Petoskey Runs Title Reign to 6 Seasons
March 19, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A few more things are in play when a team wins six straight MHSAA championships, as opposed to the still-incredible two or three in a row.
For starters, a six-time reigning champion like the Petoskey boys ski team has maintained that streak with help from up to nine classes at a school, counting the seniors on the first winner and the freshmen on the latest.
A six-time champion must stay on top and stay ahead through the rises and falls of the rest of its opponents – in this case, half the schools in Michigan with high school boys ski programs.
And the Northmen also have continued this streak through the changing of a coach midway through – although that really didn’t include much of an adjustment at all.
Petoskey finished with 44 points at this season’s Division 2 Final, a point shy of half runner-up Elk Rapids/St. Francis’ total at Schuss Mountain. The Northmen – the Applebee’s Team of the Month for February – is now tied for the third-longest active championship streak across all MHSAA sports, and they are approaching the boys ski record of eight straight championships set by the former Traverse City High School from 1988-95.
“I think we really train the right way. And the kids really buy into it, are really accountable,” said coach Erik Lundteigen, who took over the program three seasons ago but has coached high school skiing since 1982. “The neat thing about ski racing, is as a coach, you can’t call timeout. All that work, tactics, technique, all of it has to be done way ahead of time. And the reason we’re successful is we train the right way.
“My son (Garret) said it best; he’s a senior, and he said it’s just getting to the bottom of the hill as best as you can.”
The Northmen took four of the top 10 places in the slalom at the Final, led by champion Garret Lundteigen and runner-up Mitch Makala. Makala won the giant slalom and Lundteigen was third as the team earned three of the top nine places in that race.
Petoskey admittedly has a great setup for success, located in the heart of ski country and with a strong relationship with Nub’s Nob in nearby Harbor Springs that allows for flexible training opportunities.
But the Northmen also thrive, continuing to meet a championship expectation year after year.
As supportive as teammates are during meets, practices are incredibly competitive, Erik Lundteigen said. Any of 10 skiers could make the six who compete at a given event. Tristan Akins finished ninth in the slalom at the Final – in only his second varsity race of this season. Lundteigen never sets an order of his skiers, allowing for competition for the top spots to remain all season long.
His athletes also are well-rounded, which pays off on the slopes. The team’s combined grade-point average of 3.48 ranked 11th in Division 2 this season, and Lundteigen is especially pleased with how most participate in a number of other activities as well, whether it be school extracurriculars like band, community activities or in many cases multiple sports.
“That’s huge as a coach. A kid comes in with discipline, time management, all the things that as a ski racer you have to have,” Lundteigen said of his multi-sport athletes. “The more practice you get whether it be playing soccer, football, baseball, I think it’s really good when athletes do other things."
Past Teams of the Month, 2015-16:
January: Spring Lake boys swimming & diving – Report
December: Saginaw Heritage girls basketball – Report
November: Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard volleyball – Report
October: Benton Harbor football – Report
September: Mason and Okemos boys soccer – Report
PHOTOS: (Top) Petoskey poses with its championship trophy Feb. 29 at Schuss Mountain. (Middle) David Paquette races during the Division 2 Finals. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
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- Competitive Cheer
- Girls Bowling
- Girls Skiing
- Boys Skiing
- Girls Basketball
- Boys Basketball
- Boys Bowling
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- Ice Hockey
- MHSAA News
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.