By Teddy Rydquist

Review Sports Contributor

With the ambient temperature remaining steady at a couple of degrees below freezing, the Lake Orion Dragons boys and girls skiing teams hit the slopes at Pine Knob in Clarkston to compete in the Michigan High School Athletic Association Regional 2 Meet on Feb. 12.

Like how the scoring system works in cross country running, skiing places an emphasis on attaining a lower score. For example, the first-place individual earns one-point, second-place earns two-points, and so forth. Team scores are calculated by adding the top-four individual performers.

With a total score of 194 points, the Lake Orion boys finished sixth among 13 schools. The Rochester Adams Highlanders (46 points) captured the regional crown in comfortable fashion, holding off the second-place Bloomfield Hills Black Hawks by 42 points.

The Clarkston Wolves (117), Grand Blanc Bobcats (147) and Stoney Creek Cougars (184) rounded out the top-five.

The ski meet consisted of two disciplines, the slalom and giant slalom. Three of the top-five programs on the boys’ side fared better in the slalom – the morning session – than the giant slalom – the afternoon cap.

The Dragons, however, became stronger as the day progressed, posting a score of 113 in the slalom, followed by an 81 in the giant slalom.

Junior team captain Philip Antal and sophomore Ryan Stimac were Lake Orion’s top individuals on the day, each finishing in the top-10 in both disciplines. Along with Stoney Creek’s Will Blackmer and Grand Blanc’s Garrett Moran, these showings were good enough to qualify Antal and Stimac for the MHSAA State Meet at Boyne Highlands in Harbor Springs on Feb. 24.

“As far as Phil and Ryan qualifying for the state meet, we expected that,” head coach Karl Basigkow said. “Our boys team qualified to ski at states last year, but I knew that, as a team, we had quite a challenge in front of us here today.

“Rochester Adams was back in our region after not being in it a year ago, and Bloomfield Hills and Clarkston are always tough programs. Would have liked to finish a little bit higher, but I’m not disappointed. Very proud of Phil and Ryan.”

Looking ahead to next season, there is reason to believe the Dragons can improve on these scores. In addition to Antal and Stimac, juniors Emiliano Ibarra, Andreas Griesser and Liam Kelly are all set to return to Basigkow’s program.

Kelly and Ibarra finished 42nd and 52nd, respectively, in the slalom, while Griesser was 30th in the giant slalom.

Girls varsity skiing

An even younger team than their male counterparts, Lake Orion’s girls program brought up the rear of the field among 12 programs. The Lady Dragons accumulated 376 points, 183 in the slalom and 193 in the giant slalom.

Clarkston (64) cruised to a hometown championship over Bloomfield Hills (118). Birmingham Unified, a combination of Groves of Seaholm, finished in third-place with 128 points, followed by Fenton, Linden and Lake Fenton (144) and Rochester Adams (149) to complete the top-five.

Junior Olivia Griffith, the elder stateswoman of the team, finished 31st in the slalom, and freshman Alexia Kalush was eight spots behind in 39th.

“I’ve seen a lot of growth on the girls’ side this year,” Basigkow shared. “That was really a completely new team, two of the girls were freshmen and the rest skied for the junior varsity team last year. I didn’t have any returning varsity skiers.

“I expect to see that growth continue. Watching the boys’ team last year and Ryan and Phil this year, the girls have realized they want to compete at that level, too. As a coach, I will sit down with them and explain what needs to be done to make it, and then we can continue to build off that.”

Sophomores Kendall Baker, Grace Guccione and Kendall Osborne also tallied points toward Lake Orion’s total.