Marquette Girls Again Champs in D1
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
March 1, 2016
MARQUETTE — The Marquette girls ski team won its first MHSAA team championship since 2009, pulling away in a close race Monday at familiar Marquette Mountain.
The Redettes scored 84 points to win the Division 1 championship and were followed by Bloomfield Hills Marian with 101 and Traverse City Central with 103. Central has finished runner-up the last two seasons.
Marquette sophomore Sadah Scheidt gained top honors in girls slalom with a time of 1:25.11, followed by senior teammate Hanna Johnson (1:29.88), Marian’s Olivia Weymouth (1:30.36) and Marquette’s Natalie Robinia (1:30.75).
“It was real windy at the top, but you had to have direction coming down,” said Scheidt, who will leave for Vail, Colo., on March 9 to compete in the Junior Olympics. “You needed to move forward at the top and bottom and just give it your all. Our team did super well. We really didn’t expect to do this well.”
Marquette coach Marty Paulsen said it was arguably his team’s strongest performance of the season. The Redettes took third in their Regional, but now own nine MHSAA championships.
“We know where the rolls and bumps are,” Scheidt said of competing on a local slope. “It’s real special to win it all here. Being from here and winning here is a great feeling.”
North Farmington/Harrison sophomore Amalie Perez finished first in the giant slalom in a time of 1:02.66. She was followed by South Lyon’s Anna Geyer (1:03.21), Weymouth (1:03.77) and Robinia (1:04.1).
Perez was the leader in both rounds of giant slalom, recording a 33.82 on her first run, followed by a 28.84 in the second.
“This was a real good experience,” said Perez, an exchange student from France. “I’m usually better in slalom, but I fell today. I just tried to relax and do my best in giant slalom and not worry about the wind.
“Coming to the United States has been a great experience. I’ve had a chance to meet new people and make new friends.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Marquette’s Sarah Scheidt skis the slalom course at Marquette Mountain on the way to a first-place finish. (Middle) North Farmington/Harrison’s Amalie Perez completes the giant slalom course; she finished first in that event. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Marquette Ski Teams Lead Chase Again
March 16, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
There are communities all over Michigan known for nurturing their athletes from the youngest levels through high school – football towns, basketball towns, volleyball towns, etc.
Marquette is a skiing town, with a decades-old infrastructure that would seem to guarantee no slowing down for the Marquette High boys team that has won six straight Division 1 championships and the girls team that last month clinched its third consecutive title.
Marquette’s boys and girls ski teams are the MHSAA/Applebee’s Teams of the Month for February after continuing those impressive streaks.
In Marquette, skiers who fill the high school teams came up on the local Marquette Mountain Race Team and Great Lakes Ski Academy. And every once in a while there’s an athlete with especially high aspirations who chooses to continue competing solely outside the high school.
But second-year coach Dan Menze – who has coached in both non-school programs and skied for the Redmen through graduation in 2009 – said over the last two seasons every student who ski races has raced with his high school teams.
“The amount of skiing that’s available to these kids to make them better athletes and come to high school as already accomplished skiers – this wouldn’t be possible if we didn’t have the programs that do bring those kids up,” Menze said.
“They teach skiing the right way. When they come to the high school, (athletes) already have a good foundation and good base. It’s just taking them to the next level for me, which I don’t usually have a ton of kids that I have to bring up to that level.”
The boys team won its title Feb. 26 at Boyne Mountain with 56 points, as Traverse City Central came in second for the fifth straight season this time with 80.5. The Redettes scored 48 points to finish ahead of Traverse City West’s 76.
Sophomore Ainsley Kirk and senior Sadah Scheidt took first and second in the girls slalom, and junior teammate Natalie Robinia was sixth. Kirk was then third in the giant slalom, and sophomore Jacey Johnson was seventh.
On the boys side, sophomore Aaron Grzelak, senior Andrew Thomas and freshman Haydn Kauppila took the first three places, respectively, in the slalom. They then finished second, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the giant slalom.
If the feeder programs are the key, Marquette Mountain’s participation is nearly as important. Menze said the hill “bends over backwards” to make it easier for the Redmen and Redettes to get in their training runs – and with the ability to set up courses comparable to any of the terrain the teams might see elsewhere.
Marquette High, the largest school in the Upper Peninsula, dominates in a number of sports throughout the school year. But also making the ski teams’ accomplishments impressive is the competition – skiing and hockey are two sports where Marquette regularly sees and succeeds against teams from both the Upper Peninsula and downstate.
The boys team has won 13 MHSAA Finals titles, dating to its first in 1997. The girls have won 11 going back to 1999.
“There’s not really a lot of other teams at the high school that get to compete with a lot of these teams from downstate,” Menze said. “It is nice to go down there; we’re in our element.
“The last 30 years we’ve been fairly consistent and competitive, and it’s awesome to bring that back to the school.”
Past Teams of the Month, 2017-18
January: Sterling Heights Stevenson competitive cheer - Report
December: Cadillac boys bowling - Report
November: Ottawa Lake Whiteford football - Report
October: Beaverton volleyball - Report
September: Shepherd girls golf - Report
PHOTO: Marquette’s girls and boys ski teams hold up their latest MHSAA championship trophies last month at Boyne Mountain. (Photo by Keith Dunlap.)