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Last week featured two more Lake Michigan Ski Conference meets. On Monday the girls showed their ability to come back when they finished 3rd, improving on their previous 4th place finish. Rachel Eklund again led the team with 3rd and 2nd place finishes in the Giant Slalom and Slalom events, respectively. The teamÕs third place finish could not have been achieved without solid performances from Kayla Filmore, Sara Eklund, Aimee Lowery and Kaitlyn VanderPloeg.

Despite inspired performances from Clark Filmore (4th and 5th places), Zach Musselman, and Nate Musselman, the boys could not overcome the impact of injuries to key skiers and a couple of unfortunate falls. With additional contributions from Ricky Clark, Steve Elder, Andrew Bean, and Kevin Valley the guys did well to maintain their 4th place spot. In WednesdayÕs conference meet, the boys had the same hurdles to overcome and they did so, again holding on to their 4th place finish. With the steady improvement Coach Goodman is seeing and the return of injured skiers, things are looking up from here. "These guys are showing great desire, in spite of the obstacles they have faced.Ó

Wednesday saw some heroics and drama on the girlsÕ side. Despite a slight slip to an overall 4th place team finish, other skiers stepped up to make up for an untimely fall by Eklund. Goodman cited the performances of Sara Ekland and Kayla Filmore, while complimenting Rachel's effort: "Rachel put it all out there and was ahead by a couple of seconds when she went down. It was just too bad.Ó It was a particularly dramatic day for Venezuelan exchange student Adriana Pereira. This was the first competition where she made it down the hill. Why the drama? At the start of the season, she had never even experienced snow.

Goodman summarized his teams' performances as promising because he sees them gaining confidence.

Next week will be key because the team will participate in three meets, including the Gaylord Invitational at Tree Tops Resort