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.)
Marquette Comes Back, Finds Final Gear
February 23, 2015
By James Cook
Special for Second Half
HARBOR SPRINGS – Marquette made up a lot of ground in not a lot of time.
The Redmen, who finished behind Traverse City Central in their Regional two weeks ago, put that in the rear-view mirror by winning the MHSAA Division 1 Finals championship Monday at Boyne Highlands.
"At Regionals, we knew we still had a lot more to give," Marquette's Joe Weber said. "TCC, they're a good team, but we knew we could be a lot better. We just performed."
Central won by 37 points two weeks ago, but the Redmen turned the tables and won by 13 this time.
"Between the two Traverse City teams and us, it's anybody's game," said Marquette coach Marty Paulsen, who won his third team crown in five seasons at the program's helm. "Everybody has to have their 'A' game on that day. I knew our guys had the potential. We just needed to all have four good runs."
Clarkston's Derek Vanitallie won both individual titles, the slalom by a half-second over Bloomfield Hills' J.T. Stewart and the giant slalom by only 0.49 seconds over Central's Lars Hornburg.
"Lars skied excellent; Dirk Phelps and Brendan Wells were excellent," Traverse City Central coach Nick Stanek said. "We're happy with our second place. Marquette always has a (good) ski team up there – and they always will. Maybe next time (for us)."
Even with Vanitallie's efforts, the Wolves were a distant third. Marquette scored 47 points to 60 by TC Central and 114 from Clarkston.
That Regional setback wasn't necessarily a motivating factor, Weber said, but it didn't hurt to avenge it by winning the school's 10th boys championship.
"We were just looking to get to states, that's it," said Weber, a junior who has won an MHSAA team title every year in high school.
Weber took third in slalom and fourth in GS to lead Marquette. His older brother Nick was fourth in slalom and fifth in GS.
Drew Thomas – who along with Joe Weber crashed at Regionals – claimed fourth in GS and eighth in slalom to give the Redmen three top-10 finishers in both disciplines.
"Nick Weber is our sole senior on our 'A' team," Paulsen said. "Nick, as a senior, took on a lot of leadership this year. His brother Joe is a junior and also a very mature racer and took on a lot of leadership this year. Their maturity helped these guys focus as a team and put on the best performance they could."
Marquette's effort allowed them to offset the loss of Nathan King in his second slalom run.
"Nate King had a great first run in slalom," Paulsen said. "Unfortunately, he got hooked up on a gate in the second run. But our fourth seed, Adam Skenzel, he's a sophomore, and he knew he didn't put on his best performance (in) his first run and he came back strong and had a great performance for the team."
Skenzel would place 10th in slalom and 13th in GS as Marquette's last counter in each.
Central's effort was led by Hornburg's second-place slalom runs and a bunched group thereafter.
"I was really happy with that – definitely better in slalom than in GS, but overall I was really happy," Hornburg said.
The Trojans took places 12-15 in giant slalom with Hornburg, Tyler Sepanik, Teague Tompkins and Brendan Wells. In GS, Wells was sixth, Dirk Phelps seventh and Sepanik 13th.
"He's a lot of fun to watch ski slalom," Stanek said of Hornburg. "His first one was the one that looked the fastest, just because the course was a little more open."
Freshmen Max Ranger and Tompkins were in Central's top six. They'll graduate seniors Zak Collins, Phelps and Sepanik.
"We beat them at Regionals, but today was just not our day," Hornburg said. "We didn't put it together quite as well as (in Regionals)."
Hornburg said this season was the quest for Central's 20th state championship. And as a junior, he'll be able to continue that quest next season.
But cold temperatures in single digits and wind chills dipping into the minus-20s couldn't deter Marquette on Monday.
"That's been the goal all season long," Weber said. "Eyes on the prize. Three in a row."
PHOTOS: (Top) Walled Lake Central's Andrew Katz races downhill during Monday's MHSAA Division 1 Finals. (Middle) Marquette poses with its championship trophy. (Click for more photos from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)