Midland Speed Skating Club Yearbook
2013-14
2013-2014 Team Photo
Completing our 61st year of skating in Midland
Coaches Photo
Tom Schiel, Gary Westendorf, Dick Smith, Head Coach Joe Rohraff, Cilla Jones & Rachel Skrocki
MSSC Skaters, Parents and Coaches,
It has been a very exciting year with many occasions that will provide lasting memories, learning
experiences, and most of all fun! When asked to provide a letter for the yearbook I was happy to be
able to address the whole membership to give my report on the season as it will provide a different view
on the past year as well as what the future may look like.
First, I want to thank everyone who took part in the many on-goings the club participated in with
particular attention to the competitions we hosted. As you all know it’s better to race at home then to
travel and it’s important that we host a competition that is lasting in order to continue that luxury.
Also, I think it’s important to note the efforts that were made in recruitment and fund raising. The
success of our current and future efforts will directly determine the success of the club now and moving
forward. Please continue to bring the needed efforts moving forward!
Next, the skaters... I have watched the club as a whole, make great strides this year as individuals in
addition to the whole. I feel that the growth of the current club has reached a point where we are
evolving as a fun competitive club that with the proper support and efforts will produce the high level
national skaters that MSSC has been well known for. Through this growth has also revealed the
necessary hurdles and obstacles that as a developing skater you must first meet and overcome. As a
skater matures and progresses it’s even more important to focus on the details of the sport (technique,
off ice training, preparation, mind- set and identifying weaknesses and areas of need). Our new skaters
to the club made very good improvements this year and noted improvements were made throughout.
We had a great group of skaters attend national this year and more than success I think they received a
great learning experience to build on for future competition.
Moving forward... This year we will have a designated club program that skaters will be encouraged to
follow. This program will include everyone to participate at their own ability. I understand that
everyone has summer activities and plans, but this program will be designed to at minimum maintain
basic conditioning or to providing a platform to take the intermediate skater to the top of the
competitive arena. More to come on this, so please watch your emails for more information.
Lastly, I would like to thank the entire coaching staff for all that you do to assist me and the rest of the
skaters. I feel that we continue to create a fun learning environment for the skaters and do a great job
with kids every night. Without the collaboration of the coaches we have it would be impossible to have
the success that we do.
My final remarks on the season lead me to the statements to assist you moving forward...
Success is not provided; you must work towards getting it every day. Success is a process not an
outcome, the focus on the detail of that process will always dictate your outcome.
Next season we will continue and progress focusing on the process of succeeding as speedskaters!
Coach Joe
Midland Speedskating Club Officers
President
Rick Trosin
Vice President John Metcalf
Secretary
Lynn Schiel
Treasurer
VACANT
Director
Brad Coyer
Badge Program
On the first Monday of every month during the season, MSSC holds "Badge Night," where skaters are given the
opportunity to earn badges as part of the 10-level U.S. Speedskating Instructional Badge Program. MSSC skaters are
encouraged to wear their team skinsuits to "Badge Night", when they are given the opportunity to meet the criteria for the
skill level they are working on. Many skaters wear their badges on the sleeve of their MSSC club jacket.
Highlights of the Badge Program—level completed and badge earned
Top Patch Earned: Adam Hancock, Brady Rutledge, Dakota Mack, Diana Bickmore, Eli Wilson, Ella Trosin, Garrett
Coyer, Grace Trosin, Hayden Coyer, Josh Seidel, Landen Coyer, Loree Chung, Marcus Francisco, Mary Ellen WhyteLietzow, Matthias Francisco, Nana Metcalf, Violet Trosin, Andrew Himmer, Landon Tyler, Semaj Torrain, James
Torrain, Aidan May, Griffin May, Eva May, Garrett May, Gabe May
Badge 1: Skate 2 laps without falling
Badge Earned: Adam Hancock, Brady Rutledge, Dakota Mack, Diana Bickmore, Eli Wilson, Ella Trosin, Garrett
Coyer, Grace Trosin, Hayden Coyer, Josh Seidel, Landen Coyer, Loree Chung, Marcus Francisco, Mary Ellen WhyteLietzow, Matthias Francisco, Nana Metcalf, Violet Trosin, Andrew Himmer, Aidan May, Griffin May, Eva May, Garrett
May, Gabe May
Badge 2: Skate 5 laps without stopping
Badge Earned: Adam Hancock, Brady Rutledge, Dakota Mack, Diana Bickmore, Eli Wilson, Ella Trosin, Garrett Coyer,
Grace Trosin, Hayden Coyer, Josh Seidel, Loree Chung, Marcus Francisco, Mary Ellen Whyte-Lietzow, Matthias
Francisco, Nana Metcalf, Violet Trosin, Griffin May, Eva May, Garrett May, Gabe May
Badge 3: Skate 1 lap in 22 seconds
Badge Earned: Adam Hancock, Brady Rutledge, Dakota Mack, Diana Bickmore, Eli Wilson, Ella Trosin, Garrett Coyer,
Grace Trosin, Hayden Coyer, Josh Seidel, Loree Chung, Marcus Francisco, Mary Ellen Whyte-Lietzow, Matthias
Francisco, Nana Metcalf, Violet Trosin, Griffin May, Eva May, Garrett May, Mathias Francisco, Gabe May
Badge 4: Skate 2 laps in 35 seconds
Badge Earned: Adam Hancock, Brady Rutledge, Dakota Mack, Diana Bickmore, Eli Wilson, Ella Trosin, Garrett Coyer,
Grace Trosin, Hayden Coyer, Josh Seidel, Loree Chung, Marcus Francisco, Nana Metcalf, Griffin May, Eva May, Garrett
May
Badge 5: Skate 2 laps in 32 seconds
Badge Earned: Adam Hancock, Brady Rutledge, Dakota Mack, Diana Bickmore, Eli Wilson, Ella Trosin, Garrett Coyer,
Grace Trosin, Josh Seidel, Nana Metcalf, Griffin May, Eva May, Garrett May
Badge 6: Skate 3 laps in 45 seconds
Badge Earned: Adam Hancock, Brady Rutledge, Dakota Mack, Diana Bickmore, Eli Wilson, Ella Trosin, Garrett Coyer,
Grace Trosin, Josh Seidel, Nana Metcalf, Garrett May
Badge 7: Skate 3 laps in 40 seconds
Badge Earned: Adam Hancock, Dakota Mack, Diana Bickmore, Eli Wilson, Grace Trosin, Nana Metcalf,
Badge 8: Skate 500 meters in 65 seconds OR Skate 1500 meters in 3:35
Badge Earned: Adam Hancock, Dakota Mack, Diana Bickmore, Eli Wilson, Nana Metcalf
Badge 9: Skate 500 meters in 60 seconds; Skate 1500 meters in 3:20
Badge Earned: Adam Hancock, Dakota Mack, Diana Bickmore, Eli Wilson, Nana Metcalf
Badge 10: Skate 500 meters in 55 seconds; Skate 1500 meters in 3:05
Badge Earned: Adam Hancock, Dakota Mack, Diana Bickmore, Eli Wilson
Michigan State Meet in Grand Rapids, MI
Michigan State Medalists
Midland Speed Skating Club voices concerns with new city requirements on
weekday/weekend ice time
Tuesday, August 13, 2013 12:00 pm
By Dan Chalk chalk@mdn.net
Midland Speed Skating Club president Rick Trosin is frustrated
but also determined as the club faces the sobering possibility of
having to end its operations after more than 50 years in Midland.
Trosin said the MSSC has been told by the Midland Civic Arena
that it needs to rent ice time equally on weekdays and weekends
starting next year in order to guarantee that it can hold onto its
time slot. Trosin said that doing so would put a severe financial
strain on the MSSC, but he said the club is prepared to raise the
funds necessary to keep itself going.
“If you’ve got lemons, you make lemonade, so we’ll do the best we
can,” Trosin said on Sunday.
The MSSC, which has produced Olympic skaters such as Ryan
Bedford in 2010 and which has brought several regional and
national speed skating competitions to Midland, is at a crossroads.
The club, which currently has about 50 to 55 skaters, needs to rent
both weekday and weekend ice time in equal amounts starting
with the 2014-15 season, or face the possibility of losing its ice time
if another group is willing to rent weekday and weekend ice time in
equal amounts.
The MSSC, which traditionally has rented ice time only on Monday
and Thursday evenings, would prefer not to rent weekend ice time
because its skaters compete an average of six times a year at
weekend meets outside of Midland, Trosin said. But he said the
club will do what it takes to stay in operation.
“We’re going to do everything in our power to make that happen
because that’s the only choice we have,” Trosin said. “The
adjustments will be made. The only way I can look at it is as an
opportunity. Otherwise, you’ve defeated yourself. It will probably
be a hardship. But we’ll be able to articulate (a plan).”
Ice rental rates are currently $230 per hour for prime-time hours,
which are weekday evenings.
The MSSC has been assigned ice times of 6:30 to 9 p.m. Mondays
and 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursdays for the upcoming 2013-14 season,
which for the club runs from Oct. 3 to March 24. Ideally, Trosin
hopes the club will be able to rent those same times for the 201415 season and rent the same amount of time on the weekends. But
he knows that would take quite a bit of fundraising, something the
MSSC has already been doing in the past to offset some of the
yearly cost for its members.
“We’re going to get out knocking on doors and see what we can do
to raise some funds,” said Trosin, who has been the MSSC
president for one year and has three children in the club. “If we
end up being able to raise enough money, we’ll keep our weekdays
and be able to rent the weekends, too.”
If that goal cannot be attained, Trosin said the next option would
be for the club to rent one weekday slot and one weekend slot for
the 2014-15 season.
The City of Midland has a scheduling philosophy that encourages
Midland Civic Arena user groups to rent ice time on a 1-to-1 ratio
of weekdays to weekends. That means that the city wants groups to
rent an equal amount of ice time in weekday slots, which are the
most sought-after, and weekend slots, which are considerably
harder for the city to fill. Groups which are mindful of this ratio in
their scheduling requests are defined as “qualified” groups and
have the opportunity to maintain their ice time slots from year to
year.
Midland Civic Arena manager Kenny Benson explained in an email
that the arena has 25 hours available to rent from Monday through
Friday and 26 hours to rent on Saturday and Sunday – thus the
policy of asking user groups to rent equal amounts of weekday and
weekend ice in order to try to rent every hour of ice time.
This scheduling philosophy is part of a concerted effort by the city
to maximize the use, and thereby maximize the revenue, of the
arena as the city works to keep the financially struggling arena in
operation.
“Not only are we responsible to our customer base, but also to the
40,000 residents of Midland, to make fiscally responsible
decisions regarding the arena,” Benson wrote in the email.
Dave Keenan, assistant city manager for financial services, who
has administrative responsibility for the Midland Civic Arena,
noted that the city is having to pay $450,000 a year out of its
general fund to subsidize the arena, and therefore it is crucial to
maximize revenue from the arena.
Keenan said that the city has been informing the MSSC over the
past three years of the need for the club to eventually rent more ice
time on the weekends.
“All the other user groups rent ice on weekdays and weekends,”
Keenan said. “We’ve been apprising (the MSSC) the last three
years (of the need to do that).”
Keenan emphasized that the city wants to see the MSSC stay at the
Midland Civic Arena.
“At the end of the day, we want them to stay in Midland,” Keenan
said. “We’re trying to be fair to all the groups and to have them
respect our need to rent weekend and weekday ice.”
Keenan said he has to balance the city’s financial responsibilities
and its loyalty to longtime user groups such as the MSSC.
“We’re looking at ways to grow revenue and reduce expenses,” he
said. “That’s why we’re trying to get the most out of the ice time we
have to rent. I recognize that it’s not something they (the MSSC)
are excited about. We’re doing our best to give them what they
want. We hope we can make them happy. That’s our intent. But at
the end of the day, we have to operate in our budget.
“ … We’re always open to hearing from them, if there are ways we
can help,” Keenan concluded.
From Trosin’s end, he is very passionate about the MSSC, noting
that the club teaches kids about a lot more than the sport itself.
“We’re doing a lot of outreach,” he said. “Last year we did RailTrail cleanup, we went to Brittany Manor, we volunteered at the
Dow RunWalk. The club is special to me, because, yeah, we’re
promoting the athletic end of it, but at the same time we’re getting
(the kids) to be socially responsible.”
The Midland Speed Skating Club is staffing an information table
all week this week at the Midland County Fair. For more
information about the club, go
towww.midlandspeedskatingclub.com.
Midland Speed Skating Club following ‘adopted’ member during Sochi Olympics
Friday, February 7, 2014.
By Dan Chalk chalk@mdn.net
Chris Creveling may not be from Midland, but he’ll have
a group of fans in the city cheering for him during the
Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Creveling, who’s from Kintnerville in eastern
Pennsylvania, has been a member of the Midland Speed
Skating Club for the past few years, and he made the U.S.
Olympic team for the first time this year as a short track
skater.
MSSC President Rick Trosin said it’s exciting for the
young skaters in the club to be able to follow someone
they know and look up to during the Olympics.
“The kids are just ecstatic about it,” Trosin said. “The
kids are pretty excited about having someone they know
(on the Olympic team). That gives them something to
aspire to.”
Creveling comes to Midland about three or four times a
year and helps instruct the young skaters in the MSSC.
Creveling’s connection to Midland started when he and
Midland’s Kelsey Schiel, Brett Perry and Barry Winslow
were training together at the U.S. Olympic Education
Center in Marquette a few years ago.
Creveling and Schiel have been dating each other since
that time. Schiel’s mother, Lynn Schiel, said her
daughter arrived in Sochi on Thursday to watch
Creveling compete in the Olympics.
“I’m glad she’s gotten the opportunity to go,” said Lynn,
who is also part of the MSSC. “Now we get to say that
one of our own is in Sochi skating — that’s really cool. ...
I’m thrilled he was able to qualify.”
Paul Perry, Brett Perry’s father, who was an on-track
announcer at the U.S. Olympic speed skating trials in
Utah this year, is also excited to see Creveling on the
Olympic team.
“When (Creveling) came to Midland, he would come to
practices and establish relationships with some of the
younger kids in the club,” Perry said. “We kind of then
adopted Chris as a member (of the club). In fact, when I
announced the trials, I would announce Chris as a
member of the Midland Speed Skating Club.”
Perry said he believes Creveling is the second-ranked
skater on the U.S. short track Olympic team.
Creveling, 27, competed nationally in inline skating for
12 years before switching to speed skating about seven
years ago through the Wheels to Ice program run by
Olympic gold medalist Derek Parra, who himself
converted from inline skating to speed skating.
This is the second straight Winter Olympics with at least
one member of the MSSC competing. Ryan Bedford and
Travis Jayner competed for the U.S. at the Vancouver
Olympics in 2010.
Speed skating club hosting big event, four-day camp planned for summer
Friday, February 7, 2014 10:00 am
By the Midland Daily News
The Midland Speed Skating Club has a big annual
event coming up on Saturday and a new event
planned for late July.
The club’s annual Winter Blast competition takes
place this Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at
the Midland Civic Arena, with free admission.
“This is one of our longest running meets,” said
MSSC President Rick Trosin.
Skaters ranging in age from five years old to their
60s will come from around Michigan as well as
Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Ontario.
MSSC skaters will compete next weekend at the
Meijer Winter Games in Grand Rapids.
Coming up in late July or early August, Trosin and
the MSSC are planning a four-day speed skating
camp at the Midland Civic Arena, and hoping to
have current Olympian Chris Creveling and former
Olympians Ryan Bedford and Travis Jayner as
instructors, among others.
Trosin said the plan is for the first day to focus on
instruction for novice skaters and the following
three days to feature instruction for advanced
skaters.
“We’ll probably try to run a four-hour segment the
first day, where kids from our community could
come to that,” Trosin said. “The last three days we
want to gear toward intermediate and advanced
skaters, with five to six hours of ice time a day, and
dry-land exercises.”
WinterBlast Competitors
Geminder, Smith lead speed skaters at nationals
Sunday, April 6, 2014 1:00 am
By the Midland Daily News
Kevin Geminder took first overall in the Masters Male 30-39 Division and Richard Smith took second
overall in the Masters Male 50-59 Division last weekend to lead nine skaters from the Midland Speed
Skating Club at the National Age Class Finals in St. Louis, Mo.
The event featured the top competitive speed skaters from around the country.
Also from the MSSC, Grace Trosin took fourth overall and Ella Trosin took seventh overall, both in
the Midget Female Division. The other MSSC skaters competing were Garrett Coyer and Brady
Rutledge ( Pony Male Division), Adam Hancock and Dakota Mack (Juvenile Male Division), and
Diana Bickmore ( Junior C Female Division).
MSSC at Nationals
Olympic Trials
At 34, Midland's Geminder is oldest competitor to be doing both short track and long
track speed skating Olympic trials
Saturday, December 28, 2013 1:00 am
By Dan Chalk chalk@mdn.net
Midland’s Kevin Geminder got a later start than most
competitive speed skaters. But he’s going full speed ahead at age
34.
Geminder was scheduled to compete in the 5,000-meter race
Friday night at the long track speed skating Olympic trials near
Salt Lake City, Utah — starting a week of competition that will
also include the short track speed skating time trials next
Thursday.
“At age 34, to be qualified for short track and long track, I’m
excited,” Geminder said Friday afternoon in a phone interview
from Utah. “Not many people do that.”
Geminder and fellow Midlander Brett Perry are both competing
in both the long track and short track trials — and Geminder is
the oldest person, male or female, to be doing both trials this
year.
But Geminder has his own inspiration.
“We have one lady who is 50 who is skating in the long track
trials. That’s amazing,” Geminder said of Jacki Munzel, a former
nationally-ranked and Olympic hopeful figure skater.
Geminder competed in only the short track trials four years ago,
when they were held in Marquette, Mich. But this year, he
decided to prepare himself for both short track and long track.
“I’m definitely really excited (to compete in both trials),” he said.
“People have been telling me for years, ‘You need to do long
track.’ ... As I’m getting older, the long track definitely suits me a
little better. Short track turns into more of a sprint in every
race.”
But to be ready for long track, Geminder had to go where the
facilities are.
So in late October, he left Midland for Salt Lake City, where he’s
trained for more than three months in preparation for the trials.
“My biggest obstacle with long track was that in Midland, I had
no access to it whatsoever,” Geminder said. “It would have had
to be either in Milwaukee or here (in Utah where I had to train).
So I decided to come out here. I’ve gotten used to the altitude.
I’ve gotten a few solid months of long track (training) in.”
Geminder took a leave of absence from his job at Bicycle
Headquarters in Midland, and has been coaching a speed
skating club based in Salt Lake City to earn some extra money to
help fund his training.
For the rest of the long track trials, Geminder is scheduled to
compete in the 500-meter race today, the 1,000 on Sunday, and
the 1,500 on Tuesday. Then he’ll get one day of rest before
Thursday’s short track time trials, from which only the top 16
skaters advance to the remainder of the competition.
“Honestly, I’m looking to at least set personal (best times) in all
my distances,” Geminder said of his goals for the trials. “I’m still
getting familiar with some of the differences in technique
(between short track and long track). My times have been
steadily getting better. I’m not putting any pressure (on myself).
I’m just skating the best I can.”
And Geminder is excited that the trials are being televised for
the first time this year.
“I don’t know why they’ve never done that before,” he said. “I
know everybody watches speed skating in the Olympics. But
that’s the only time it gets coverage. ... This is definitely going to
be a good thing for the sport. Hopefully, things go well with this
and they’ll start doing a little more (televising of speed skating)
on a regular basis.”
Midland's Perry excited about his performance at Olympic trials
Friday, January 3, 2014 11:00 am
By Dan Chalk chalk@mdn.net
Midland’s Brett Perry is thrilled with the results of his
first U.S. Olympic speed skating trials.
“I couldn’t be happier,” Perry said by phone Thursday
evening from Kearns, Utah. “I broke every one of my
records in every race for long track, and I broke my
1,000-meter record in short track. Four personal-bests
for two competitions — that’s pretty awesome.”
While not having made the U.S. team for next month’s
Winter Olympics in Russia in either long track or short
track, Perry, 20, feels good about the progress he has
made and looks forward to preparing for the next
Olympic trials in 2018.
“The next four years will be pretty awesome. I’m excited
for it,” said Perry, who plans to continue to train in Utah.
Nine men made the U.S. long track team, and five men
will make the short track team this weekend.
In the long track trials from Dec. 27-31, Perry registered
a personal-best time of 36.71 seconds (19th place) in one
heat of the 500 race and placed 16th in another heat of
the 500. He skated a personal-best 1:12.49 for 20th place
in the 1,000, and a personal-best 1:53.76 for 26th place
in the 1,500.
In Thursday’s 1,000-meter time trials which kicked off
the short track competition, Perry placed 19th with a
personal-best 1:29.083. Only the top 16 skaters advanced
to the remainder of the short track trials, which continue
through Sunday.
With an eye on improving even more as he continues to
train, Perry’s goal is to better his leg strokes and his arm
swings on the straightaway stretches of the long track
races. In fact, he intends to focus his training solely on
long track — the 500 and 1,000 distances — and not
short track.
And Perry looks forward to getting a pair of custommade long track boots shortly.
“They will make a huge difference,” he said.
Perry will certainly be following the Olympics closely,
not only out of personal interest but also because his
roommate in Utah, Chris Creveling, is a hopeful to make
the U.S. short track team. Creveling is in second place
after Thursday’s competition.
For Perry, meanwhile, the next competition will be the
Long Track American Cup Finals in Milwaukee in
February.
Another Midland skater, Kevin Geminder, 34, also
earned several personal-best times at the Olympic trials.
In long track, Geminder took 17th in the 5,000 (7:16.28),
skated a 37.98 (33rd place) in one heat of the 500, took
22nd in another heat of the 500, took 28th in the 1,000
(1:13.78), and took 25th in the 1,500 (1:53.72). All four of
those times were personal bests.
In the short track trials on Thursday, Geminder was 21st
in the 1,000 time trials with a time of 1:30.257.
Incidentally, Perry’s father, Paul Perry, served as the
track announcer for the final two days of the long track
trials after the regular announcer lost his voice, and he is
also serving as the track announcer for the short track
trials.
Midland’s Chris Creveling at the Sochi Olympics
Go Team Crev – MSSC wishing Chris Luck in Sochi