By Wendi Reardon Price
Clarkston News Sports Writer
It was a monumental day for the Wolves at Mount Holly last week. The Clarkston Girls and Boys Varsity Ski teams qualified for the state finals and the girls team won their fifth consecutive regional title.
For the seniors, it was their fourth regional title win after securing the first place spot with 38 points in the MHSAA Division 1, Regional 2 event, Feb. 13.
“I am very proud of it,” said senior co-captain Sydney Thomas. “A lot of the other teams we compete against don’t do that every year. It’s nice we have had a chance to do that. We all know each other well and we have a very good team dynamic. We’ve made it possible with how we are.”
“It meant a lot to me,” added Phoebe Savoie, senior co-captain. “We have five seniors on the team so it’s been nice to do it together for all four years we have been on the team. I think it gives us all a good confidence boost going into states.”
Senior co-captain Cameron Brosky added it shows the hard work they have given the last four years.
“It’s nice to say we are 4-time regional winners that we haven’t lost. It’s very rewarding,” she added. “Also, because we have won five in a row, that motivates us to keep that tradition going.”
“They know their skill level,” said Brian Popelier, head coach. “They know their depth. Not just one or two good ski racers, we have 7-8 great ski racers that allow them to know during a team event like that they are going to perform well. I think their goal was to win and they succeeded again. They are humble, but they are also very good.”

He added he was happy with everyone’s performances from both teams for the day.
“Both teams did a fantastic job of going to a different hill we normally don’t ski at and matching the steepness of the hill in ski to our best ability,” he said, adding snow conditions have also been a factor every week and for regionals Mt. Holly did a great job keeping the resort open and keeping the snow conditions as good as they could be.
“Normally we will talk about conditions maybe a couple times a year, but it felt like this year we have had the warm spells. We had softer snow which then changes our approach and our thought process – how we ski race, how we prepare and actually go down the course. I was just really happy with everyone’s performance based on all of the non-controllable aspects of ski racing.”
The girls team finished in first place with a total of 38 points, earning 17 points in the Slalom race and 21 in the Giant Slalom, finishing in first place in both events.
The girls finished with six racers in the top 15 in the Slalom race with Savoie leading the way in second place in a total of 58.11. Thomas finished in third place with a total time of 58.13; Cameron Thomas, fourth, 58.98; Jenna Brown, eighth, 61.09; Brosky, 11th, 61.58; and Lucy Roeser, 14th, 63.33.
“I was super happy,” Popelier said. “Sydney has been one of our fastest ski racers at Pine Knob for her four years. Once again she had a really good ski race. Again out of that second flight she dealt with a lot of the conditions the later flights didn’t have to. Same thing with Phoebe, four years of being one of the fastest racers at Pine Knob and being able to continue to be excellent in everything she does.”
C. Thomas led in the Giant Slalom, which the Wolves had all ski racers finish in the top 15 again. C. Thomas took second place in a total time of 46.83. Savoie finished in third place in the time of 47.12; S. Thomas, 47.87; Brown, tenth, 48.40; Roeser, 12th, 49.07; and Brosky, 15th, 49.74.
“Talking about our individual performances and our depth, Cameron, our sophomore, in the fourth flight was second overall which is fantastic,” Popelier said. “She had a great race and it goes to show we have awesome senior leadership and fantastic ski racers who are older and have done well all season. Our sophomore was able to be second overall just goes to show we will continue into next year with really strong skiers.”

The three captains shared what helped them with their success.
“We compete a lot,” said Brosky. “We have two races each week. Just getting the experience at the gates at the race really sets us up to succeed especially in the post season because we get a lot of practice.”
Sydney and Savoie are part of the travel team, Pinnacle Ski Racing.
“We get double the practice some kids at Pine Knob get,” Sydney said. “It’s definitely an advantage and confidence boost we have that extra time.”
“With Pinnacle, we all work out consistently throughout the year not just the ski season,” Savoie added. “I think that helps out a lot.”
Bloomfield Hills finished in second place with a total of 86 points and Rochester Adams finished in third with 112 points to qualify for the state finals.
Clarkston Boys Varsity Ski team qualified for the state finals finishing in third place with a total 132 points, earning 69 points in the Slalom race and 63 points in the Giant Slalom, finishing in third place in both events.
Noah Ostheimer leading the way for seventh place in the Slalom race in the total time of 54.99. Ryan Bushroe finished in 15th place in time of 58.64; Evan Savoie, 20th, 59.55; Max Ashley, 27th, 61.19; and Jeremy Nord, tied for 30th, 61.47.
Ostheimer led the boys in the Giant Slalom event, where they finished in third place as a team. Ostheimer finished in third place with a total time of 46.01. Ryan Bushroe finished in 14th place in the time of 48.13; Sawyer Haiss, 18th, 48.56; Ashley, 28th, 49.49; Nord, 31st, 49.71; and E. Savoie, 33rd, 49.89.
“Noah, a senior captain, top ten in both events, had a great performance overall,” Popelier said. “Ryan, a freshman, who out of the sixth flight was our team’s second best finish. His effort really helped our team qualify for finals. One of the best performances for our time for the day out of the sixth flight. He did well and catapulted into the top 15 in both events. Sawyer, a senior captain, was in first flight in both events and really pushed to keep his position and his standing. He was a strong leader and supported his team great.”
The combined team of Fenton/Linden/Lake Fenton finished in first place with 51.5 points and Rochester Adams finished in second place with 97 points.
Popelier was voted Regional Coach of the Year for the girls team for the second consecutive season.
“Without their performance and without their dedication it wouldn’t have happened,” he said. “I am proud to continue to help them and provide them with the tools to succeed.”
He added the efforts the ski racers give all season long makes him proud as a coach.
“We put a lot of effort into it,” Popelier said. “Yet, most of the athletes are doing a lot of the work on their own and with their travel teams. You can see because of the amount of time and effort they put into ski racing, not just in high school but in all of their skiing shows how we continue to be good.”
The Wolves competed in SEMSL League Championship on Tuesday. They head to the MHSAA Division 1 Ski State Championship at Schuss Mountain on Monday, Feb. 27.
“We are looking forward to it,” said Popelier. “Our goal always is sending both teams to state finals. We really like to be there with both teams, and the fact we succeeded in that goal is awesome. We are going to try our best. We are going to represent southeast Michigan as well as we can, prepare to race as fast as we can. We have some athletes who are really used to skiing up there. We are going to keep to our plan of how we can do best as a team and hopefully that brings us to a great result up there.”
Brosky shared she is excited for the state finals.
“We train a lot before our race at states,” she said. “Our team gets super close during this time because we are spending an entire weekend together. We are training, we are doing team dinners and hanging out afterwards. I am just excited to get closer to the team right before a big race.”
Phoebe is a little nervous but is turning it into excitement.
“I am also nervous because I know a lot of the girls who are going to be up there and they are all really good,” Sydney added. “They have always been super good competition, but we always surprise ourselves with how good we do. I am excited to see how we do.”

  Clarkston Boys Varsity Ski, Clarkston Girls Varsity Ski, Ski