Ski Shark members post strong finishes at championships

TOMAHAWK — Shawano Ski Shark members Brad Keuschel, Faith Passehl and Kylie Wallace earned strong finishes while competing in the Division 2 Show Ski National Championships at Kwahamot Bay in Tomahawk from Aug. 3-4.

Keuschel and Wallace teamed up for a second-place finish in the strap doubles competition, while Passehl took third as an individual in the swivel.

Keuschel and Wallace’s score of 11.1 trailed just Sarah and Bear Fiedorowicz (11.6), of Waupaca.

“I am proud of our finish at D2 Nationals, especially because we didn’t have a whole lot of prep time and neither of us had skied at that site before,” Wallace said. “Our Greatest Showman-themed routine this past weekend is probably my favorite one I’ve skied.”

“We are pretty pleased with our performance at nationals. It is the highest I have ever placed in a tournament,” Keuschel said. “There were a couple little slip ups, but the comments from the judges were mostly positive and the others were critiques that can help us for future competitions. We are fairly certain that if we would have skied a completely clean run we could have possibly taken first or the scores would have been very tight at the top.”

Passehl finished with a score of 10.73 for her strong finish.

Kate Draeger, of Lac Du Flambeau, came in first with a mark of 12.86.

“Taking third was really exiting for me! That’s the highest place that I’ve taken since I started competing,” Passehl said. “After state, I decided to put more difficult moves in my routine and I think that’s what got me third place. This was also my first time competing in a national tournament and it was a really fun experience for me.”

The Hartwick Huskys (Manchester, Iowa) won the team title, edging out the Ski Broncs (Loves Park, Illinois) the Brown’s Lake Aquaducks (Burlington).