MARQUETTE – Aaron Grzelak of Marquette is moving into a new world on the slopes this week, skiing with the “big boys” in an older age division at the U.S. Ski Association national tournament this week in Park City, Utah.

A 13-year-old racer who normally races in the Under-14 division, Grzelak was among a select few chosen to race in the Under-16 Nationals after his performance at the U14 USSA Rocky-Central Junior Championships from March 15-19 in Winter Park, Colorado.

Grzelak, an eighth-grader at Bothwell Middle School, skis with the Great Lakes Ski Academy based at Marquette Mountain and is coached by Wendy Maas, a Level 5 coach – the top level – with more than 40 years of coaching experience.

The club reports that Grzelak has become the third GLSA skier selected for this U16 honor, which annually includes five boys and five girls from the entire meet.

“I tell my kids ‘Winning is a marathon,'” Maas said. “Aaron skied exceptionally well at Junior Championships, and I am thrilled that he qualified for this honor.”

The U16 nationals started Monday and run through Saturday.

A half-dozen other GLSA skiers also participated at the U14 Rocky-Central event in Winter Park, while four from the club participated at a similar U16 competition in Vail, Colorado.

Each event in Colorado included close to 100 skiers who had qualified at regional meets as the Marquette-area skiers did at an event hosted by Marquette Mountain from Feb. 19-21.

Making the trek to the U14s in Winter Park from the GLSA were Grzelak, Ainsley Kirk, Jaycee Johnson, Hayden Kauppila, Collin Hicks, Landen Clausen and Logan Audette.

In Colorado, Grzelak finished fifth overall after placing in the top 10 in five of six races. He had third- and fifth-place finishes in slalom, fifth and eighth in giant slalom, seventh in Kombi and 12th in Super G.

Like Grzelak in the boys, Kirk was a girls regional winner in Marquette.

Kirk finished 12th overall at Winter Park, with all six of her races in the top 25 and two in the top 10 – sixth in giant slalom and eighth in slalom.

Also listed among the top overall finishers in the U14s were Kauppila in 34th, Hicks in 36th and Clausen in 51st. Kauppila had a pair of 20th-place finishes in GS and a 23rd in slalom, while Hicks came in 24th in GS.

The GLSA qualifiers for the U16s in Vail were Drew Thomas, Sadah Scheidt, Truman Durand and Brinn Clutter.

Thomas was 22nd overall for the boys with three of four finishes in the top 25, the best a top-10 finish in slalom, while Scheidt was 15th for girls in slalom.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.