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.

Northmen Kings of the Mountain Again

By John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com

February 26, 2013

MARQUETTE — The Petoskey boys were nearly in top form Monday, earning their third straight MHSAA Division 2 ski title at Marquette Mountain with 39 points.

They were followed by Bloomfield Hills Andover with 119 and Houghton-Hancock with 129.

The Northmen placed three among the top six in giant slalom and a trio among the top nine in slalom.

Petoskey junior Gunner Lundteigen became a double winner, taking giant slalom in 59.76 seconds and slalom in 1:19.22.

“We have a deep team this year,” Lundteigen said. “We all have the potential to win a race on any given day. We can also trust each other. If somebody has an off day, we have somebody else who can pick up the slack. It’s been like that all year. We felt there was a little extra pressure on us this time, although we tend to use that to our advantage.

“We’re a close-knit group and we all worked real hard for this. Some of my best friends are on this team. I just tried to ski to my potential and push myself harder each time.”

Lundteigen toured the course in 28.94 during the first run, and followed with a 30.82 in giant slalom. In slalom, he opened at 39.64 and improved to 39.58 in the second run.

Senior teammate Brian Erhart was runner-up in giant slalom (1:00.13), with Gerret Lundteigen sixth (1:01.22) and Ben Loomis 12th (1:02.31).

“This is definitely an exciting time for us,” said Erhart, who plans to attend a college in Colorado this fall. “We felt we had pretty good chance to win it. Although, we didn’t really plan anything. You never know what might happen. I was glad to see my teammate win. We train together all the time. This has been an awesome season. We’re a real strong team.”

Noah Honaker added a sixth in slalom (1:22.45), with Gerret Lundteigen ninth (1:23.61), Trevor Kingsbury 13th (1:26.8) and Erhart 16th (1:27.08) on a partly sunny and mild day.

Petoskey had just 13 points in giant slalom and 26 in slalom. Its top four skiers finished within three seconds of each in giant slalom.

The Northmen were coming off an even more dominant performance in this year’s Regional at Boyne Mountain, where they won by 90 points.

“The boys were one point away from a perfect score in the regional,” said Petoskey coach Travis Hill. “When you have momentum like that, it’s a great thing. And the kids really wanted it. This is good stuff.”

Maple City Glen Lake’s Thomas Waning was runner-up in slalom (1:19.38) and ninth in giant slalom (1:01.77).

Andover’s T.J. Stewart was third in both races. He was clocked at 1:00.23 in giant slalom and 1:20.03 in slalom. The Barons’ stronger event on this day appeared to be giant slalom, where Braden Cleary was 14th (1:02.53) with Ryan Stewart 16th (1:02.55).

Houghton’s Ian Helman was the highest Upper Peninsula finisher, taking 10th in slalom (1:25.08). Teammate Jacob Jarvis was 11th in giant slalom (1:02.16).

The Houghton-Hancock unit was the lone U.P. team to qualify for the Finals. Its next highest finisher was Tony Stein, who was 15th in slalom (1:26.98) and 22nd in giant slalom (1:03.71).

Click for full results.

PHOTO: The Petoskey boys ski team poses with its MHSAA championship trophy. (Photo courtesy of Petoskey skiing program.