Marquette Boys Extend Title Streak to 7
February 25, 2019
By Chris Dobrowolski
Special for Second Half
BELLAIRE — The dynasty of the Marquette boys skiing team is alive and well.
The Redmen captured their seventh consecutive MHSAA Division 1 championship Monday at Schuss Mountain, and their 14th overall, when they finished 27 points ahead of runner-up Traverse City West, 65-92, to take a convincing victory. Brighton took third with 111 points.
Marquette had the top two finishers in the giant slalom, with Hayden Kauppila finishing first in 47.25 seconds and Aaron Grzelak taking second in 47.54, and had three finishers among the top 10. The Redmen were able to overcome two skiers going down in the slalom by getting four across the finish line in the top 25.
“It feels pretty good for all the work we put in, and it finally pays off,” said Grzelak. “I think it feels pretty cool. All clean runs and a lot of people finishing. We are pretty excited.”
Kauppila led the way as the sophomore posted the top Marquette time in both disciplines, coming in second in the slalom in 1:00.58.
“It’s an awesome experience,” Kauppila said of winning another championship. “I thought I did a great job, personally. I’ve had a pretty good season.”
Keaton Jones, the lone senior among Marquette’s contributors, also recorded a top-10 finish in the slalom, taking ninth in 1:05.11. Logan Audette was 15th in the giant slalom (50.48) and 17th in the slalom (1:07.55), Truman Durand took 10th in the giant slalom (50.07) and Drake Scheidt was 25th in the slalom (1:09.52).
Head coach Dan Menze, who had been in charge of the last three championships for the Redmen, said his team definitely feels some pressure with the bulls-eye on its back each season. But he said his skiers are able to rise above it and perform at a high level.
“It helps because we’ve been there before,” he said. “Most of the teams racing here have some experience, but we’ve got a lot of experience with kids who have raced at this race before or races just as big. So, the nerves for the boys aren’t really much of a factor. It helps them with being calm and being ready to race. There’s definitely pressure to try and produce. We have a lot of great skiers up there. They’re used to it. It’s easier on them than it is myself. I get a little nervous at times.”
Rockford’s Nick Rupert, who won the Division 1 giant slalom a year ago, captured the slalom this season after recording the only time under one minute with a 59.9 to edge Kauppila by just over a half of a second.
Marquette could become the third boys ski team in MHSAA history to win eight championships in a row — joining Traverse City from 1988-95 and Petoskey from 2011-18 — if it wins another title in 2020. With three juniors (Grzelak, Durand and Scheidt) and two sophomores (Kauppila and Audette) eligible to return, the Redmen don’t appear to be going away any time soon.
“I’m very fortunate to have a great program up in Marquette that kind of feeds the high school and makes my job a lot easier,” said Menze.
PHOTOS: (Top) Marquette's Hayden Kauppila races downhill during a slalom run Monday at Schuss Mountain. (Middle) Rockford's Nick Rupert speeds toward the Division 1 slalom championship. (Photos by Jake Atnip. For more from Monday's Finals, see Sports in Motion.)
East Grand Rapids Finishes 1st Boys Ski Championship Climb since 1999
By
Brian Freiberger
Special for MHSAA.com
February 24, 2025
HARBOR SPRINGS – East Grand Rapids ended a 25-year championship wait in boys skiing Monday, claiming the Division 2 title at Boyne Highlands in one of the closest finishes in MHSAA Finals history – and ending one of the sport’s most impressive winning streaks in the process.
The Pioneers most recently had won Finals championships in 1999 and 1997. They earned this one thanks to a fifth-skier tie-breaker with Petoskey, which had won the last five Division 2 titles.
"We just came out with no expectations on the boy's side and just said, ‘Let's ski like it's practice,’ and we had a good day," East Grand Rapids coach KC McGovern said.
"When you’ve got six athletes finishing all the runs, it's a lot easier to win these championships. Petoskey is such a good team, stacked top to bottom, and for us to beat those guys, it's really something else. They're in a class of their own. It's lucky if one of us can get one championship off those guys every 20 years. We really lucked out this time."
Emotions were high at the Day Lodge, especially for McGovern, who's led the program the last 25 seasons. Assistant coach Aiden Anderson was also pivotal from a coaching perspective.
East Grand Rapids and Petoskey both scored 94 points. Great North Alpine finished third with 108, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep placed fourth, Orchard Lake St. Mary's fifth, Houghton sixth, Grand Rapids Christian seventh, Bloomfield Hills eighth and Grand Rapids West Catholic ninth to round out the team competition.
Senior Quinn Irwin led the Pioneers with a winning two-run combined time of 1:06 in giant slalom.
"I'm pretty happy with finishing my career on a strong note," Irwin said. "No one thought we were going to come in here and be a big name, but I think we came in here and showed that we're a good team and that we can play around with the big schools. ... We're happy that we came out here and left it all out on the slopes," Irwin said.
Irwin finished fifth in slalom, followed by teammate Matthew Koster in 14th. Eric Gurek was 26th, Sam Souter was 28th, Asher Sage was 32nd, and Graham Schiefler was 44th.
Koster finished 20th in GS, Sage finished 22nd, Souter in 36th and Whittacker Norton finished 63rd.
"It's a crazy feeling to think that I fell down on my second run of GS, and even me getting back up and finishing the race was what put us over the edge is just a surreal feeling. … I've never hoisted a trophy like this," Norton said.
Bright spots for Petoskey included sophomore Elijah Dettmer, who finished second in slalom. Petoskey senior Gavin Galbraith, the 2024 Finals champion in the race, finished seventh this time, followed by Taylor Keiswetter in eighth.
Dettmer finished second in giant slalom as well (1:16.15), and Gavin Galbraith placed seventh.
"It was a tough way to end the season, definitely one of the closest races that I've ever seen, and unfortunately, we came down on the wrong side of it. But congratulations, East Grand Rapids. Well done and great skiing today," Petoskey coach Ben Crockett said.
Crockett hopes the team takes away that "nothing is assured when it comes to sports, and that's what makes it beautiful and what makes it fun to be a part of," he said. "Runner-up is also a big honor, though we are disappointed we couldn't take that top position this year. Certainly, it's an honor to participate in the state meet, and coming up second is absolutely excellent."
Gaylord senior Keaton Abraham finished first in slalom. He recalled leading after the first run last year but having one mistake cost him the championship.
Not this time around.
"I had a rough morning, and then this afternoon, I was in fourth after the first run in slalom, and I said, ‘I don't really want to be fourth. I'm gonna go for it,’" Abraham said. "I've raced my whole life, so finishing it this way feels really good."
Click for full results. Click to watch NFHS Network broadcasts: Slalom | Giant Slalom
PHOTOS (Top) The East Grand Rapids boys ski team hoists its trophy after winning the Division 2 title Monday at Boyne Highlands. (Middle) Petoskey’s Elijah Dettmer races to a runner-up finish in slalom. (Below) Gaylord’s Keaton Abraham clears a gate on the way to finishing first in slalom. (Click for more photos by Sarah Shepherd - more will be added throughout this week.)