Title IX at 50: Iron Mountain Completes Championship Climb
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 18, 2022
When the Iron Mountain girls won the 1979 MHSAA Ski Finals championship at nearby Pine Mountain, it’s almost a guarantee that at least a few found a way to connect the team’s nickname to its success on the hill that day.
But there are many more notable reasons to recall the Mountaineers among the state’s earliest champions in the sport.
Iron Mountain’s girls accomplished a first for their school and peninsula, becoming the first Upper Peninsula program to win an MHSAA Finals in alpine skiing since the start of statewide championship competition in 1975.
The Mountaineers followed a pattern in becoming that fifth champion. Traverse City High had won the first two titles, with Cadillac the runner-up both seasons. Cadillac then won in 1977 and 1978, with Iron Mountain the runner-up that latter season before taking the championship step in 1979.
And there’s some additional historical context that makes the Mountaineers’ achievement even more special during this year of Title IX and girls athletics celebrations – the Upper Peninsula, in 1952, became the first to host an MHSAA-sanctioned event in any sport to include girls competition. A ski Regional, hosted in Iron Mountain that February, included a girls team from the local school, making those Mountaineers also among pioneers in girls school sports.
From its first Finals through the 1995 season, there was only one “Open Class” for skiing at the MHSAA postseason level, and the 1979 Iron Mountain team featured one of the most impressive 1-2 performances over these nearly 50 seasons of the sport.
For the second-straight season, Susie Fox (above photo, front row, second from left) swept both the slalom and giant slalom race championships. She was followed immediately in both by teammate Andrea Trepp, who had placed third in slalom and fourth in GS in 1978. Trepp (standing, second from right) would go on to sweep both events at the 1980 Finals at Nubs Nob.
Second Half's weekly Title IX Celebration posts are sponsored by Michigan Army National Guard.
Previous Title IX at 50 Spotlights
Jan. 11: Harrold's Achievement Heralds Growth of Girls Wrestling - Read
Dec. 20: Competitive Cheer Gives Michigan Plenty to Cheer About - Read
Dec. 14: Evelyn's Game Had Plenty of Magic - Read
Dec. 7: Council Term Ends, But Leinaar Leaves Lasting Impact - Read
Nov. 30: Basketball Season Ready to Add to Rich Tradition - Read
Nov. 23: Marysville Builds Winning Streak Yet to be Challenged - Read
Nov. 16: Wroubel Has Championed Girls School Sports from Their Start - Read
Nov. 9: Pioneer's Joyce Legendary in Michigan, National Swim History - Read
Nov. 2: Royal Oak's Finch Leading Way on Football Field - Read
Oct. 26: Coach Clegg Sets Championship Standard at Grand Blanc - Read
Oct. 19: Rockford Girls Set Pace, Hundreds After Have Continued to Chase - Read
Oct. 12: Bedford Volleyball Pioneer Continues Blazing Record-Setting Trail - Read
Oct. 5: Warner Paved Way to Legend Status with Record Rounds - Read
Sept. 28: Taylor Kennedy Gymnasts Earn Fame as 1st Champions - Read
Sept. 21: Portage Northern Star Byington Becomes Play-by-Play Pioneer - Read
Sept. 14: Guerra/Groat Legacy Continues to Serve St. Philip Well - Read
Sept. 7: Best-Ever Conversation Must Include Leland's Glass - Read
Aug. 31: We Will Celebrate Many Who Paved the Way - Read
(MHSAA file photo.)
Forest Hills Central Girls Win 1st Ski Title
February 27, 2017
By Brett A. Sommers
Special for Second Half
HARBOR SPRINGS — Just two weeks ago, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central’s girls won their first Regional skiing championship in school history.
Now they have an MHSAA Finals championship trophy to place along side it, continuing a string of firsts.
The Rangers placed three skiers in the top 10 of the giant slalom and two in the slalom to edge Pontiac Notre Dame Prep 105-108.5 at Boyne Highlands Resort on Monday.
Sydney Reynolds added some personal hardware as well by winning the giant slalom — two years after winning a slalom title — with a time of 1:00.73.
“We won Regionals, and that is the first time it’s happened in the history of FHC,” Reynolds said. “Coming in we knew we had a good shot, so we just tried to finish. We came out on top, and it was amazing.”
Reynolds said taking the team trophy on the podium from head coach Alan Moore was unlike anything the senior had ever experienced.
“Being a senior, knowing we went off on that is amazing,” she said. “Hopefully they are able to do it again next year. They have a good chance, and knowing they can do it will make it even better.”
Moore has been coaching the Rangers for 26 years and said his athletes have kept him going for so long. Now he’ll have a championship to defend, too.
Forest Hills Central sat third after the morning’s slalom runs, trailing Notre Dame Prep and Houghton.
“We were still in the hunt. One skier fell and cost a few points,” Moore said. “We were (third) place, but not too far out of it. It was a pretty tight race, and we have pretty strong GS skiers. We held on for dear life, and it worked out.”
Rangers teammates Courtney McAlindon (1:01.51) finished third and Kayley Reynolds (1:02.86) 10th in the GS to help lead the comeback.
Sandwiched between the top two Forest Hills Central skiers was Houghton’s Jill Stein, who won the individual slalom championship, eclipsing long-time friend Reynolds by fewer than four-tenths of a second.
“I was super surprised,” Stein said. “Usually she’d be first in slalom and I’d be first in GS. Today I guess it flip-flopped.”
Monday marked the fourth season Stein has competed at the MHSAA Finals, but it was the first time she has completed all four runs without a fall.
Harbor Springs’ Maddy Fuhrman (1:01.54) was fourth in the GS, Notre Dame Prep’s Sydney Lintol fifth (1:01.79) and Gaylord’s Reagan Olli (1:01.80) sixth. Harbor Springs’ France Kelbel (1:02.55) was seventh, Cranbrook Kingswood’s Grace Krsul (1:02.70) eighth and Cadillac’s Emma Lloyd (1:02.80) ninth.
Notre Dame Prep hadn’t scored more than 17 points all season and won every meet leading into Monday.
“Really proud. Really proud,” Notre Dame Prep coach John Deibel said of his team. “They earned the right to be here. We were a pretty good team.”
Deibel had one of his top skiers post a DNF in each discipline, but the team was able to pull together for a runner-up finish anyway.
“It’s amazing. We’re such a close-knit team,” Deibel said. “Our girls come together. Our girls hug each, maybe they cry a little bit and get over (a fall) really quick.
“We expect to lose a skier. That’s the way we play our game.”
Lintol was Notre Dame Prep’s top finisher on the day, but Deibel said the Fighting Irish have a number of leaders, including some who will return next season looking to keep the program among Michigan’s best.
“I have four or five other kids on the team that are absolutely as good as Lintol is, and I fully expect they all will be competing next year for these same trophies.”
“We feel blessed to come here and work hard,” Lintol said. “We put all these hours in and all the seasons we’ve had as a group. We’ve grown up together. To see everybody improve and get to this point, and see not only team growth but self growth, is really exciting.”
Harbor Springs (120) finished third, Houghton fourth (147) and Great North Alpine fifth (153). Cranbrook Kingswood (167.5) was sixth, Spring Lake (186) seventh, Cadillac (207) eighth and Mount Pleasant (230) ninth.
Stein won the slalom in 1:03.19, and Reynolds was second in 1:03.26. Harbor Springs’ Furhman (1:03.98) was third in the slalom, Kayley Reynolds (1:04.16) fourth, Houghton’s Ally Fenton (1:04.44) fifth and Olli sixth (1:05.42). Milford’s Morgan Watts (1:06.35) was seventh, Lintol (1:06.58) eighth, Spring Lake’s Hannah Klein (1:07.35) ninth and Houghton’s Katherine Jarvis (1:07.36) 10th.
PHOTOS: (Top) Forest Hills Central’s Courtney McAlindon races Monday in helping her school to its first MHSAA team title. (Middle) A competitor at Boyne Highlands speeds past a gate. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)