Petoskey Boys Follow Seniors' Lead in Returning to Top of D2 Mountain
By
Nick Cooper
Special for MHSAA.com
February 24, 2026
BELLAIRE – After a brief reprieve, a familiar group finished on top of Division 2 boys skiing Monday as Petoskey took home the team championship at Schuss Mountain.
A year after the East Grand Rapids ended the Northmen’s five-year title streak, Petoskey regained the throne in large part due to complete team contributions as the Northmen earned nearly a half of the top 12 places in both slalom and giant slalom.
Petoskey co-head coach Jac Talcott credited the team’s success to a special mindset that he and his upperclassmen have instilled.
“We stuck to our core values. These kids ski every race like it’s the states,” Talcott said.
Petoskey’s return as champion came by way of both upperclassmen and up-and-comers succeeding, which had Talcott reflecting on the contributions of his team leaders.
“It’s exceptionally special to have two seniors like Taylor Keiswetter and Liam Cleary. They lead in their roles very exceptionally. It takes sacrifice, but it also takes key performances. They both knew that was their job, and they both served their roles as captains really well,” said Talcott.
Finishing just two points behind was Great North Alpine with a score of 51 points. Harbor Springs finished third with a total of 121 points, followed by Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (131), Bloomfield Hills (214), Pontiac Notre Dame Prep (225), Caledonia (241), Grand Rapids West Catholic (241.5) and East Grand Rapids (277).
Taylor Keiswetter’s first-place finish in the giant slalom with a time of 49.38 helped the Northmen regain prominence. Keiswetter finished nearly a full second ahead of Benjamin Dyste of Great North Alpine (50.33). Third place was claimed by Cadillac’s Zane Wallis with a time of 50.74 followed by Great North Alpine’s Corbin Bogard (50.79) and Hackett/Vicksburg’s Bryce Johnson (50.97).
Petoskey veteran Dettmer credits a regrowth in continuity amongst the team as a reason for their return to prominence.
“As a team, we have gotten a lot closer. We’ve always had great team energy. We’ve always been together; it’s just that finally we have all the kids that have grown together,” said Dettmer, who finished with a team-best score in the slalom.
Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Pierson Kuhn finished first in the slalom with a time of 65.02. Finishing second was Great North Alpine’s Bogard clocking in at 66.35. Dyste of Great North Alpine finished third with a time of 66.95, followed by Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Noah Morley (67.10) and Dettmer (67.46).
PHOTOS (Top) Petoskey’s Taylor Keiswetter races to the championship in giant slalom at Schuss Mountain. (Middle) Great North Alpine’s Corbin Bogard races to one of his top-five finishes Monday. (Photos by Todd VanSickle.)
Traverse City West Follows Another Lewandowski to 2nd-Straight Title
By
Andrew Rosenthal
Special for Second Half
February 28, 2022
BOYNE FALLS — Traverse City West’s two-year ski dynasty is bookended by two Lewandowski brothers.
Sophomore Caleb Lewandowski won the slalom championship Monday at the Division 1 Finals at Boyne Mountain to lead the Titans to the second of their first back-to-back ski team titles since the school opened in 1997. His older brother Aiden had led West's 2021 championship run with a giant slalom win.
Aiden also had won the respect of Rochester Adams senior Nathan Dehart, Monday’s GS winner. The two schools are separated by nearly a four-hour drive and 227 miles, but Dehart knew the Lewandkowski brothers well. He competed with Aiden in USSA Team Michigan events across the country.
“I’ve raced against (Aiden) for a long time,” Dehart said after he gave Caleb a celebratory carry at the finish line.
“I trained really hard to get into this situation, and I try to win every week. It feels good to finally win one my senior year.”
The two first-time Finals champions were runners-up in each-others disciplines, with Dehart edging Lewandowski in GS and Lewandowski racing past Dehart in slalom. They congratulated each other, they celebrated with each other on the podium, and Dehart even spent most of the awards ceremony hanging out with the Titans' boys team.
“I was trying to make it down, but also get a fast time. The team was doing really well, so I had to finish for them too,” Lewandowski. “I still have two more years to try and win some more.”
Traverse City West claimed the title over Traverse City Central by 36.5 points. The Titans should next season return several from a sophomore-heavy group, including Lewandowski.
A few seniors graduate — including all-state slalom finisher and captain Andy Hill — but West also returns several fast underclassmen. For example: TC West’s all-state sophomore Charlie Licht (3rd) wasn’t even on the Finals title roster last year. Juniors Luke Wiersma (fifth in GS, eighth in slalom) and Ben Schramski (seventh in GS, fifth in slalom) both had two all-state finishes.
“Any one of those top 4-5 boys could have won today,” TC West coach Ed Johnson said. “All of them skied where they needed to within their abilities. It was exciting to see Caleb win and then be able to have his teammates kind of stack up right behind him.”
Crosstown foe Traverse City Central finished runner-up to the Titans with a trio of all-state finishers. Asher Paul (eighth in GS, fifth in slalom) came home with two medals. Jace Rowell took third in GS, and Michael Booher claimed eighth in slalom.
The Trojans have now hit the 30 mark in boys skiing trophies, capturing their program’s 11th runner-up nod with 19 Finals championships. They finished fourth last year and have been runners-up in five of the past eight seasons.
It wouldn’t be fair to call the two schools rivals — well, at least for skiing. The two schools celebrated with each other for nearly a half hour.
Central coach Amy Kudary said the Trojans have been solid all year long and a runner-up nod to West is still a great accomplishment. The Trojans defeated the Titans at the Peppi Town Slalom meet earlier in the year — the biggest ski meet within the city limits of Traverse City.
“We knew that was a possibility, but still a lot of stars had to align to make it happen,” Kudary said.
Adams took third with a score of 90, led by Dehart’s all-state finishes. The Highlanders had a good showing in slalom, with Brayden Tapert (eighth) and Bryce Tapert (seventh) both landing in the top 10.
Individual all-state medalists not from the top-three finishing teams were Marquette’s Sam Dehlin (fourth in GS, fifth in slalom), Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern-Eastern’s JD Amann (sixth in GS), Hart’s Bryce Natter (ninth in GS, 10th in slalom), Clarkston’s Luke Farella (10th in GS) and Okemos’ Michael Benevegna (seventh in slalom).
PHOTO (Top) Traverse City West’s Caleb Lewandowski leans into a turn during a slalom run Monday at Boyne Mountain. (Middle) Rochester Adams’ Nathan Dehart pulls into the finish of a giant slalom run. (Click for more from Sports in Motion.)