All Seaholm students who participate in sports know how much time and dedication goes into it, but Kayla Elias goes above the norms and drives 230 miles every weekend to pursue her career as a skier.
Seaholm Senior Kayla Elias has been a member of the Birmingham Unified Ski Team for four years. She was appointed captain of her team after her sophomore year, and is still a main leader for the team today.
“Kayla is always sticking up for the kids on the hill,” said BU head coach Joe Minock. “She definitely keeps me awake at practice.”
Kayla has been skiing since she was a little over a year old (20 months to be exact).
“I was still in diapers,” said Elias.
Kayla knows the ‘ins and outs’ of skiing, especially since she spends most of the winter weekends at her condo on Boyne Mountain. She spends a lot of her time up there training and working as an instructor at Boyne Mountain.
Elias has qualified for State Meet the past three years as a skier, and she is hoping to make it back her last year.
Although the BU girl’s team has not made to state meet since Elias has been on the team, she has been able to qualify as an individual racer. In order for her to do this, she must have one of the top ten fastest times at the Regional race.
“Not many girls can touch her,” said Minock. “She is probably about the second or third fastest girl skier in the region. She is very consistent racer.”
Last year at the state meet, Elias had a bit of trouble after falling during her race. There is not always a specific reason for ski racer falls; it could be a slight weight shift, or even just having the skies hit a rough patch of snow.
Whatever the cause, a fall is always a setback. Besides the potential physical damage, there are always emotions tied into crashes.
“I mean of course I was pretty upset about crashing. But I just kept telling myself there was always next year. So I hope to do well this year because it’s on my home hill, Boyne Mountain, where I’ve been skiing for as long as I could remember.”
With so many races, and so much time commitment, it can be very hard to stay consistent, but with Elias’s experience and determination she has had some major accomplishments as a BU skier such as: All-League, All-Region, and All- State.
At the ski race on January 13th, 2008 Elias placed third overall while BU’s overall Girls Team placed second, behind East Lansing.
Ski racing can be a demanding sport, with most skiers in the Metro-Detroit area having to travel to Northern Michigan to train. It is not unordinary for a top racer, like Elias, to have to spend most of her winter Up North.
Although it can be demanding and always tiring, not to mention being outside for hours in 20 degree weather, skiing is a way of life for Elias.
“Although the sport is demanding, when I’m on the hill I don’t think about anything else. Skiing is pure bliss."
Elias will be attending Grand Valley State University next fall. She plans to continue her ski racing on the club GVSU ski team (Grand Valley does not offer Varsity ski racing), and will continue her work as a ski instructor at Boyne Mountain in Northern Michigan.
