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.)
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.
“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."
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 Motion – Division 2.)