Glen Lake cooperative skiers had two athletes advance to the state championships after intense racing at Boyne Mountain Monday.
Frankfort’s Miles Luther and Ben Stoops punched their ticket to the state championships after impressive races in both slalom and giant slalom.
Stoops and Luther will be competing at the Highlands in Harbor Springs Friday, February 28.
Luther finished 11th in GS, Justin Thompson finished 15th, and Ben Stoops finished 20th. Bryce Cundiff finished 46th, and Bart Zunino finished 54th. Luther qualified for states after a solid first run that turned into a great second run to lengthen his season by making it to the state championships.
“I think everything that the entire season this is kind of always. The end goal is to make it to the state meet and stuff, and to be able to do it is awesome. I think it kind of makes everything worth it,” Luther said. “We’re gonna try and challenge ourselves to practice quite a bit because we’re gonna be skiing against the best kids in the state, and we wanna represent our school well and try and lay down some fast rock.”
Stoops finished 13th in slalom, followed by Luther in 16th with two-run combined times of 1:12 and 1:15 to clinch their spots into the state championships.
The Lakers finished seventh, while Petoskey claimed the regional championship.
Glen Lake finished fifth in GS, behind Petoskey, who also claimed first in GS.
On the girl’s side, Harbor Springs won its third straight regional, sweeping both GS and slalom. The Laker girls finished seventh overall in giant slalom, while Glen Lake finished eighth in GS.
Lilly Wolfe led the Lakers to a 15th-place finish in GS, followed by Elsa Carter, 26th; Jacqueline Hearne, 34th; Leni Witt, 41st; and Kendal McNitt, 48th.
Wolfe then turned around and finished 21st in slalom, while Hearne finished 28th, Moraya Mosher 24th, and Amorie Mosher 26th. Kendall McNitt finished 41st.
“I just can’t believe it’s been four years, and then it’s finally like that. It’s ending, but it was like a good race, a good regional to finish. The conditions were good, and we just had fun even, though it wasn’t perfectly like we were gonna go give it everything we have and enjoy ourselves,” Hearne said about her final high school race.
Hearne believes anybody who has an interest in skiing should try the cooperative ski team because the skills learned during the long nights and fun days will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
“You’re going to know how to properly ski we’ll just make your skiing more enjoyable,” Hearne said.
Lake Leelanau St. Mary senior Jacqueline Hearne takes a deep breathe before breaking out of the gate during the MHSAA Div. 2 regional ski competition Monday at Boyne Mountain. Enterprise photos by Brian Freiberger
