The Glen Lake cooperative ski team enters a new era with the addition of Frankfort and Benzie students to join the sixschool team “I have a feeling both (boys and girls) teams are going to have a good chance at conference and regionals this year,” Glen Lake coach John Kasben said.
The team also includes skiers from Leland and Lake Leelanau St. Mary. Suttons Bay and Northport currently don’t have any skiers on the team. Despite the addition of more skiers to the team, Glen Lake will remain in MHSAA Div. 2.
As the snow dumped onto northwest Michigan over the past week, prep skiers will be preparing to get off dry land and onto snowy slopes as soon as this weekend.
The cooperative ski team practices and competes at Crystal Mountain in Thompsonville will open on Friday.
Both boys and girls teams will be looking to capture a Northern Michigan Ski Conference Championship and regional championships with hunger to disrupt the state finals this year.
The new cooperative will allow for more practice time and more competition this season. If the schools didn’t combine, they would have trouble fielding any team at each of the respective schools.
The Lakers will have tough competition against Onekama and Caledonia in its conference.
Glen Lake will enjoy a young but experienced team heading into the season that starts in the new year for both boys and girls.
Regionals will be hosted for the first time in a longtime at Boyne Mountain in Mancelona with the state championship taking place at Boyne Highlands in Harbor Springs.
Benzie, Frankfort and Glen Lake will be combining several skiers from each school onto one team.
Frankfort sophomore Lily Wolfe is ready for the new season and team.
“I’m really excited for the new coaching and more coaching since the team is bigger and better. We have a chance for being a lot more competitive,” Wolfe said. “I think its great all of the schools come together and we get to meet so many new people and you don’t get that from any other sport.”
Wolfe finished third overall at the conference championships and missed out on going to states by merely 0.2 of a second.
Wolfe continued saying the most important aspect of the sport this time of year is simply getting the legs used to the grueling slopes.
All skiers are crossing their fingers for a little more snow than last year’s icy slopes that plagued the region. The Lakers will be returning Leland junior Willa Murray, fresh off her first state finals appearance.
Murray proved she belonged on the big stage in her first state competition finishing 23rd in slalom and 24th in giant slalom (GS) at Nubs Nob in Harbor Springs.
At regionals, Murray finished ninth in GS and slalom.
Murray took first in GS and slalom in the conference.
Wolfe finished third in both GS and slalom last year.
On the boys side, Hawthorne Sutherland is coming back after nearly advancing to states.
Sutherland finished seventh in GS and third overall in slalom in conference last year.
Glen Lake boys will have to replace production from state finalist Colin Kasben.
Most ski teams didn’t have a competition until late January last year. The Laker ski team was able to start setting gates for practice January 16.
The lack of snow cut down an already short, six-to-seven week prep ski season to four weeks. The prep ski season is known for going fast and furious with only a few chances to support local teams at Crystal Mountain and beyond.
