Prep skiing action descended down Thor at Crystal Mountain Wednesday to start the Lake Michigan Ski Conference season for Glen Lake, Onekama, and Caledonia ski teams.
Frankfort junior Lily Wolfe (Glen Lake) earned her first win of the season in slalom with a two-run combined time of 1:04. Onekama’s Aleah Blackmore finished second, followed by Kylee Zimmerer of Caledonia and Glen Lake’s Moraya Mosher in fourth.
“I think it went pretty well and I’m happy with how I did for the first race of the season,” Wolfe said. “The snow wasn’t great, which didn’t help … But the coach and the whole team raised the competitive level.”
Blackmore took home first in GS with a time of 47.27, while Wolfe finished second (47.58). Laker teammate and Leland senior Willa Murray finished third. Blackmore is returning after finishing sixth in GS at the state championships in 2025.
Bristol Sorenson finished fourth for the Portagers.
Both the Lakers girls and boys teams took first place with 47 and 42 points, respectively.
“To have a successful season, I’m going to have to keep building up my confidence … I want to come back and finish better than I did last year,” Wolfe said.
Onekama girls finished second, and Caledonia finished third; Caledonia boys finished second, and no score was reported for Onekama’s boys team.
Despite warm conditions throughout the week, Crystal Mountain’s snow was suitable for racing.
Glen Lake and Onekama are both cooperative programs with surrounding schools.
Last year, Frankfort and Benzie Central joined Glen Lake with its home hill, Crystal Mountain, hosting the majority of races.
Glen Lake’s Ben Stoops swept both GS and slalom with times of 1:00.92 and 46.37 for the boys.
Teammate Justin Thompson finished second in slalom (1:01), while Glen Lake’s Miles Luther finished second in GS.
Onekama junior Aubin Allee finished third for Onekama, and Jake Potegeter led Caledonia in the slalom race with a fourth-place finish.
Allee, a Pine River junior, and Bear Lake senior Jacob Hughey are excited to attack the short but sweet prep ski season for the Onekama Portagers. Allee’s favorite part of skiing is the close competition.
“It’s always interesting, and that makes it fun,” Allee said. “I’m hoping to make the state finals this year, as well as finishing on the podium for the conference … I enjoy skiing. It’s a good way to meet people.”
Hughey loves the changing conditions of skiing, going from sloppy snow to hard-packed ice.
“There are always changes, and that makes it fun,” Hughey said.”(Being a part of a co-op program), it doesn’t change the dynamic, not being in school with each other. We meet and ski together.
RESULTS:
Boys Top-10 (slalom): Stoops; Thompson, Allee, Potgeter, Luther, Aidan Brown (CAL), Jackson Otto (CAL), Peter Calhoun (CAL), James Prichard (CAL)
Boys Top-10 (GS): Stoops, Luther, Justin Harper (CAL), Prichard, Otto, Brown, Grayson Thompson (GL), Allee, Jacob Hugheyh (ONEK); Max Doll (CAL).
Girls top-10 (slalom): Wolfe, Blackmore, Zimmerer, Mosher, Sorenson, Avalynne Alle (ONEK), Madison Reynold (CAL), Salome Roucher (CAL), Amorie Mosher (GL), Ada Decker (CAL)
Girls top-10 (GS): Blackmore, Wolfe, Sorenson, Zimmerer, Moraya Mosher, Madison Reynolds, Salome Roucher, Piper Putney (ONEK), Ada Decker (CAL).
