Despite the relative lack of snow on the ground, the Brandon-Oxford ski teams are in full swing as they enter the thick of the Flint Metro League season.
The girls team is 1-2 and the boys team 0-3 as they prepare for a Feb. 1 meet against Holly at Mt. Holly Ski Course.
The Brandon-Oxford girls team is headed up by Oxford High School senior Karen Offer, a fourth-year varsity skier. Offer qualified for the state meet last season, for the second year in a row, and finished 49th in the giant slalom and 29th in the slalom.
However, Offer, 17, said the state finals, which were held at Boyne Mountain in Boyne Falls, MI, did not go as well as she had hoped.
‘The hill wasn’t in great shape, and the weather was really bad,? he said.
As far as this season’s goals are concerned, Offer said she hopes to do as well as she is doing right now, place in the top 10 at the SEMSL regional meet, and then make a return trip to states.
Offer is the second member of her family to ski for the combined Brandon-Oxford team. Her brother, Dan, who is currently on the Michigan State University ski team, skied for the Holly-Oxford team and then the Brandon-Oxford team.
Another returning girls skier, senior Miranda Christen, finished in sixth place in the slalom in the Southeast Michigan Ski League (SEMSL) divisional meet during the 2005 season. Coach Ed Haley said Christen has the potential to join Offer as a state qualifier this season.
Haley said Kelsey Rehahn will be another key member of the girls team this season.
As far as team goals are concerned, Offer said she hopes they can make at least the top three at the divisional race, as well as have good runs each time they hit the slopes.
Meanwhile, on the Brandon-Oxford boys team, Haley said Aaron Van Dis, Casey Drayton and Jason Hine are the top competitors for that team.
Brandon-Oxford’s most recent meet came Jan. 25-26 against Fenton. The boys slalom team lost to Fenton 14-24, with Van Dis finishing third, Drayton fifth and Hine sixth, and also lost in the giant slalom 10-31, with Van Dis placing fifth, Drayton seventh and Anthony Sottile ninth.
The girls team tied Fenton in the slalom at 18. Offer took first place, with Christen second, Rehahn seventh, and Caroline Kerbelis eighth. They also lost a close contest to the Tigers in the giant slalom 17-21, with Offer finishing first, Christen third, Kerbelis eighth and Danielle Hine ninth.
On Jan. 23-24, Brandon-Oxford took on Flushing. The boys slalom team lost to Flushing 13-23, while the boys giant slalom team lost 10-30.
In the slalom, Van Dis placed fourth, while Drayton was fifth, Hine sixth and Sottile eighth. In the giant slalom, Drayton placed fifth, Van Dis sixth and Trevor DeLandsheer ninth.
The girls team also had an uphill battle against Flushing ing, losing 14-24 in the slalom and 15-22 in the giant slalom.
Offer was first for the girls team in the slalom, while Christen finished sixth and Kerbelis eighth. In the giant slalom, Offer finished first, Christen fifth, Rehahn seventh and Kerbelis ninth.
The team opened their season Jan. 17-18 against Flint Powers, with the Powers boys team defeated Brandon-Oxford 12-30 in the slalom and 15-23 in the giant slalom.
In the slalom, Drayton finished third, Hine eighth and Sottile ninth, while in the giant slalom, Drayton placed second, DeLandsheer fourth and Hine eighth.
The Brandon-Oxford girls fared better than their boys counterparts, tying Powers at 18 in the slalom and winning in the giant slalom 18-19.
In the slalom, Offer took first place, while Christen took second, Hine seventh and Kerbelis eighth. Offer also won the giant slalom, while Christen finished second, Rehan sixth and Kerbelis ninth.