Snow or No, Skiers Prep for Races Ahead

December 26, 2015

By Dennis Chase
Special for Second Half

TRAVERSE CITY – With the sun shining, and the mercury inching into the 40s, Carlee McCardel was enjoying what felt like a spring day of skiing Dec. 20 on the two slopes that were open at Crystal Mountain Resort in Thompsonville.

Except this was late December, just days before Christmas.

Above average temperatures, coupled with rain, put ski resort operators throughout the state in a bind as they tried to open their facilities before the holidays. A handful of resorts in the northern Lower Peninsula opened a limited number of slopes last week, although the weather continued to be a problem.

"I don't remember many Decembers where it's been this warm for this long and with so few opportunities to even make snow," said Ben Ferris, co-coach of the Traverse City St. Francis, Elk Rapids, Central Lake and Grand Traverse Academy co-op ski team.

That's why McCardel, a St. Francis senior and two-time MHSAA individual champion, was grateful just to be on snow, even though the slopes were surrounded by green grass.

Most teams had yet to conduct a practice on snow as of Tuesday. Traverse City West coach Ed Johnson was hoping to take his squad to Boyne Mountain on Wednesday, weather permitting.

Instead, skiers have had to embrace dryland training – weight lifting, running and plyometric exercises – to keep physically fit. Still, it does not replace practicing on a pair of skis.

"You can get all the conditioning you want," Johnson said, "but they're (skiers) not going to have the timing, and all the other skill development that they need to race and be productive and successful at it. We desperately need some snow time."

The first invitational of the season, the Harbor Springs-Petoskey Invitational, has already been canceled. It was scheduled for Jan. 6.

With snow not available, coaches are doing the next best thing – simulating.

The co-op team, which meets at Mt. Holiday, sprints down a slalom course on the hill, focusing on body posture, running the right line through the gates, and planting the outside foot correctly.

"We want them to envision what it's like once they get on the snow," Ferris said.

Now, some skiers have been on snow. Johnson, his son Austin and daughter Morgan led a group on a ski trip to Austria over Thanksgiving. The group included six skiers from West, plus a few from Traverse City Central.

McCardel and Central Lake's Ben Hicks, the defending Division 2 champion in the giant slalom, attended camps at Copper Mountain, Colo., during that same period.

Once the season starts, McCardel and Hicks will be two of the top skiers to watch. McCardel won the girls Division 2 giant slalom as a freshman and sophomore. She was edged by Houghton's Jenna Stein (53.04 to 53.31) last February.

"I couldn't have asked for a better high school career," the 18-year-old said. "I've achieved more than I ever wished I could. It's humbled me."

McCardel said she was not too upset placing second to Stein last season because she felt she gave it her best.

"I left it all on the hill," she said. "I was happy with how I skied. Jenna happened to ski faster that day. I was happy for her."

To prep for this season, McCardel has spent considerable time in the gym.

"She's put in a lot of time in the offseason, working on her leg strength, her core strength, to make sure her body is ready," Ferris said.

She's also been watching World Cup ski action on TV to visually "get into it."

The girls co-op team finished third at the MHSAA Final last season and returns the nucleus of that squad with McCardel and Sarah Trilla at the top of the lineup.

"We only lost one girl (to graduation) and we gained a fast freshman (Claire Kalajian)," Ferris said.

Hicks headlines the boys team. He's coming off an impressive football season, capturing first-team all-Ski Valley honors on both sides of the ball, even though he suffered a groin injury the first game of the year.

"Every week I would take it light in practice, not run that hard, and then play Friday," he said.

He still finished with 1,088 yards rushing and 17 touchdowns. He also had nearly 400 yards receiving with three touchdowns and returned a kick for another score.

"He's just now getting back to 100 percent," Ferris said. "That kid is so focused. He's such a good athlete and he's so coachable. He works hard all the time."

Hicks, who turns 18 next month, said he feels fine now.

"I’ve had a long opportunity to test it, ice it and gently stretch it," he said. "It feels almost back to normal."

Hicks edged his friend, Petoskey's Mitch Makela, to win the giant slalom a year ago (52.30 to 52.52). Makela also attended the camp at Copper Mountain over Thanksgiving.

The giant slalom is Hicks’ favorite discipline.

"It's a lot more technical," he said. "And I've always been better at it."

Meanwhile, Johnson expects to have another strong girls team at West. The Titans are the defending Division 1 champions. West lost Morgan Culp to graduation, but returns plenty of experience with Kitt Hornbogen and Claire Podges leading the way.

Now all that’s needed is snow.

Dennis Chase worked 32 years as a sportswriter at the Traverse City Record-Eagle, including as sports editor from 2000-14. 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: Skiers, including Central Lake's Ben Hicks (125), compete during last season's Division 2 Finals at Nub's Nob.

West Claims D1 in Battle of TC Powers

February 23, 2015

By James Cook
Special for Second Half 

HARBOR SPRINGS — Traverse City West didn't have a long walk to accept the MHSAA Division 1 girls skiing championship trophy.

The Titans occupied four tables near the podium that had all four trophies — for the boys and girls team champions and runners-up — on it all day. 

And it also didn't take long for the Titans to get in contention for the top prize.

West had a 14-point cushion after the morning's slalom runs and ended up also winning the giant slalom — but just barely. The Titans edged Traverse City Central 45-46.5 in the GS, and the final standings had West with 80 points to Central's 95.5, with Bloomfield Hills a distant third at 131. 

"We started out strong with slalom," West coach Ed Johnson said. "They were a little nervous. They didn't ski to their ability in slalom, but they did what they had to do.

"We knew we were ahead enough of Central that if we held our own in GS, we'd be fine," Johnson added. "Central tends to be a stronger GS team than we are, so we knew it wasn't going to be easy." 

Last year's MHSAA Finals saw downstate teams win girls titles in both Division 1 and 2. This time around, the two Traverse City teams easily outdistanced the rest of the competition in Division 1, and the top three squads in Division 2 were from the northern Lower Peninsula.

Titans senior Morgan Culp got to start and end her career with an MHSAA Finals title. The last time the Titans won a championship was her freshman season. 

"This was the perfect ending to my senior year," Culp said. "We won Regionals, were Big North champs and won states. That's the best team I've ever been on."

It was West's fourth girls team title, joining those won in 2006, 2007 and 2012. 

Briana Holden and Courtney Shank are the team's only other seniors. Culp was consistent for the Titans, placing fourth in giant slalom and eighth in slalom.

Freshman Stella Sterling was a big help in winning the GS, stepping up to place 15th as West's third counter behind Culp and junior Claire Podges, who rebounded from a slalom fall to take 13th in GS. 

"We all knew about the lead," Podges said. "But we tried to keep it on the down low, so we didn't get too cocky. We held strong."

Podges was eighth in slalom after the first run, but fell on her second and still managed to take 33rd.

"I bobbled a little bit in slalom," Podges said. "But thanks to my team, they upped my spirits and I was able to hold strong in GS." 

In slalom, Kitt Hornbogen stepped up in a major way, placing fourth overall with a combined time of 1:11.83.

Many racers had slalom times that were significantly slower on the second run, whereas Hornbogen's was only 1.43 seconds slower on the clock. 

"I knew we couldn't get too cocky," said Hornbogen, who added that she prefers steeper hills such as Boyne's Challenger course. "My first run wasn't amazing, but it was OK. My second run felt a lot better."

West's Maya Breneman was 16th in slalom. 

Central's second-place finish was led by sophomore Maggie Dutmers, who took third in GS and 10th in slalom.

"Maggie Dutmers skied well in both events. It was outstanding," Trojans coach Jerry Stanek said. "We were very inexperienced to start with, and for us to compete the way we did — not just against West, but the other teams that qualified for states — that's huge for the girls. The Traverse City girls are set for the next couple of years." 

The Trojans lost their third skier, sophomore Bailey Versluis, to an injury Saturday morning during training at Schuss Mountain. Freshman Katarina Fenton stopped in for Versluis and finished 35th in GS and 33rd in slalom in her first varsity meet.

Brittney Collins was 11th in GS and 19th in slalom. 

"West is an outstanding team," Stanek said. "They're an experienced team. They don't have the younger skiers that we do. Hats off to them."

Central, which placed second for the seventh time in eight years, is hoping to move up a spot next year with more experience. Allie Friar was Central's only senior. 

"We're basically ready to come back and win it next year, I think," Collins said. "We're all going to come back and work really hard."

"Our girls came through really strong," added Central junior Haley Klein, who was 24th in slalom. "We didn't come into the season with really high expectations, but I think we really raised the bar. I think next year is going to be the year we get it."

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PHOTOS: (Top) A competitor races downhill during Monday's MHSAA Division 1 Finals. (Middle) Traverse City West poses with its championship trophy. (Click for more photos from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)