Marquette Comes Back, Finds Final Gear
February 23, 2015
By James Cook
Special for Second Half
HARBOR SPRINGS – Marquette made up a lot of ground in not a lot of time.
The Redmen, who finished behind Traverse City Central in their Regional two weeks ago, put that in the rear-view mirror by winning the MHSAA Division 1 Finals championship Monday at Boyne Highlands.
"At Regionals, we knew we still had a lot more to give," Marquette's Joe Weber said. "TCC, they're a good team, but we knew we could be a lot better. We just performed."
Central won by 37 points two weeks ago, but the Redmen turned the tables and won by 13 this time.
"Between the two Traverse City teams and us, it's anybody's game," said Marquette coach Marty Paulsen, who won his third team crown in five seasons at the program's helm. "Everybody has to have their 'A' game on that day. I knew our guys had the potential. We just needed to all have four good runs."
Clarkston's Derek Vanitallie won both individual titles, the slalom by a half-second over Bloomfield Hills' J.T. Stewart and the giant slalom by only 0.49 seconds over Central's Lars Hornburg.
"Lars skied excellent; Dirk Phelps and Brendan Wells were excellent," Traverse City Central coach Nick Stanek said. "We're happy with our second place. Marquette always has a (good) ski team up there – and they always will. Maybe next time (for us)."
Even with Vanitallie's efforts, the Wolves were a distant third. Marquette scored 47 points to 60 by TC Central and 114 from Clarkston.
That Regional setback wasn't necessarily a motivating factor, Weber said, but it didn't hurt to avenge it by winning the school's 10th boys championship.
"We were just looking to get to states, that's it," said Weber, a junior who has won an MHSAA team title every year in high school.
Weber took third in slalom and fourth in GS to lead Marquette. His older brother Nick was fourth in slalom and fifth in GS.
Drew Thomas – who along with Joe Weber crashed at Regionals – claimed fourth in GS and eighth in slalom to give the Redmen three top-10 finishers in both disciplines.
"Nick Weber is our sole senior on our 'A' team," Paulsen said. "Nick, as a senior, took on a lot of leadership this year. His brother Joe is a junior and also a very mature racer and took on a lot of leadership this year. Their maturity helped these guys focus as a team and put on the best performance they could."
Marquette's effort allowed them to offset the loss of Nathan King in his second slalom run.
"Nate King had a great first run in slalom," Paulsen said. "Unfortunately, he got hooked up on a gate in the second run. But our fourth seed, Adam Skenzel, he's a sophomore, and he knew he didn't put on his best performance (in) his first run and he came back strong and had a great performance for the team."
Skenzel would place 10th in slalom and 13th in GS as Marquette's last counter in each.
Central's effort was led by Hornburg's second-place slalom runs and a bunched group thereafter.
"I was really happy with that – definitely better in slalom than in GS, but overall I was really happy," Hornburg said.
The Trojans took places 12-15 in giant slalom with Hornburg, Tyler Sepanik, Teague Tompkins and Brendan Wells. In GS, Wells was sixth, Dirk Phelps seventh and Sepanik 13th.
"He's a lot of fun to watch ski slalom," Stanek said of Hornburg. "His first one was the one that looked the fastest, just because the course was a little more open."
Freshmen Max Ranger and Tompkins were in Central's top six. They'll graduate seniors Zak Collins, Phelps and Sepanik.
"We beat them at Regionals, but today was just not our day," Hornburg said. "We didn't put it together quite as well as (in Regionals)."
Hornburg said this season was the quest for Central's 20th state championship. And as a junior, he'll be able to continue that quest next season.
But cold temperatures in single digits and wind chills dipping into the minus-20s couldn't deter Marquette on Monday.
"That's been the goal all season long," Weber said. "Eyes on the prize. Three in a row."
PHOTOS: (Top) Walled Lake Central's Andrew Katz races downhill during Monday's MHSAA Division 1 Finals. (Middle) Marquette poses with its championship trophy. (Click for more photos from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Dehlin's Title Sweep Leads Marquette Boys' Return to Top Spot in Division 1
By
Nick Cooper
Special for MHSAA.com
February 25, 2025
HARBOR SPRINGS – Sam Dehlin’s final high school ski runs can undoubtedly be declared a success.
The reigning Division 1 Finals champion in the slalom once again took home the crown in that event and added another accolade to his resume with a first place in the giant slalom on a warm Monday at Nub’s Nob.
Dehlin also propelled the Marquette boys to the team championship as the Sentinels scored a combined 50.4 points, 13.5 fewer than second-place Traverse City West.
“Overall, I think it was a really good. I think all the people on our team skied to the best of their ability,” said Dehlin.
His first-place finish in the slalom clocked in at a combined time of 70.16 seconds, with Marquette teammates Conner Henry taking second place with a time of 72.99, Brady Audette finishing fourth (75.63) and Ben Kuhl sixth (76.52) solidifying an outstanding showing by the Sentinels as each earned first-team all-state honors.
Marquette’s team championship was its first since completing a run of eight straight in 2020. The Sentinels had finished third the last two seasons.
Not to be outdone, the Traverse City West and Central boys both finished among the top three. West finished in second place with a score of 64 points, and Central was third with a score of 103 points including the meet’s best giant slalom score of 25 points. Finishing fourth through ninth respectively were Clarkston (155), Lake Orion (203), Detroit Catholic Central (210), Rochester Hills Stoney Creek (256.5), Milford (261) and Northville (262).
Also earning first-team all-state in the slalom were Central third-place finisher Jace Rowell (74.27), West’s fifth-place finisher Cam Lewandowski (76.48), West’s Dane Lewandowski (76.56) in seventh, Central’s Trevor Suttle (77.02) in eighth, West’s Grady Ellis (77.28) in ninth and Brighton’s John Popov (78.37) in 10th.
“Overall, (we were) pretty consistent and stayed in the top 10 in both events, so that was good. The snow conditions weren’t ideal, but they worked, and we managed to get second overall,” said TC West’s Dane Lewandowski.
In the giant slalom, Dehlin secured the victory with a combined time of 52.88. Taking second was Broden Janczarek of Lake Orion with a time of 53.55. In third place, Traverse City Central’s Emerson Elkins clocked in at 53.91.
Giant slalom first-team all-state honors also went to Rowell in fourth, Kuhl in fifth, Cam Lewandowski in sixth, Ellis in seventh, Central’s Cooper Gerber in eighth, Dane Lewandowski in ninth, and Suttle in 10th.
As Dehlin’s career came to a close, the decorated slope star said he hopes to continue a passion that started long before high school.
“I've been skiing since I was 5 and then obviously racing high school all four years. (I’ve had) a lot of fun with high school racing. I’m kind of sad to see it come to a close. But I’m going to go to the University of Michigan (and) they have a club team that I’m going to try and join,” said Dehlin.
Click for full results. Click to watch NFHS Network broadcasts: Slalom | Giant Slalom
PHOTOS (Top) Grand Haven’s Maverick Hardebeck carves through a turn during the slalom Monday at Nub’s Nob. (Middle) Brighton’s Erik DeKeyser breaks past a gate during a slalom run. (Below) Lake Orion’s Raffael Anders finishes a giant slalom run. (Click for more from Tori Burley – photos to be added throughout this week.)