Petoskey Adds to D2 Dominance with 11th Finals Title in 12 Seasons
By
James Cook
Special for MHSAA.com
February 28, 2022
BELLAIRE – “Send it” was the motto of this year’s Petoskey skiing team.
Consider it sent.
The Northmen boys won their third-straight Division 2 championship – and 11th in 12 years – edging Pontiac Notre Dame Prep by 13 points Monday at Schuss Mountain in Bellaire.
The Northmen used a dominating afternoon in the slalom to pull ahead of Notre Dame and finish with 86 points. Petoskey trailed Notre Dame by four after the morning GS. Cadillac placed third at 116, followed by Gaylord (129) and Harbor Springs (149.5).
All the while, coaches wore hats emblazoned with the motto.
"It's a great streak and it's a testament to the community that's built around this program," said Petoskey boys skiing head coach Ben Crockett. "That is really the strength, is having families involved and it being valued in Petoskey and being something that our community is really proud of. And we just continue to have success."
The Petoskey win was even more impressive given the team had two falls in the morning GS session and another in the slalom.
"We were in need of having a finish to keep us in the in the competition," said Crockett, who won his second Finals title in as many years leading the program. "We got that with Gavin Galbraith, who's a freshman coming through at the very end when we needed him. So that kept us in the hunt."
Gaylord's Connor Abraham won the slalom title, posting the fastest run of each session by a fraction of a second ahead of Petoskey junior Nolan Walkerdine, who took second.
"It's just super cool to actually pull it off," Abraham said. "I've been working at it for a long time, so I'm really excited right now."
The boys slalom saw a lot of skiers hiking, with eight falls in the first three flights of the first run.
The second run ended up better, the snow firming up in between.
"You never know what you're going to get," Abraham said. "That could happen to anyone and it happened to a lot of people today. I've been there many times before."
Houghton’s Reed Heathman won the giant slalom, just beating out Harbor Springs’ Connor Truman by 0.33 seconds.
Abraham also placed fifth in giant slalom, in what he called his best GS race of the year.
Walkerdine also placed third in giant slalom after top-flighted teammate and senior captain Will Goelz fell on his first run.
"There are situations where a hike can make the difference between winning and losing and that was going through my head," Goelz said. "I also wanted to be able to have a second run to finish off my high school skiing career on a good note."
Goelz bounced back with the fourth-fastest second slalom run.
"Nice be able to keep our streak alive," Goelz said. "It was just a really great team effort from our entire team. We counted on every single one of us. I've got a great team to back me up and find some really great results themselves."
Junior Wyatt Mattson brought home a pair of first-team all-state honors, placing fourth in giant slalom and sixth in slalom.
Goelz took 13th in giant slalom, and freshman Charlie Thomas earned 12th in slalom.
"It's such a cool thing to be able to be part of a team with that much of a legacy," Goelz said. "A lot of great skiers and great people come out of our program, and it's really great to be able to add to that going forward."
Great North Alpine — a co-op team consisting of Traverse City St. Francis, Elk Rapids, Central Lake and Grand Traverse Academy — had junior Corbin Murphy place seventh in slalom and tie for 10th in giant slalom to earn all-state in each after qualifying as an individual.
"Coming as an individual this year was a little different because ever since freshman year, I've been coming here as a team," Murphy said. "But it was fun this year. I didn't have to worry about anything for the team, so I could go full gas."
GNA doesn't lose any seniors, so Murphy expected to be back next year as a team during his senior campaign.
Whereas Great North Alpine's entire team — the one squad to interrupt Petoskey's run at 12 titles in a row — wasn't at the Final, another team made its return after a long while.
Onekama qualified at a team for the first time since 1994, the program's only other time making the Final as a team.
Kylar Thomas earned all-state honors with a sixth-place finish in giant slalom, with teammate Braydon Sorenson taking 15th. The Portagers placed seventh as a team.
"We just made it as a team finally, which was kind of a cool thing for my senior year," Thomas said. "After all these years, we're working hard all year skiing, practicing lots and trying to get better."
Mount Pleasant also made its Finals debut as a team, finishing eighth with 223 points, tied with Grand Rapids Christian.
PHOTOS (Top) Petoskey’s Nolan Walkerdine cuts past a gate during a slalom run Monday at Schuss Mountain. (Middle) Gaylord’s Connor Abraham surges into a turn on the way to winning the slalom. (Click for more from Sports in Motion.)
Tradition, Big North Competition Drive Petoskey's Quest to Extend Finals Streak
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
January 24, 2025
At least one thing is certain in boys skiing this winter. Traverse City West and Traverse City Central will not stand in the way of Petoskey winning another Finals championship.
Actually, and almost most certainly, they’ll help the Northmen make good on their potential.
West and Central, perennial contenders for the Division 1 title, provide regular, tough competition that should help the Northman as they set the sites on a sixth-straight Division 2 championship. West and Central regularly challenge the Northmen as participants in their five Big North Conference meets.
Central won the D1 championship last year, snapping a run of three straight by West. Marquette, which won a second straight in 2020, was the last school to win the D1 championship before the Traverse City teams’ domination.
Petoskey hopes to get at least one win over both the Titans and Trojans during the regular season as the Northmen pursue the BNC title before hitting the slopes of the Regional at Boyne Mountain in Boyne Falls and the Final at Boyne Highlands in Harbor Springs. The league scores are cumulative over the season, leading to naming a champion.
“If we have all of our successes coming together in one spot, we definitely have a chance to win one of those conference races” said Petoskey coach Ben Crockett, who began guiding the Northmen in 2019. “The experience of competing against another state champion helps all of our programs to stay competitive when we’re in the state Final.”
Last year the Northmen prevailed in a tougher-than-expected Regional at Crystal Mountain before capturing their fifth-straight D2 Finals championship. That Regional featured Harbor Springs, which finished fifth in the Final, and Gaylord, a familiar Big North opponent, along with Benzie Central, Boyne City, Elk Rapids, Houghton, Ironwood, Maple City Glen Lake, Grayling, Onekama and Petoskey St. Michael. The Regional field this year is almost the same as the Upper Peninsula’s Norway replaces Benzie.
And, Petoskey’s last year’s top performers are all back. The Northman also have added sophomore Eli Dettmer, who returned to Northern Michigan after competing in Maine as a freshman. He is expected to play a key role leading up to February’s Final.
Senior Gavin Galbraith is back after winning the individual Finals title in the slalom and finishing third in the giant slalom last season. Junior Taylor Keiswetter and sophomore Mick Galbraith are also back after placing in the top 10 in the giant slalom. Keiswetter finished fifth, and the younger Galbraith placed eighth.
“A lot of the championship team will be returning, so we think we’re in a pretty good position to defend again,” Crockett said. “Gavin Galbraith will be leading that charge as the returning state champion with the speed to contest for another state championship on the individual level and lead the team as they try to get that sixth.”
While Petoskey will be looking for all four of those skiers to perform well to get back on the podium this winter, that possibility never is taken for granted.
“It is always on our radar, but really on the day I think we’re hoping to have a good performance and everybody ski to their potential,” Crockett said. “We know we have to put in a good effort, and then we have to let the scoring fall where it will.”
Crockett, a 1999 graduate and past Petoskey ski team member, is thrilled to continue as part of the Northmen program. His experience skiing all over North America and Europe during his younger days has been a benefit to the Northmen.
“Skiing was a big part of my athletic career growing up,” Crockett said. “Being able to help this next group of athletes achieve their own goals and dreams has been really fun.”
Last year Orchard Lake St. Mary’s finished runner-up and Pontiac Notre Dame Prep (134) finished third at the Final. The Northmen welcome the competition from downstate and the Upper Peninsula.
“There’s definitely good, competitive skiers coming from spots we don’t really see during the year and face off against when we get to the state meet,” Crockett said.
Effort is the key to maintaining the Petoskey legacy, Crockett emphasizes.
“We really try to honor the tradition of having an excellent program at Petoskey,” Crockett said. “We always try to put in the most effort to continue that legacy into the future.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Petoskey’s Gavin Galbraith races during the Harbor-Petoskey Invitational this season at Boyne Highlands. (Middle) Sophomore Eli Dettmer, an addition to the team this season, leans into a turn during a race at the Harbor-Petoskey Invite. (Below) Carter Walkerdine approaches a gate. (Photos by Drew Kochanny/Petoskey News-Review.)