As your Sturgeon Bay Clippers Ski and Snowboard team wrapped up their conference season over the past week, they were led by three Seniors who proved just how far you can come through four years of commitment and determination. On Saturday, Senior Alpine Racer Julia Gregory had her best results, finishing 16th overall at the Ski Brule meet, including 14th and 15th place finishes in the Super G and Giant Slalom events. Julia was a positive influence on younger members of the team throughout the season. It even proved that the team motto* was more facetious than serious by skipping the final meet of the season to focus on her coursework. Yes, Virginia, there is still such a thing as a student-athlete!
Senior Ben Stephens also had some of the best meets of his career over the past week, resulting in a 16th-place finish at Ski Brule and an 18th-place finish at Snowriver on Tuesday. Ben had outstanding Giant Slalom, and Super G runs in both meets to cap off a great career, exemplified by consistent improvement.
In the snowboard competition, Senior Tristan Brilla finished 2nd in both meets to solidify his spot in 2nd place overall in the Northern Ski and Snowboard Conference and qualified to represent the Clippers at the State Championship meet at Mt. La Crosse on February 17th! Congratulations, Tristan, on a great season and the second State berth of your storied career! Good luck out west.
Three other seniors deserve honorable mention for fantastic careers, including multi-sport athlete Maddie Propsom, Xavier Jandrin, and Tori Alger. Both Jandrin and Alger suffered non-ski-related injuries at the beginning of the season. Alger was sorely missed on the slopes and road trips by her teammates. Xavier returned triumphantly to the slopes in the past week, building on the myth, the legend of famous European downhiller turned high school student "Havie-air Zhandreen."
Snowboarder Makensie Mclain and skiers June VanLieshout and Jordis Brilla also wrapped up great seasons, and we look forward to seeing them on the slopes again next year.
* About that team motto (purely facetious):
