketball teams may play up to 22 regular-season games. This increase from the previous 20-game schedule allows more games for teams at every high school level – varsity, junior varsity and freshman.

Another significant change has been made in wrestling, as the majority of boys wrestling weight classes have been adjusted for this season in anticipation of a national change coming in 2023-24. The updated boys weight classes are 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 144, 150, 157, 165, 175, 190, 215 and 285 pounds. Only 215 and 285 remain from the previous lineup. There is also one change to girls weight classes, with the 255 class replaced by 235 to also align with national high school standards.

A series of notable changes will affect how competition takes place at the MHSAA Tournament levels. In hockey, in addition to a new classification process that spread cooperative and single-school programs evenly throughout the three playoff divisions, the MHSAA Tournament will employ two changes. The Michigan Power Ratings (MPR) will be used to seed the entire Regional round, not just the top two teams, and prior to the start of Semifinals, a seeding committee will reseed the remaining four teams in each division with the top seed in each then facing the No. 4 seed, and the No. 2 seed facing No. 3.

Bowling also will see an MHSAA Tournament change, as the Team Regional format will mirror the long-standing Team Final with teams playing eight Baker games and two regular games at both levels.  And as also applied during the fall girls season, there is a new qualification process for divers seeking to advance to Lower Peninsula Boys Swimming & Diving Finals. In each of the three divisions, each Regional will be guaranteed 10 qualifiers for the Finals, with six more “floating” qualifier entries to be distributed to the Regionals that have one of the previous year’s top six returning Finals divers in their fields. If a team changes division from the previous season, any floating top-six spots are added to the six already allowed in the school’s new division.

A gymnastics rules change provides an opportunity for additional scoring during the floor exercise. A dance passage requirement was added in place of the former dance series requirement to encourage creativity and a more artistic use of dance. The dance passage requires gymnasts to include two Group 1 elements – one a leap with legs in cross or side split position, the other a superior element.

In competitive cheer, the penalty for going over the time limit in each round was adjusted to one penalty point for every second over the time limit, not to exceed 15 points. The new time limit rule is more lenient than the past penalty, which subtracted points based on ranges of time over the limit.

The 2022-23 Winter campaign culminates with postseason tournaments, as the championship schedule begins with the Upper Peninsula Girls & Boys Swimming & Diving Finals on Feb. 18 and wraps up with the Boys Basketball Finals on March 25. Here is a complete list of winter tournament dates:

Boys Basketball
Districts – March 6, 8, 10
Regionals – March 13, 15
Quarterfinals – March 21
Semifinals – March 23-24
Finals – March 25

Girls Basketball
Districts – Feb. 27, March 1, 3
Regionals – March 7, 9
Quarterfinals – March 14
Semifinals – March 16-17
Finals – March 18

Bowling
Regionals – Feb. 24-25
Finals – March 3-4

Competitive Cheer
District – Feb. 17-18
Regionals – Feb. 25
Finals – March 2-3

Gymnastics
Regionals – March 4
Finals – March 10-11

Ice Hockey
Regionals – Feb. 20-March 1
Quarterfinals – March 4
Semifinals – March 9-10
Finals – March 11

Skiing
Regionals – Feb. 13-17
Finals – Feb. 27

Swimming & Diving
Upper Peninsula Girls/Boys Finals – Feb. 18
Lower Peninsula Boys Diving Regionals – March 2
Lower Peninsula Boys Finals – March 10-11

Wrestling – Team
Districts – Feb. 8-9
Regionals – Feb. 15
Finals – Feb. 24-25

Wrestling – Individual
Districts – Feb. 11
Regionals – Feb. 18
Finals – March 3-4

The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.3 million spectators each year.