Spence earns pair of firsts, Petoskey skiers take on BNC at Crystal
THOMPSONVILLE — There’s a reason the Petoskey ski teams are consistently prepared for the challenges and pressure that come along with regional and state finals events.
The margin for error within their own Big North Conference is razor thin, much like that of the postseason.
On Monday at Crystal Mountain in Thompsonville, Northmen skiers returned to league action for just the second BNC meet of the season, where each team took a third place finish.
Petoskey’s boys placed third behind Traverse City Central’s win and West’s second place finish, while the PHS girls placed third behind a win from TC West and runner-up TC Central.
Petoskey’s girls had some solid finishes in both races, though the highlight of the day came in Marley Spence’s first place finishes in both slalom and giant slalom.
In the opening slalom race, Spence placed first overall in 55.10 seconds, while Ally Goelz of Petoskey was 15th in 1:02.45.
Also for Petoskey Olivia Nemec was 20th (1:03.98), Sydney Hoffman placed 22nd (1:05.45); Renate Hramiec, 27th (1:06.91); and Sara Hasse, 38th (1:16.43).
In the giant slalom event, Spence then placed first with a time of 39.40 seconds, one of just two sub 40-second racers on the girls side. Spence also finished the day with three of her four runs being the fastest of each race.
Cassidy Whitener of Petoskey then placed eighth in the GS in 40.88, Nemec took 18th (42.84); Goelz, 20th (43.42); Hramiec, 25th (46.07); and Hoffman, 26th (46.55).
On the boys side of the race, Petoskey had two top four finishers in both the slalom and giant slalom events, led by a first place overall finish from Will Goelz in the slalom.
Goelz actually tied Gaylord’s Connor Abraham for first with an exact time of 51.23 seconds.
Petoskey’s Nolan Walkerdine then placed fourth in 52.53 seconds, Charlie Thomas was seventh in 53.06, Nate Thomas, 17th (1:00.25); Gavin Galbraith, 25th (1:01.01); and Carter Walkerdine, 28th (1:01.29).
Within the boys giant slalom event, West’s Caleb Lewandowski took the top spot with a time of 36.44 seconds.
Leading for Petoskey was Nolan Walkerdine in third place in 37.30 seconds, Goelz placed fourth in 37.36 and Charlie Thomas was 18th in 38.68.
Petoskey also had Nate Thomas place 25th (39.31), Carter Walkerdine took 34th (40.62) and Galbraith was 38th (41.07).
Nearing the end stretch of the ski season, Petoskey will double up this week and get in a Boyne Mountain hosted race at Boyne Mountain on Thursday, Feb. 3, hosted by Gaylord.
Petoskey’s first chance to host a BNC race will then come on Monday, Feb. 7 at Nub’s Nob in Harbor Springs.
Contact Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com. Follow him on Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Spence earns pair of firsts, Petoskey skiers take on BNC at Crystal
