BY NORM MCKEE
Special to The Review

For most of the Lake Orion boys and girls ski team members, the state finals, held on Feb. 24 in Marquette, marked the end of another successful season.
But for two Dragon skiers, it was bitter-sweet, finishing their senior season the same way they had the previous three years. Seniors Alex Faulker and Paula Marchand became the first Dragon skiers to compete in four consecutive state finals events, returning to the site of their first, in Marquette.
Although neither had the results they were hoping for, both have had admirable careers, highlighted with All State honors in 2002. Competing in the boys teams’s fourth consecutive final and the girls’ third final in four years, neither team has dropped out of the state’s top-10 rankings for more than 48 consecutive months, as long as this year’s seniors have been involved with the program.
The boys team skied their way to a fifth-place finish, behind Marquette, Petoskey, Clarkston and Traverse City Central. Led by seniors Faulker (14th in the slalom, 24th in the giant slalom), Grant Fodor (33rd in the slalom, 29th in the giant slalom), Joe Bowen (30th in the slalom, 34th in the giant slalom) and Jared Grooms, it appeared the Dragons might be within striking distance following the morning’s giant slalom event, although off the lead by 47 points.
But with junior Teddy Tarr (36th in the giant slalom) and freshmen Marty Tarr and James Hubbard having trouble on the afternoon’s tough slalom, in which nearly a third of the field fell, the Dragons were unable to repeat their dramatic comeback of a year ago, in which they stormed back from a 40-point giant slalom deficit, to finish in second place, just eight points behind Marquette. The win marked the fourth consecutive Class-A State Title for Marquette.
The girls team skied well, but possibly a little too cautious, finishing in eighth place. Junior Kirsten Thulin (29th in the slalom and 27th in the giant slalom), and sophomore Katie Rivers (43rd in the slalom and 35th in the giant slalom) provided solid finishes in both events, as did seniors Christine Coleman and Marchand.
Sophomore Jessica Hutchinson (39th in the slalom) and freshman Kristen Fleming, skiing in their first state final, gained some valuable experience for the future. Marquette’s girls won the event for the fifth consecutive year.