Notre Dame Prep wins D2 state title for 2nd straight year
When Pontiac Notre Dame Prep girls ski team won its second straight MHSAA Division 2 championship at Nub’s Nob on Monday, it was remarkable for two reasons. It is not easy to win back-toback titles and it’s rare for a team from the southeastern part of the state to compete with teams that are based up north.
“If you look at the history of the state championships it’s often won by a school that is north of the 45th parallel which runs through Gaylord,” Notre Dame Prep ski coach Craig McLeod said. “The teams from Traverse City, Petoskey, Marquette, Harbor Springs are normally the most competitive teams because that’s where they ski every day. So we do our best to train at Pine Knob, but we also on the weekends get up to those ski resorts so we can compete in the same environment.”
He gives credit to the parents who are so involved and supportive of getting the girls up north on weekends to train. This year it was at Nubs’ Nob, the site of the state championships.
The Notre Dame girls scored 56 points Monday in a landslide victory after they qualified with a perfect score at their regional. Harbor Springs was runner-up with 114.5 points and Petoskey placed third with 116.
Notre Dame’s boys team finished fourth.
McLeod said he gives his team a motto each season.
“This year it was ‘peace.’ I want our athletes to present peace to their teammates, peace with their opponents, peace with everybody at the ski hill from coaches to the chairlift operators,’’ McLeod said. “The other part of peace though is you hold up two fingers. When you hold up two fingers that had to do with back-to-back championships.”
It’s a tradition at Notre Dame Prep for students on state championship teams to receive rings.
“All the girls got one and they wear them proudly. There are other teams at our school that have rings, I wanted our girls to have rings,” McLeod said.
He has been the head coach for two years after being an assistant to longtime coach John Diebel who is still with the team.
“Craig came on board and they’ve worked together. Three years ago when we lost the state title it was by the length of a ski, a minute part of a second,” Notre Dame athletic director Betty Wroubel said.
The team lost two seniors to graduation last year, but had freshmen step up.
On Monday senior Meghan Kozole earned two medals with a third-place finish in slalom (1:14.54) and then fourth in giant slalom (53.42).
Five of Notre Dame’s skiers placed in the top 16 in giant slalom. Kozole led the pack with Delaney Flavin in ninth, Sydney Schulte in 11th, Keely McLeod (the coach’s daughter) in 12th and Claire Kirchner in 16th.