Ski Tigers win third State High School Title

HOUGHTON -- The Copper Country Ski Tigers cross country ski team won their third overall state championship in a row this past weekend in Walloon Lake, Michigan. Olivia Orr of Hancock won both the pursuit and sprint individual girls' state titles. Ski Tigers head coach, Mike Young, was named Great Lakes Coach of the Year, as well.

State Champion Olivia Orr at the Michigan State High School Championships in Walloon Lake. (Photo © 2008 Dean Woodbeck)

The Ski Tigers scored 375.5 points on the weekend, with Marquette's Superiorland club placing second with 338.5 points.

Traverse City Central placed a distant third with 200 points. In addition to the overall title, the Ski Tigers won the girls' state title and the boys were runners-up.

Kai Sharp and Jay Woodbeck led the Ski Tigers boys' team with top-ten finishes in both the pursuit and sprint. Sharp was fourth in the pursuit and seventh in the sprint. Woodbeck placed fifth in the pursuit and was sixth in the sprint.

Elias Featherly also broke into the top ten, with an ninth place in the pursuit and tenth in the sprint. Al Toczydlowski rounded out the scoring for the boys, finishing 18th in the pursuit.

The pursuit competition consists of two races the same day. Skiers competed in the freestyle race in the morning. For the afternoon classic race, starting times were determined by the morning finish. The leader went out first. Then, if the skier in second was five seconds off the morning pace, she started five seconds behind the leader in the afternoon.

The Ski Tigers won the girls' championship with five skiers in the top ten for every race. In the pursuit, in addition to Orr's victory, Louise and Ruth Oppliger finished fifth and sixth, respectively; Madelyn Shoup was eighth, and Emily Humes was ninth.

Rounding out the scoring for the Ski Tiger girls were seventh-grader Evelyn Delong (12th), Jane Gregg (13th), Kara Donahue (18th) and Rachel Toczydlowski (19th).

In the sprint, the four-person final included three Ski Tigers – Orr, second place Louise Oppliger and third place Ruth Oppliger. Shoup placed seventh, and Humes was eighth.

Ski Tigers head coach Mike Young said, "We have a lot of depth on the girls team and had some very gutsy performances by our boys. We would not have won this year's title without everyone skiing their best. That doesn't always happen on any given weekend, but this weekend it did for us."

Five to compete in Junior Olympics in Anchorage

As a result of this race, and other qualifying races throughout the season, five Ski Tigers have qualified for the Junior Olympics, the national championships for skiers ages 19 and under. Competing in the week-long series of races, March 9-15 in Anchorage, Alaska, will be Olivia Orr, Jay Woodbeck, Kai Sharp, Madelyn Shoup and Ruth Oppliger.

The Ski Tigers race team is open to middle and high school students from throughout the Copper Country.

For complete results and photos see keweenawtrails.com.

Editor's Note: This press release, dated Feb. 18, 2008, is courtesy Dean Woodbeck of Keweenaw Trails.