Two Marquette Senior High School Nordic Ski Team members qualified for the Great Lakes Division Junior National team who will compete at the Junior National Championships being held at Soldier Hollow, Utah March 5-10. Marty Gray qualified in the J1Male Division and Mike Wiitala qualified in the J2 Male Division during the February 4 and 5 Keweenaw Nordic Ski Fest in Houghton and Chassell. Gray took 3rd in the J1 Male Division 10K Classic event skiing the Chassell course in 32:08.0. He placed 5th in the J1 Male Division 10K Freestyle race skiing the Michigan Tech ski course in 29:21. Wiitala took first in the J2 Male Division 5K Classic race with a time of 16:23.84. He also placed first in the J2 Male 5K Freestyle Division skiing the Michigan Tech course in 15:42. Wiitala was also named to the Central Cross Country Ski Division J2 Eastern Championships team (Rumford Maine, March 8 – 10).
Other results included Blake Murray and Andrew Twohey taking first and second in the J1Male 10K Classic Race skiing in 30:55.9 and 31:48.3 respectively while Eric Wagner skied to 5th with a 32:44.5 time and Mike McFadden came in 7th with a time of 35:24.5.
Ellen Wiitala took first in the J1Female 10K Classic race finishing the Chassell course in 34:17.9. In the J1 Female 5K Classic race, Sheila Flood, Ali Fulsher, and Ingrid Lindquist took 5th, 6th, and 7th, finishing with times of 22:53.3, 23:00.6 and 23:22.8 respectively. In the J2 Male 5K Classic, Craig Ekstrum finished 4th with a time of 17:15.9 while Logan Zueger placed 7th in 18:06.6 and Paul Zybert followed in 9th with a time of 19:00.8. In the J2 Female 5K Classic, Kendra Palomaki skied to an 8th place finish with a time of 22.58.1.
Blake Murray and Eric Wagner placed 2nd and 3rd in the J1 Male 10K Freestyle Division skiing in 27:52 and 27:56 respectively. Andrew Twohey and Matt Sutton followed in 6th and 7th with times of 29:51 and 34:50. Logan Zueger skied to a first place finish in the J2 Male 5K Freestyle with his time of 14:37. Craig Ekstrum and Paul Zyburt skied to 7th and 9th putting down times of 15:55 and 17:38. Sheila Flood took 4nd in the Female J1 10K Freestyle skiing the course in 41:13. In the J2 Female 5K Freestyle, Kendra Palomake skied to 6th with a time of 20:46.
“Once again our team put in a really good showing taking first places in many divisions,” commented Dan Wiitala, Team Manager and Coach. “MSHS’s Team is going to participate in the February 16 and 17 Michigan State Championships in Houghton and we expect to do well. The Boys Team should be in a position to take the Boys State Title this year. On the Girls Team, Ellen Wiitala will be vying for her 4th State title.”