Boys’ Skiing
TOP TEAMS STATEWIDE (1-5) Marquette, Clarkston, Traverse City West, Cranbrook Kingswood, Cadillac
TOP LOCAL TEAMS (1-5) Okemos, Rockford, Heritage, Mount Pleasant, Greenville
TOP LOCAL PLAYERS (1-5) Ben Avink, Rockford; Jeffery Staten, Clare; Bret Acton, Clare; Jordan Hales, Clare; Zack Brockway, Clare
LOCAL ANGLE: Rockford coach Terry Avink is expecting his team to be strong with consistency being the key. East Grand Rapids and three Forest Hills schools, Eastern, Northern, and Central, will all be competitive in the conference. Jann Cleary of Clare expects a strong boys’ team and adds: “We should win the conference championship and hope for the entire boys’ team to go to state. The boys’ team will be more impressive because of the experience they gained last year.”
FINALS PREDICTION: Marquette will win state in Division 1 and Petoskey Divison 2.
Girls’ Skiing
TOP TEAMS STATEWIDE (1-5): Traverse City Central, Traverse City West, Petoskey, Harbor Springs, Houghton
TOP LOCAL TEAMS (1-5) Rockford, Okemos, Heritage, Mount Pleasant, Greenville
TOP LOCAL PLAYERS (1-3): Emily McCauley, Rockford; Maggie Merillat, Clare; Madi Clarey, Clare
LOCAL ANGLE: As he is for the boys, Rockford coach Terry Avink is expecting his girls’ team to be strong with consistency being the key. East Grand Rapids, Forest Hills Eastern, Forest Hills Northern, and Forest Hills Central will all be competitive in the conference. Jann Cleary of Clare said “The girls should be very strong as well; we have four returning racers and nine freshman girls, many of which are experienced skiers.”
FINALS PREDICTION: Traverse City Central will win in Division 1 and Petoskey in Division 2.