The Traverse City Vasa Raptors crushed everyone in the 2023 Michigan State Championships, held Friday and Saturday, March 4 and 5. The Raptors won in every single team category, making it a full sweep of the event, With 470 points, the Raptors showed their depth and strength over second place Copper Country Ski Tigers (285) and third place Superiorland (258 points).
There were five events: Freestyle, Classic, Pursuit (Freestyle + Classic, not counted in team points), a Classic Sprint, and a Mixed Team Relay. The the pursuit, racers went off on a staggered start Saturday based on their time from Friday.
John Kostrezewa took lots of photos - you can download them for free from the NordicSkiRacer photo gallery!
Full individual results are at the bottom of this article.
Let's dig deeper...
Photos: John Kostrzewa. More of John's photos here!
Girls
| Team | Freestyle | Classic | Sprint Girls | Total Girls | Girls Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vasa Raptors | 71 | 67 | 83 | 221 | 1 | |
| Copper Country Ski Tigers | 31 | 40 | 51 | 122 | 3 | |
| Superiorland | 43 | 46 | 34 | 123 | 2 | |
| Ishpeming Ski Club | 21 | 27 | 25 | 73 | 6 | |
| Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team | 27 | 27 | 21 | 75 | 5 | |
| Peninsula Nordic | 21 | 22 | 22 | 65 | 7 | |
| Crystal Nordic Ski Team | 47 | 32 | 25 | 104 | 4 | |
| Petoskey High School | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
Arianne Olson (Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team) won three of the three individual events (Freestyle, Classic, and Pursuit), with Annie Paulson (Vasa Raptors) taking first in the Sprint.
In the Freestyle, Olson was followed by Mylie Kelly (Crystal Nordic Ski Team) was second and Annie Paulson (Vasa Raptors) was third.
In the Classic, after Olson's finish, it was Vasa Raptors members Annie Paulson and Ella DeBruyn in second and third.
In the Sprint, following Annie Paulson was Arianne Olson and Victoria Garces (Vasa Raptors) in second and third.
A pursuit score was also calculated, consisting of the sum of a racer's Freestyle and Classic times. Arianne Olson placed first, followed by Annie Paulson and Mylie Kelly.
Boys
| Team | FS Boys | CL Boys | Sprint Boys | Total Boys | Boys Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vasa Raptors | 83 | 80 | 86 | 249 | 1 |
| Copper Country Ski Tigers | 48 | 56 | 59 | 163 | 2 |
| Superiorland | 46 | 47 | 42 | 135 | 3 |
| Ishpeming Ski Club | 20 | 24 | 18 | 62 | 5 |
| Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team | 18 | 16 | 15 | 49 | 7 |
| Peninsula Nordic | 20 | 13 | 18 | 51 | 6 |
| Crystal Nordic Ski Team | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 8 |
| Petoskey High School | 24 | 23 | 21 | 68 | 4 |
Josh Kerr (Vasa Raptors) did a full sweep, winning the Freestyle, Classic, Pursuit, AND sprint!
In the freestyle, Cyrus Hamlin (Copper Country Ski Tigers) took second and Vasa Raptor Ryan Donnell was third.
In the classic, Birk Seagren (Copper Country Ski Tigers) took second, with Ryan Donnell taking third a second time.
In the pursuit, Ryan Donnell's two thirds were good enough to earn him second overall in the pursuit, followed by Cyrus Hamlin in third.
Finally, in the Sprint, Ryan Donnell finished second and with Cyrus Hamlin taking third.
Team Sprint and Overall Team Standings
| Team | Team Sprint Relay* | Team Total | Team Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vasa Raptors | 46 | 470 | 1 |
| Copper Country Ski Tigers | 38 | 285 | 2 |
| Superiorland | 30 | 258 | 3 |
| Ishpeming Ski Club | 27 | 135 | 4 |
| Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team | 24 | 124 | 5 |
| Peninsula Nordic | 31 | 116 | 6 |
| Crystal Nordic Ski Team | 0 | 113 | 7 |
| Petoskey High School | 0 | 68 | 8 |
| *Team Sprint not included in Team Total. | |||
The mixed team sprint relay (not counted in the team standings) consisted of one male and one female on each relay team.
Vasa Raptor's Josh Kerr and Annie Paulson finished first in the Mixed Relay. Arianne Olson and Edison Byrum (Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team) came in second. Cyrus Hamlin and Robin Kisiel took third for the Copper Country Ski Tigers.
Middle School 3km
Finally, there was a 3km event for middle schoolers. Evelyn Grant (Superiorland) was first girl, followed by two Vasa Raptors, Bronwyn Shullick and Anabelle Sketch.
Jack Mazurek (Vasa Raptors) was the fastest male, followed by teammate Nate Gorman. Coop Country Ski Tiger Vincent Gemelli was third.
