Brighton skier bounces back from fall to win race at Mt. Brighton Divisional
BRIGHTON — Success can’t be achieved in ski racing without being aggressive.
The best skiers race on the edge, knowing they could wipe out at any time, but also realizing it’s the risk required to get down the hill as fast as possible.
Brighton junior John Popov won the giant slalom race in the Mt. Brighton Divisional meet Thursday, two days after taking a “DNF” in a slalom meet on the same hill.
“I’d say just going for it, just going all out,” Popov said was his key to victory. “You’ve just got to hope and pray. I wish I didn’t fall Tuesday though. It’s something that happens in skiing. You’ve got to not think about it.”
Popov posted a time of 30.46 seconds in his two runs, winning by 0.66 seconds over Nathan Moriarty of Northville. Popov took second in slalom in the morning with a time of 38.93, placing 0.20 seconds behind Jackson Weiland of Northville.
The meet at the only place in Livingston County that still has a significant amount of snow. The temperature rose to 56 degrees for the afternoon giant slalom runs.
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“It was really soft, but they sprayed chemicals on the snow,” Popov said. “It made it actually pretty good to race on.”
In the one month that races have been held at Mt. Brighton, skiers have had to deal with warmer temperatures than usual and even rain and fog. Some races have been cut from two runs to one because conditions have deteriorated.
“It’s been nasty,” Brighton coach Jeff Street said. “There are injuries across the whole league as a result of just stupid falls caused by that soft snow. It’s rough all the way around. We’ve got a couple dings, but I think everybody should be good by the time we hit (the regional meet) next Wednesday.”
Popov will play a large role in Brighton’s quest to qualify for its 12th straight state meet and win its fifth consecutive regional title Wednesday at Alpine Valley.
He’s the top returning skier from a team that placed fourth in Division 1 last season.
Individually, he’s looking to find a way to be just a touch faster to make the all-state team. He was 11th in slalom last year, one place and 0.11 seconds away from the all-state podium.
“He’s extremely strong,” Street said. “His skiing is very good. He’s getting better as we move toward the end of the year. He’s starting to figure out how to control the tactical aspects of racing. His tactics are what win. You can be the most technical skier in the world, but if you don’t ski in the right line, you’re not going to have a great race.”
Brighton’s boys finished third out of 12 teams with 131 points. Northville won with 57.
Erik DeKeyser was 12th in giant slalom and 13th in slalom for Brighton.
Teddy Gottbreht of Charyl Stockwell was eighth in giant slalom and ninth in slalom. Howell’s Alex Cotton was fourth in slalom.
In the girls meet, Brighton scored 70 points to finish second by 31 to Birmingham.
Abby Storch was fourth in both races to lead Brighton. Payton Wedekemper was sixth in slalom, Brenna Waid was seventh in giant slalom, Vivian Flynn was eighth in slalom, Cecilia Pruski was 12th in giant slalom and Sarah Mayer was 13th in giant slalom for the Bulldogs.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Brighton skier bounces back from fall to win race at Mt. Brighton meet
