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.)
Traverse City West Follows Another Lewandowski to 2nd-Straight Title
By
Andrew Rosenthal
Special for Second Half
February 28, 2022
BOYNE FALLS — Traverse City West’s two-year ski dynasty is bookended by two Lewandowski brothers.
Sophomore Caleb Lewandowski won the slalom championship Monday at the Division 1 Finals at Boyne Mountain to lead the Titans to the second of their first back-to-back ski team titles since the school opened in 1997. His older brother Aiden had led West's 2021 championship run with a giant slalom win.
Aiden also had won the respect of Rochester Adams senior Nathan Dehart, Monday’s GS winner. The two schools are separated by nearly a four-hour drive and 227 miles, but Dehart knew the Lewandkowski brothers well. He competed with Aiden in USSA Team Michigan events across the country.
“I’ve raced against (Aiden) for a long time,” Dehart said after he gave Caleb a celebratory carry at the finish line.
“I trained really hard to get into this situation, and I try to win every week. It feels good to finally win one my senior year.”
The two first-time Finals champions were runners-up in each-others disciplines, with Dehart edging Lewandowski in GS and Lewandowski racing past Dehart in slalom. They congratulated each other, they celebrated with each other on the podium, and Dehart even spent most of the awards ceremony hanging out with the Titans' boys team.
“I was trying to make it down, but also get a fast time. The team was doing really well, so I had to finish for them too,” Lewandowski. “I still have two more years to try and win some more.”
Traverse City West claimed the title over Traverse City Central by 36.5 points. The Titans should next season return several from a sophomore-heavy group, including Lewandowski.
A few seniors graduate — including all-state slalom finisher and captain Andy Hill — but West also returns several fast underclassmen. For example: TC West’s all-state sophomore Charlie Licht (3rd) wasn’t even on the Finals title roster last year. Juniors Luke Wiersma (fifth in GS, eighth in slalom) and Ben Schramski (seventh in GS, fifth in slalom) both had two all-state finishes.
“Any one of those top 4-5 boys could have won today,” TC West coach Ed Johnson said. “All of them skied where they needed to within their abilities. It was exciting to see Caleb win and then be able to have his teammates kind of stack up right behind him.”
Crosstown foe Traverse City Central finished runner-up to the Titans with a trio of all-state finishers. Asher Paul (eighth in GS, fifth in slalom) came home with two medals. Jace Rowell took third in GS, and Michael Booher claimed eighth in slalom.
The Trojans have now hit the 30 mark in boys skiing trophies, capturing their program’s 11th runner-up nod with 19 Finals championships. They finished fourth last year and have been runners-up in five of the past eight seasons.
It wouldn’t be fair to call the two schools rivals — well, at least for skiing. The two schools celebrated with each other for nearly a half hour.
Central coach Amy Kudary said the Trojans have been solid all year long and a runner-up nod to West is still a great accomplishment. The Trojans defeated the Titans at the Peppi Town Slalom meet earlier in the year — the biggest ski meet within the city limits of Traverse City.
“We knew that was a possibility, but still a lot of stars had to align to make it happen,” Kudary said.
Adams took third with a score of 90, led by Dehart’s all-state finishes. The Highlanders had a good showing in slalom, with Brayden Tapert (eighth) and Bryce Tapert (seventh) both landing in the top 10.
Individual all-state medalists not from the top-three finishing teams were Marquette’s Sam Dehlin (fourth in GS, fifth in slalom), Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern-Eastern’s JD Amann (sixth in GS), Hart’s Bryce Natter (ninth in GS, 10th in slalom), Clarkston’s Luke Farella (10th in GS) and Okemos’ Michael Benevegna (seventh in slalom).
PHOTO (Top) Traverse City West’s Caleb Lewandowski leans into a turn during a slalom run Monday at Boyne Mountain. (Middle) Rochester Adams’ Nathan Dehart pulls into the finish of a giant slalom run. (Click for more from Sports in Motion.)