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.)
Notre Dame Prep's Studt Sweeps, 'All Play Part' as Harbor Springs Ends Title Wait
By
Brian Freiberger
Special for MHSAA.com
February 24, 2025
HARBOR SPRINGS — Pontiac Notre Dame Prep junior Maren Studt had to watch last year's MHSAA Division 2 Girls Skiing Final from the sideline with a broken collarbone she suffered two days before the big race.
This time around, she competed and took advantage of the opportunity.
After contributing to a team championship as a freshman, Studt was especially determined to reach the pinnacle again, this time as an individual.
"I've been nervous about it for the race this whole season. Today, I decided I was going to go out and do my best and see what happens," she said. "This season, I had no expectations because I don't know how I would have ended up, and so I just went out and did my best this season."
After her first run in slalom Monday at Boyne Highlands, Studt knew she had to rip her second – which led to the first-place finish with a two-run combined time of 1:16.10. She was in high spirits heading into her favorite event, giant slalom.
"GS is my favorite discipline, so I was just ready to go to and had to put the morning aside and just try to go do it again. Then the second run, the snow was a little rough, but I willed through and I was happy with the finish," Studt said.
Studt won the giant slalom with a two-run time of 66.79 seconds.
The junior cherished the accomplishment but now has a crown to defend.
"I hope to do it again, two-peat, and the (2025-26) season starts tomorrow," she said.
Meanwhile, Harbor Springs earned its first girls Finals championship in 10 years behind a complete team performance.
"They believed they could, and they did it," Harbor Springs coach Ellen Beatty said. "They all played their part and stepped it up, and it was an awesome day."
Harbor Springs claimed first place with 68 points, and East Grand Rapids finished runner-up with 91. Bloomfield Hills Marian finished third, followed by Cadillac, Detroit Country Day, Grand Rapids Christian, Rochester Adams, Great North Alpine and Norway.
The Rams skied smart and fast despite the slushy conditions. All six skiers finished all 24 runs without any falls or disqualifications.
"I think they were fired up and ready to go and proved they could do it," Beatty said. "They're an extraordinary group of girls, and it was amazing to watch them grow over the season. Their competition was themselves. So they pushed each other to this level and won a state championship because of it."
Throughout the entire season, different Rams took first places, and even Monday, the whole roster was primed to run their best races.
The last time Harbor Springs won a Finals championship was 2015.
Harbor Springs senior Tara Shouldice took second in GS with a two-run time of 1:07. Keeler Brainard finished 11th, while Drew and Mackenzie Bowman finished 15th and 16th, respectively. Teammate Quinn Myers finished 17th overall to round out a stellar team GS section.
"I know a lot of people were watching us because we were the team to beat, and I think everybody skied well, and we stepped up to the competition," Shouldice said.
Mckenzie Bowman finished seventh overall in the slalom race, and Shouldice finished 16th, while Quinn Myers, Elliott Baetens, and Drew Bowman finished 25th, 29th, and 30th, respectively.
"I feel like we have pretty high expectations of ourselves, and we fulfilled those," Mckenzie Bowman said.
Baetens added: "I'm just really proud of our team. We did a good job, even with the sticky snow, and we all finished our runs. We just did a great job coming together as a team."
East Grand Rapids put on a stellar show to place second.
"The girls stuck together, even having those little problems, and gave Harbor Springs a battle. We'll be back with the ladies," East Grand Rapids girls and boys coach KC McGovern said.
EGR freshman Sophie Hicks led the Pioneers with a second-place finish in slalom (1:16). The top five spots in slalom were decided by 1.5 seconds.
"I'm really happy with slalom, but not so much GS. … I'd love to win states in the future," she said.
Hannah Darooge finished fifth in GS to round out her senior season and high school career.
"It's always good to end your season on a good note, but to end it all on a good note, just like, makes you happy. makes you feel like you did something good," Darooge said.
Brayden Winkel finished fourth overall in slalom and ninth in GS to conclude a stellar sophomore year.
"The experience helps because hopefully we're back here for the next two years until I'm a senior,” Winkel said. “Hopefully next time we bring it home all the way.”
Click for full results. Click to watch NFHS Network broadcasts: Slalom | Giant Slalom
PHOTOS (Top) Eventual champion Notre Dame Prep's Maren Studt approaches a gate during a giant slalom run Monday at Boyne Highlands. (Middle) Harbor Springs' Tara Shouldice races in GS on the way to finishing second to lead the team champion. (Below) East Grand Rapids' Sophie Hicks cuts into a turn in slalom; she finished runner-up. (Click for more photos by Sarah Shepherd - more will be added throughout this week.)