Grand Rapids Christian took the hill at Cannonsburg yesterday for MHSAA Region 5 State Qualifier Race where the top three teams in the region advance to the MHSAA Division II State Final at Boyne Mountain.  Region 5 consists of 13 other high schools from locations as far south as South Haven and as far north as Cadillac and has become one of the largest regionals in the state (in terms of participating teams).  While morning conditions were more seasonal, the afternoon produced temperatures near 50 degrees!  As the temperature heated up, so did the Eagles!  The Eagles skied their best race of the year and qualified both the boys and girls teams to the State Final! 

The Eagle boys finished 2nd in Giant Slalom and 1st in Slalom, for an overall finish of 2nd; the Eagle girls finished 3rd in Slalom and 3rd in Giant Slalom, for an overall finish of 3rd. 

Highlights of yesterday’s Regional Race include:

• Willem Gronsman finished 6th in Slalom
• Ethan Lenters finished 9th in Slalom and 15th in Giant Slalom
• Brock Barron finished 9th in Giant Slalom and 8th in Slalom
• Dylan Kuiken finished 10th in Giant Slalom and 10th in Slalom
• Mitchell Winks finished 12th in Giant Slalom and 12th in Slalom
• Mark VanHekken finished 14th in Slalom
• Anna Angell finished 9th in Giant Slalom and 9th in Slalom
• Annelise Kuiper finished 12th in Giant Slalom and 11th in Slalom
• Kiera Bishop finished 7th in Giant Slalom and 4th in Slalom
• Abigail Hoekzema finished 14th in Giant Slalom

Congratulations to Willem Gronsman, Ethan Lenters, Brock Barron, Mitchell Winks, Mark VanHekken, Dylan Kuiken, Anna Angell, Kiera Bishop, Annelise Kuiper, and Abigail Hoekzema for being selected to the Region 5 all Region Ski Team!

This was team skiing at its finest, the Eagle boys placed all 6 athletes in the top 15 for Slalom and in the top 25 for Giant Slalom while the Eagle girls placed all 6 athletes in the top 25 for Giant Slalom and 5 athletes in the top 25 for Slalom!  This was by far our best regional performance ever!

Thank you to our parents who made their presence known – we could hear your cow bells everywhere!  Thank you for all the support, including emotional and logistical, that you have provided to the athletes and coaches this year, you guys have always been the backbone of the program and we couldn’t do it without you!