BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
Racers ruled the slopes in their first week of competition.
“I was really proud of all the athletes this week,” said Clarkston Ski Head Coach Brian Popelier, adding with snow and the weather they didn’t have a lot of practice in gates at Pine Knob Ski Resort before the regular season and competitions started. “We really focused preseason on fundamentals and drills. It was good to see those fundamentals and drills were utilized when they raced this week.”
For the Giant Slalom race on Jan.11, the girls varsity team had all seven athletes finish in the top 20. Sydney Thomas led finishing in fourth place with combined time of 38.70. Courtney Bayley finished in sixth place in time of 39.11; Phoebe Savoie, seventh, 39.32; Cameron Brosky, 11th, 39.74; Lyndsey Nicosia, 14th, 40.12; Maddie Leithauser, 18th, 41.45; and Audrey Brancheau, 19th, 41.61.
For the Slalom race, Bayley finished in second place in the combined time of 45.09; Thomas, fourth, 45.40; Trisha Verbeke, tenth, 49.71; Nicosia, 11th, 49.76; Elke Roeser, 17th, 54.48; and Brosky, 49th, 66.27.

“Courtney and Sydney are skiing very fast,” Popelier said. “Both placing in the top five in both events. It’s really good to see. We are looking for another strong performance from all of the girls this year.”
They won all three of their dual meets with a 20-71 win over Detroit Country Day; 36-37 win over Notre Dame Prep; and 20-72 win over Lake Orion.
“They had a great week,” said Popelier. “Individual performances were pretty much starting back from where they left off from last year. Each of our girls were in the top 20 in both events which is great to see for all seven racers who finished.”
For the Giant Slalom race for boys varsity, Luke Farella finished in second place with combined time of 36.78. Noah Ostheimer finished in fifth, 37.58; Everett Baetens, 12th, 38.55; Sawyer Haiss, tied for 18th, 39.66; Hunter Houghton, 23rd, 40.23; Max Ashley, 33rd, 41.54; and Alexander Damone, 41st, 42.22.
“Both are very good finishes for a junior. Luke is off to a very good start,” Popelier said, adding he finished fourth in the Slalom.
For Slalom, Farella finished in combined time of 43.80 for fourth. Ostheimer finished in 11th place in 46.31; Haiss, 12th, 47.43; Ashley, 24th, 51.41; Baetens, 58.69; Damone, 64th, 85.89.
“Noah and Sawyer also performed really well this week,” Popelier said. “We did have one of our athletes out for sickness so we had some of our other athletes step up to help with those positions. Noah, Luke and Sawyer performed really well this week which got them two wins. It’s good to see we are in the step of the right direction. We have really strong racers stepping up and filling in the shoes from losing our seniors from last year.”
They went 2-1 with a 21-67 win over Detroit Country Day and 24-50 win over Lake Orion. They lost to Notre Dame Prep, 32-41.
“I am very excited to watch the boys progress throughout the season,” said Popelier. “We did lose three 4-year seniors from last year. It’s very hard to replace that but Luke is one of the best skiers out at Pine Knob right now. He is skiing very fast and very confident as a junior captain which is good to see. He can work and grow this year and maybe do something special as well.
For JV, the girls finished in first out of ten teams with score of 19.
Abbey Clauw finished in first place in time of 19.58; Cameron Thomas, second, 19.78; Sydney Draksler, third, 21.83; Vanessa Micallef, 13th, 23.81; Nicole Smith, 21st, 25.48; Ella Reed, 29th, 26.56; and Maya Mucha, 36th, 27.46.
“Overall we have a strong team, a deep team,” Popelier said. “It just shows we have good athletes coming aboard making a difference.”
The boys finished in third out of ten teams with a 59.5 score.
Bedford Muzzy finished in 11th place in time of 21.31; Michael Brancheau, 13th, 21.67; Jeremy Nord, tied for 15; 21.77; Ryan McKay, 20th, 22.38; Kaiden Rose, 28th, 23.20; Brandon Brown, 39th, 23.94; and Aaron Micallef, 46th, 25.35.
“I was pleased with their performance,” Popelier said, adding the young athletes are doing well which is good for years to come.”
The ski teams competed Tuesday and Wednesday against Rochester Adams, Troy/Avondale and Bloomfield in dual meets.
They compete on Tuesday, Jan. 25 and Wednesday, Jan. 26 against Cranbrook, Waterford and Berkley/Troy Athens.
“It’s very competitive,” Popelier said of the Pine Knob Division. “We have to make sure we have good start and finishes from our racers every week. It should give us a good opportunity to continue with our success.”

  Ski