PONTIAC — For Pontiac Notre Dame Prep senior Keely McLeod, ski racing comes down to a simple three-word phrase.
“We have kind of a motto: ‘Fast, finish and fun’ — the three F’s, just something short and sweet,” she said.
Actually, the Fighting Irish could consider adding a fourth F — for “first place” — because that’s where they’ve ended up at the Division 2 state finals for the past three seasons.
Notre Dame Prep’s girls team racked up a third consecutive team championship Monday at Boyne Highlands in Harbor Springs, posting a low score of 77 points. East Grand Rapids was runner up at 115, Cadillac and Petoskey each had 130, and Houghton scored 144. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood (180) placed seventh among the nine-team field.
Monday’s performance by the Notre Dame Prep skiers checked all the boxes. Most notably, they were fast.
Sophomore Sydney Schulte was the individual champion in the slalom event (87.14 seconds) and placed fourth in the giant slalom (60.11). But where the Fighting Irish separated themselves from the pack was their depth. In the slalom, sophomore Claire Kirchner was eighth, senior Delaney Flavin was 12th, and senior Hayley Schindler was 21st to go with Schulte’s top ranking. Following Schulte in the giant slalom, McLeod was ninth, Kirchner was 11th, and sophomore Peyton Schindler was 12th, all finishing within 1½ seconds of one another.
Every skier in the Prep lineup finished well.
“We had to make 24 runs on Monday, and all 24 were clean (error-free),” said McLeod, noting the Fighting Irish also accomplished that at the regional and sectional meets and the 2020 state finals, demonstrating the team’s ability to perform well on the biggest stages.
But for McLeod, the most important component of the phrase is the third part.
“I just think it’s so fun,” she said. “I really am in it for the people more than the sport. I’ve grown to love the sport because of the people. The bonds and the friendships I’ve made in the sport are so awesome for me.”
McLeod — a three-year team captain — has been a contributor to each of the team championships, and said the fun aspect helped the varsity squad of three seniors and three sophomores come up big.
“I think the biggest factor is the six of us were best friends,” she said. “We’ve grown so close this year. If we didn’t have the bond and the friendship we have, we wouldn’t have won.”
“We’re a solid six deep on our girls side,” said coach Craig McLeod (Keely’s father). “We graduated one senior from last year and two key seniors the year before, but I’ve got a young core group who are a great group of girls.”
Notre Dame Prep was on its mid-winter break in the week leading up to the state finals, so the team took full advantage, renting a portion of Boyne Highlands from Wednesday on, in order to get acclimated to the weather, the lay of the land and the Northern Michigan atmosphere.
“The tough part is competing against anybody north of the 45th Parallel. We’ve got to train hard and get up north as much as possible,” Craig McLeod said. “There’s always teams coming from somewhere that you didn’t expect, whether it’s the U.P. or west side of the state. But there’s a lot of overlap between the high school season and the club season. It’s just 12 to 16 weeks, so we knew all the girls (whom we would be racing against).”
“We were a little nervous going into it; but our mindset was ‘work hard.’ We didn’t really talk about it much the week leading up to it,” Keely McLeod said. “After we won, there was lots of cheering, lots of pictures, lots of tears. Lots of hugs.”
Coach McLeod welled up upon being told that Notre Dame Prep was the first team from southeast Michigan to win three consecutive titles. With young impact skiers on the roster, adding to that string in upcoming seasons is not out of the question.
If there was a downside to the trip, it was in the boys’ final outcome, as the Fighting Irish had hoped to match the girls’ accomplishments. Notre Dame Prep finished a close third at 72 points, behind state champion Petoskey (57) and Traverse City-based Great North Alpine (71). Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (204.5) was fifth, while Birmingham Brother Rice (270.5) placed ninth. It was Petoskey’s 10th title in the past 11 seasons.
Individually, Notre Dame Prep’s Jack Lintol took the crown in the giant slalom, finishing in 61.35 seconds to edge runner up Reed Heathman of Houghton (62.09). But those rankings were reversed in the afternoon’s slalom runs, with Heathman nipping Lintol, 81.12 to 82.50 seconds.
Teegan McLeod (eighth) and Chase Flavin (10th) also ranked among the top 10 in the giant slalom event.
Skiing is very popular at Notre Dame Prep. The school has an enrollment of 635, yet attracted 51 students to the program this winter.
“We have one of the largest teams in the state,” Craig McLeod said. “When students join, they’ve had at least some skiing experience but not a lot of racing experience. Every year we get some of what we call ‘never-evers,’ but they end up having a good experience, too. The kids like to be a part of a winning program.”
The coach said he’s grateful to have such a supportive atmosphere surrounding the ski team.
“Our school does an awesome job of promoting academics first but also encouraging athletics; that’s a part of the whole student,” he said. “We have an amazing team of parents who help us, and the school’s right there with us. The school, the athletes, the coaches and the parents make it all happen.”
