'Ordinary' GNA Achieves Extraordinary Feat
February 25, 2019
By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half
BOYNE FALLS – Coming into this year’s Division 2 Boys Ski Finals at Boyne Mountain, Great North Alpine senior Finn Husband had reasons to be both motivated and reassured based on last year’s results at the championship meet.
Finn felt confident he could win the slalom after doing the same last year, but he also was inspired because a bad turn cost him a chance to win last season’s giant slalom, as he instead finished third in that race.
“I remember that it was my own fault, and I could’ve been a better skier,” Finn said.
Finn certainly couldn’t have been a better skier this time around, as he won both the giant slalom and slalom races Monday.
Even better, Finn’s performance led to some noteworthy news from a team perspective.
For the first time in nine years, a team other than Petoskey won the Division 2 championship.
GNA, comprised of skiers from Elk Rapids, Traverse City St. Francis, Central Lake and Grand Traverse Academy, ended Petoskey’s reign as champion by collecting 48 points, comfortably ahead of Petoskey’s total of 83. Petoskey’s streak of eight straight titles was tied for the longest in MHSAA boys skiing history.
GNA also had defeated Petoskey at their Regional two weeks ago.
“I told them (Sunday night) that they didn’t have to be extraordinary, they just had to be ordinary,” said GNA co-coach Ben Ferris. “You just have to ordinary. Just be you. You already ski fast. That was kind of the message.”
Leading the way was Husband, who won the giant slalom with a time of 1:09.49 and the slalom in 1:02.88.
Conditions at Boyne certainly were a lot different than last year, when it was nearly 40 degrees and slushy.
Following a blizzard and windstorm Sunday night, the course was firm throughout.
“What we had when it rained and then froze up again made it a really nice base here,” Husband said. “Last year, it was starting to get slushy and made it (sink) the course. We had a good base where we can push off of that.”
Andrew Truman of Harbor Springs finished second in both events, finishing with a time of 1:10.50 in the giant slalom and 1:03.89 in the slalom.
Tripp Thomas of Petoskey was fourth in both events, earning a time of 1:11.43 in the giant slalom and 1:04.60 in the slalom, and Will Blackmer of Rochester Hills Stoney Creek had two fifth-place finishes, with a time of 1:11.64 in the giant slalom and 1:05.59 in the slalom.
The only deviation in the top-5 between the events was that Alex Netzley of Cadillac finished third in the giant slalom in a time of 1:10.63, while Colin Dehart of Rochester Adams took third in the slalom in 1:04.52.
Ultimately though, every other team bowed to GNA, which ended Petoskey’s quest to take over the championship streak record alone.
“They are awesome guys, and I love them all,” Husband said of Petoskey. “But I think we really deserved it. I think we came out and showed them what we had. It was a team effort to really take it.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Great North Alpine's Finn Husband skis the slalom course on the way to winning both event titles Monday. (Middle) Tripp Thomas, here in the slalom, led Petoskey to the runner-up team finish. (Photos by James Cook. For more from Monday's Finals, see Sports in Motion.)
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.)