The Lake Orion Boys Varsity Ski team wins the Pine Knob Ski League Championship.From left, Evan Kelly, Tanner Stewart, Marcel Anders, Broden Janczarek and Kooper Janczarek. Not pictured, Josh Cotter. Photos provided by Karl Basigkow.

By Wendi Reardon Price
Staff Writer
wprice@mihomepaper.com
 LAKE ORION — The Lake Orion High School Ski teams reflected on their season during their banquet last week, celebrating the highlights and looking ahead at a better winter next year from Mother Nature.
“The boys did have a good year,” said Karl Basigkow, head coach. “They didn’t quite meet their goals, but it was a good year.”
The season ended with three skiers from the boys varsity team racing in the MHSAA Division 1 State Championship at Boyne Highlands.
Marcel Anders and Broden Janczarek finished being named to the All-State First Team for their placement. Evan Kelly was named to the All-State Second Team for finishing in the top 20.
Anders finished in sixth place during the Slalom event at the state championship, finishing in a combined time of 65.97. Kelly finished in 17th place with a time of 69.51.
For the Giant Slalom, Janczarek finished in eighth place, 60.91; and Kelly, 21st place, 62.77.
The three qualified for states during the MHSAA Division 1 Region 2 meet at Pine Knob Ski and Snowboard Resort. The boys team finished in fourth place, missing being one of the top three teams to head to the state championship by seven points with a total of 136 points.
Janczarek finished in first place in the Slalom event with a total time of 45.02. Anders finished in third place, 45.90.
Anders led the Dragons in the Giant Slalom event, finishing in second place in the time of 35.97; and Kelly finished in seventh place, 36.94.
The girls team finished in 11th place with a total of 345 points. Onyx Seppala was led the Dragons, finishing in 17th place in a total time of 59.74 in the Slalom event.
The boys finished with a 9-2 overall record in the Pine Knob Ski League. They also won the league championship event, to outright win the league title.
“It is a good competitive league,” said Basigkow, adding half of the league has is in Division 1 and Division 2 and regularly qualify for the state championship like Clarkston, Rochester Adams, Cranbrook and Notre Dame Prep. “We believe we have a higher level of competition at our resort than other resorts in the area.”
He added there were teams from other resorts which did beat them in the region meet.
“That’s how we got beat out this year, just teams flying under the radar so to speak, came in and dominated this year at regional,” said Basigkow.
“We will work hard to prepare for that next year.”
By winning the league championship, the boys varsity team qualified for the Southeastern Michigan Ski League event.
Janczarek finished the SEMSL event winning the Giant Slalom in the time of 36.97; and the Slalom, 46.23.
“It was pretty exciting,” said Basigkow. “Broden will be back next year. He is what I look for in a captain. He helps the younger skiers and mentors them. And, he still focuses on his own performance.”
The Dragons finished the SEMSL Giant Slalom in third place with 45.5 points.
Anders finished in sixth place in a combined time of 38.12; Kelly, 11th place, 38.70; and Kooper Janczarek, tied for 27th place, 40.88.
The boys finished the SEMSL Slalom event in fifth place with 95 points.
K. Janczarek finished in tenth place with the combined time 46.23; Tanner Steward, 36th place, 1:00.19; and Josh Cotter, 52nd place, 1:13.93.
“For both boys and girls this year was a real challenge thanks to Mother Nature,” said Basigkow. “It was the first time that in all my years I’ve ever been involved racing in the rain, and we had that twice. It was definitely a new experience. It was really the challenge and weather really affects the hill conditions, the snow conditions. Because of that, the snow was deep enough for us to set courses, but the surface wasn’t conducive for racing. Several times, though we had to cancel a couple of races this year. Then, there was one race we abbreviated because the snow conditions just deteriorated to a point that it was unsafe. It was probably our biggest challenge of the season.”
He added the racers persevered and accepted it was unusual.
“They kept their noses to the grindstone. They accepted the challenge and in most cases overcame,” he said.
The girls varsity team graduates one racer.
“The girls was a different story,” Basigkow said for this season. “Last year we graduated five girls from the varsity team. We only had two varsity girls returning, and we only had two JV girls returning. We filled a couple of empty spots with some novices. They did win a few races. They did as well as expected given the circumstances. They kept their heads up. They all plan on returning so that gives me some hope for next year.”
The boys team graduates two racers.
“Both good skiers, but I am encouraged,” said Basigkow. “I have a young man coming up next season who will be in ninth grade and is a seasoned racer in his own right. Plus, I have two boys who skied JV this year who finished in top ten. I am cautiously optimistic enthused for next season.”
He added the boys want to repeat being league champions next season, and they want to be region champions and qualify for the state meet.
“To win would be quite a feather in our cap,” he said.