Marian leads group vying for postseason glory

Jenna Malinowski

The Detroit News

February 7, 2023

The high school skiing season is officially winding down. Teams across the state are preparing for the final regular season races, with the state finals being just under three weeks away.

Regionals are slated for Feb. 13-17 with the finals set to take place Feb. 27. Here's a look at two more teams vying for a top spot as the finish line for both the boys and girls teams inches closer.

Birmingham Marian

Head coach Mark Weymouth had some high expectations heading into the 2022-23 season, but the team suffered a setback when one of its top skiers, junior captain Agatha Valka, tore her ACL playing soccer.

Having just had reconstructive surgery, Valka has not been able to participate this year, but has been making great progress and still comes to every team event to cheer on her peers who have stepped up in her absence.

"That obviously means that everybody else on the team has to work a little harder, whether it be the coaches or the athletes to make up for a large loss like that," Weymouth said.

One of these athletes is sophomore Emma Borgula, who had a breakout freshman season last year. She seems to have taken that success into her sophomore year, having won all but one race thus far in the season.

In addition to struggles with injuries, Weymouth has also had to coach a very young team. Adjusting to the high school competitive level comes with an "aggressive learning curve" for those who are just starting.

Mirabelle Dawson was one of these racers who had to adjust, but did so remarkably quick for her freshman year. She began the season still healing from a broken fibula, but has since found her stride on the slopes.

She got her start partaking in some junior varsity races, in which she excelled in just her first three days of racing in her life. Racing results can be separated by just a mere second in skiing, but Dawson took a 14 second victory over the other racers at the Pintail Invitational. Because of her hard work and skill, she has now moved up to varsity.

Despite the difficulties of working around injuries and coaching a younger team, Weymouth has been able to guide the team in the right direction to still meet its goals.

"I think, you know, we're building into some pretty nice stuff considering how fast these girls are learning to race, and we get tons of support from the school and the families, which again, that makes it that much easier on us as coaches," Weymouth said.