Lakeland Boys and Girls Ski Teams Qualify for States

The following was submitted to White Lake Patch by Scott Rolando, and written by Ski Team Coach Sue Wiberg.

On Thursday, Feb. 16, the Lakeland boys and girls ski teams competed in the regional tournament at Alpine Valley in White Lake. The top three finishing teams out of the 15 teams qualify to go on the the state final meet. Both Lakeland teams qualified for the state final, the boys finished second and the girls third, and will compete on Feb. 27 at Nub's Nob.

The boys have skied strong all season and kept improving their team results – today was the culmination of all their hard work. The Lakeland boys finished second in the regional meet, just missing first place by a few points. A total of 89 skiers competed overall, and Lakeland's Taylor Janssen took first in Slalom and third in Giant Slalom; Joe Metz was seventh in Slalom and fourth in Giant Slalom; Dan Smallegan was 17th in Slalom and 17th in Giant Slalom; and Brendon Clover finished 15th in Slalom and 21st in Giant Slalom. Overall, that is five results that were all region.

The Lakeland girls have been improving all winter and are skiing much stronger in the end of season tournaments. Thursday, it all came together and they took third place against the 15 teams in the region. Kelsey Griffin took second in Slalom and second in Giant Slalom; Dana Wiberg took 12th in Giant Slalom; Mary Armstrong was 25th in Slalom and 23rd in Giant Slalom; and Julia Salciccioli was 34th in Slalom. The girls had three all region results.

Please congratulate your Lakeland Eagle skiers and cheer them on to the Michigan Division 1 State Final.