(Chelsea Update would like to thank Laura Dillmann for the information in this story.)
After a long hiatus due to extreme weather conditions, the Saline-Chelsea Ski Team was back in action with a very busy week.
Last Thursday, the team competed in Regionals, where they saw several excellent teams that they hadn’t competed against all season. The field was larger, as well, with 78 boys and 73 girls competing. The weather was a big factor in the race. It started cold, but warmed up considerably, and the courses were very rutted by the afternoon.
The team results are for both slalom and giant slalom combined. The girls’ team took 9th place of 12 teams. Scoring team members in the slalom race were Katie McInnis (Chelsea, 12th grade) finishing in 17th, Nikki Dillmann (Saline, 11th grade) finishing in 26th, Elizabeth Johnson (Saline, 11th grade) finishing in 33, and Allison Dillmann (Saline, 12th grade) finishing in 42.
Emily Hornberger and Sydney Collins also raced.
In the giant slalom event, the scoring members were Katie McInnis in 14th place, Nikki Dillmann in 20th, Allison Dillmann in 30th, and Emily Hornberger (Saline, 9th grade) in 59th.
On the boys side, there were too many falls for the small team, giving them a last place finish. However, Erik Koseck put together 2 excellent runs in the slalom course, placing first in that event. He will be representing the team in the State Tournament at Schuss Mountain on Feb 25.
“We’ve known Erik had this in him all along, it was just a matter of getting him to settle down to put in 2 clean runs. We’re very excited to see what he can do at the state tournament,” said coach Laura Dillmann.
On Friday, the team competed in its re-scheduled league championship race, against the teams that they have been competing against all season. Weather conditions were the exact opposite of the previous day, leaving a race course of boiler-plate ice. This was a race of good ski edges.
On the slalom course, only 39 of the 62 boys were able to complete 2 runs, and only 32 of 55 girls.
The boys team placed 8th in slalom. Scoring for the team was Koseck (Chelsea, 11th grade) in first place, Caden Faupel (Chelsea, 10th grade) in 23rd and AJ Mitchell (Chelsea, 11th grade) in 38th. In GS, they took 9th of 10 teams, but once again Koseck had a great race, taking first. Also in the scoring were Mitchell in 49th and Christian Harrison (Saline, 11th) in 55.
The girls took 5th place in slalom, with Katie McInnis in 3rd, Elizabeth Johnson in 27, and Ally Dillmann in 29. They also took 5th place in GS, with Katie McInnis in 4th, Nikki Dillmann in 20th, Elizabeth Johnson in 27, and Ally Dillmann in 32.
Both Koseck and Katie McInnis qualified for the Southeast Michigan Ski League championship race, which is scheduled for Pine Knob on Feb. 19.
The league also combines all points from throughout the season.
For the season, the boys team placed 9th in the league, while the girls team placed 5th in the league, up from an 8th place finish last year. For individuals, Katie McInnis was 6th overall on the season.
“Katie has had an amazing season all year, with 5 top ten finishes in 7 races. It’s hard to believe that she just started racing last season. After graduation in June, she plans to continue her racing career at Michigan Tech University. She leaves some very big boots to fill,” the coach said.
