Skiers earn top-4 finish at States
HARBOR SPRINGS, MI (February 27, 2024) – Following flawless performances in the regular season, Catholic League Championship and Southeastern Michigan Ski League (SEMSL) Divisional and overall championships, the Marian varsity ski team completed their season with a top-four finish at the MHSAA Division 2 Finals at Nub's Nob Monday.
The team from Cadillac stole the show, posting 72 points, outpacing Harbor Springs with 92. The cooperative team comprised of students from Mattawan and Paw Paw finshed third with 107 points. Marian rounded out the top quartet of schools while Norway (171) just outpaced Rochester Adams (177). East Grand Rapids (199), Bloomfield Hills (211) and the Great North Alpine co-op team (215) completed the girls team scoring.
It was the slalom event that started the day and once again, junior Emma Borgula paced the Mustangs with runs of 40.58 and 41.71 seconds for a two-run total of 82.29 seconds – good enough for ninth place overall in the 72-skier field.
Senior Agatha Valka (42.86, 44.16) finished 22nd overall. Junior Susie Klein (42.66, 45.67) had the third-fastest time total among the Mustangs and finished 27th overall. One slot behind Klein was senior Paige Rawlins (42.50, 46.88). Marian was positioned in fifth place heading into the giant slalom discipline with 86 overall points.
Although warm and sunny, the course conditions were perfect for racing and it showed as fast times were recorded across the board.
Borgula (27.93, 26.04) finished fourth overall in the giant slalom while Klein (30.00, 27.87), Valka (30.58, 27.61) and Rawlins (30.60, 27.68) finished 25th-27th overall, respectively.
The fourth-place finish reflects the highest Marian finish at Finals since 2026 when the Mustangs were runners-up to Traverse City Central in Division 1. 2016 was also the last time that Marian captured a MHSAA Regional championship.
This year's team will lose three valuable seniors in Valka, Rawlins and Stella Lowman, but will return several key pieces that head Coach Mark Weymouth hopes will make the next step in the 2024-25 season.
"This year's group skied as close to their potential as we could have hoped for," the veteran coach said. "We were very consistent and disciplined this year and it showed in the results. We're going to have some big shoes to fill, but with the right training opportunities, I know we can make a big step."
Weymouth wanted to issue a special thanks to assistant coaches Kerry Streng and Joe Metz as well as all of the families for a successful season.
"Our girls can't accomplish all they did without dedicated coaches like we have in this program," he said. "And the parents are on another level. They're unwavering support for their daughters, our program and school has been nothing short of remarkable."
- Click for full Results
- Click for full Photo Gallery (Courtesy Leon Halip)
- Click for MHSAA.com recap
