Through the Years: Skiing 1975-2016

August 26, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Among benefits of Michigan's four seasons is the opportunity for residents to enjoy winter sports and that includes athletes who participate on high school skiing teams based from the northern tip of the Upper Peninsula to the southernmost regions bordering Ohio and Indiana.

Today's "Through the Years" looks at the 40-year history of the MHSAA Skiing Finals. This feature is from the spring issue of benchmarks, built and written by Rob Kaminski. Scroll to the bottom of the page for links to our previous installments.

Previous installments 

August 23: Boys/Girls Bowling - Read
August 19:
Boys Ice Hockey - Read
August 16:
Girls Gymnastics - Read
August 12:
Boys/Girls Swimming & Diving - Read
August 9:
Football - Read
August 5:
Girls Volleyball - Read
August 2:
Boys Soccer - Read
July 30:
Boys Cross Country - Read
July 26:
Girls Cross Country - Read
July 22:
Boys/Girls Lacrosse - Read
July 19:
Boys/Girls Tennis - Read
July 15:
Boys/Girls Golf - Read
July 12:
Girls Soccer - Read
July 8:
Boys Track & Field - Read
July 5:
Girls Track & Field - Read
July 1:
Baseball - Read
June 28:
Softball - Read

Notre Dame Prep Takes Back Team Title, Petoskey's Spence Sweeps Race Wins

By Jordan Puente
Special for MHSAA.com

February 28, 2023

BOYNE FALLS — Pontiac Notre Dame Prep’s girl ski team has dominated the slopes since 2016 and continued the trend Monday at Boyne Mountain.

The Irish placed first at the Division 2 Finals with a team combined score of 61. Petoskey finished runner-up with just four skiers to collect a team score of 87, and Great North Alpine finished third.

Senior Syndey Schulte was Notre Dame Prep’s top placer, finishing runner-up in slalom (1:09.19), and she was followed in that event by senior Peyton Schindler in fourth and senior Claire Kirchner in seventh. Kirchner was fourth in the giant slalom, and Schulte was seventh as the Irish placed four among the top 13.

“We had a great bunch of girls that skied well,” Norte Dame coach Craig McLeod said. “These girls show up to training every day and pay attention to what we’ve asked them, and they do it.”

Schindler has racked up tons of medals during her time at NDP, having helped the Irish win Division 2 championships during her freshmen and sophomore years before they finished sixth a year ago.

Notre Dame Prep’s Sydney Schulte caps her career with two more top-10 Finals finishes.“It’s nice to have new faces, and it’s cool to see all of our hard work come into culmination of this,” Schindler said.

McLeod couldn’t be more pleased with the way his team performed at its Regional and the Finals. As he talked about his team, he was emotional knowing what this win meant to the Irish.

“The girls have won everything they touched,” McLeod said. “I have an amazing group of senior girls, and I’m proud of all the things they have done.”

Petoskey senior Marley Spence swept the giant slalom (1:14.91) and slalom (1:06.78). Spence also won giant slalom and was second in slalom as a junior, and she became the 12th skier in Finals history to win girls giant slalom at least twice.

"I cried," Spence said when she found out she won. "I ran to my parents and shed a lot of tears.

"All the emotions come in here, and it's been building out for weeks, so I'm shocked but happy," she added.

Spence was one of the four skiers who helped her team to a podium finish. Before they found out they were runners-up, Spence didn't think they'd get a team win with just four skiers – but Petoskey defeated the odds.

Cadillac senior Georgette Sake finished seconds behind Spence in the giant slalom with a combined time of 1:15.65. Cadillac as a team finished third with multiple top-10 placers in giant slalom.

"I enjoyed my four years at Cadillac," Sake said. "I don't think of skiing as a sport. I think of it as a family. The ski community is so great and cool."

Click for full results.

PHOTOS (Top) Petoskey’s Marley Spence speeds through one of her runs on the way to winning both individual championships Monday. (Middle) Notre Dame Prep’s Sydney Schulte caps her career with two more top-10 Finals finishes. (Click for more later this week from Sports in MotionDivision 2.)