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 Peaks in D1 Final
February 26, 2013
By John Raffel
Special to Second Half
BOYNE FALLS – Marquette is back as MHSAA Division I Boys Skiing champions after the Upper Peninsula school ended competition Monday with a combined score of 57 points to finish ahead of defending champion Clarkston’s 74 at Boyne Mountain.
The championship was the Redmen’s first since 2009 and eighth since skiing became an MHSAA-sponsored sport in 1975.
Marquette had a score of 34 in the slalom to match 2012 champion Clarkston. But Marquette was superior with a 23 in the giant slalom compared to 40 for Clarkston.
“I was proud of the boys,” said Marquette coach Marty Paulsen, who finished his third season running the program. “We scored well as a team. They all skied as a team and all knew what had to be done.
“It marks a pretty long tradition of skiing excellence and top skiing performances in the state,” he added. “It's great to be a part of that tradition.”
Taylor Janssen of White Lake Lakeland was the giant slalom individual champ while Finley Clark of Traverse City West took first place in the slalom.
Traverse City Central was third among teams at 95 points, Traverse City West fourth at 127 and Lake Orion fifth at 143. Okemos took sixth at 237 followed by South Lyon at 240, Grand Blanc at 271 and Brighton at 279.
Monday’s meet was Marquette’s finest performance this season, Paulsen said.
Luke Johnson, Nick Weber and Matt Anderson paced the Marquette attack in the giant slalom by placing fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively. Dylan Larson scored a 14th place for Marquette. In the slalom, Nick Weber was eighth, Joe Weber 10th, Johnson 13th, Larson 15th, Anderson 23rd and Kyle King 36th.
“We had good results in giant slalom at Regionals,” Paulsen said. “All three top teams – Traverse City West, Traverse City Central and Marquette struggled in slalom a little bit. At Regionals, Traverse City West pulled it out. They had a great slalom performance. So today, we were able to put together our giant slalom with our slalom.”
Lakeland’s Janssen was the giant slalom individual champ with runs of 29.77 and 30.39 for a combined championship time of 1:00.16. Derek VanItallie of Clarkston was second at 1:00.49.
Also in the GS, Loan Stetsko of Lakeland was third at 1:00.50 while Johnson, Weber and Anderson had combined times of 1:00.55, 1:00.60 and 1:00.61, respectively.
Seth Thompson of Fenton/Linden was seventh at 1:00.63, Robbie Cort of Birmingham Brother Rice eighth at 1:00.71, Clark, the slalom champ, finished ninth at 1:00.80, and Ryan Callahan of Clarkston 10th at 1:00.88.
Janssen's family has a place in the area and he considers Boyne as his home hill.
“I grew up on this hill so it's kind of nice to win it my senior year,” he said. “I was really happy with my results. It's my senior year and I'm trying to get it done. The results speak for themselves. I had a really good day and I was happy.”
Fifth in the slalom was Janssen's previous best finish at an MHSAA Final.
“I knew I was going to ski well today,” he added. “I took kind of a conservative first run and had not my best run. I kind of got angry after my first run and was in seventh. I went into my second run saying 'it's do or die here. I went in with complete confidence that whatever I do on this run will be my high school legacy. I went after it and it all worked out.”
Clark, a senior at Traverse City West, took first in the slalom with runs of 31.44 and 32.85 for a 1:04.29. John Merchant of Walled Lake Northern was second at 31.65 and 32.67 for 1:04.32, and Ryan Callahan of Clarkston was third in 32.28 and 32.96 for 1:05.34.
“Last year, I was going in and one of my skis popped off, and I was sitting second after the first round, Clark said. “I changed bindings in skis, and I matured a little more so I knew what I was doing a little bit more.”
Also in the slalom, Janssen, the GS champ, was fourth in 1:06.05, followed by Cort at 1:06.58, VanItallie at 1:06.81, Kalvis Hornburg of TC Central at 1:07.49, Nick Weber at 1:07.59, Alex McIntosh at 1:07.79 and Joe Weber at 1:07.86.
PHOTOS: (Top) Marquette celebrates its eighth MHSAA team championship. (Middle) Traverse City Central's Kurt Frick races down the mountain during Monday's competition. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)