Petoskey Boys Rule D2 Mountain Again
February 27, 2017
By Brett A. Sommers
Special for Second Half
HARBOR SPRINGS — King in the North.
Petoskey’s hold on the crown grew even tighter with the program’s seventh consecutive boys team skiing championship Monday.
The Northmen (61) nearly halved the score of runner up Great North Alpine (109.5), winning both disciplines — slalom and giant slalom (GS) — with a dominant Division 2 victory at Boyne Highlands Resort.
Mitch Makela led the Northmen with an individual title in the GS and a runner-up finish in the slalom.
“There is definitely a little pressure (to keep winning),” Makela said. “I know a lot of the guys that started the streak a long time ago. They text me each year I’ve been a part of it, ‘Better not loose the streak.’
“Two individual championships would have been awesome, but I’m not going to complain with just one.”
Makela had time to make up following his first slalom run, during which he registered the fourth-fasted time. But Makela (1:00.31) slid 11 hundredths of a second ahead of Charlevoix’s Brad Klinger (1:00.42) for the win following the second set of runs.
“I knew I had room to make up,” Makela said. “I knew there were definitely mistakes and things I could clean up. I put it out there and got down there as fast as I could.”
Klinger posted the fastest time in the first run, but the fourth-fastest in the second. Makela had the fastest final run.
“I knew my second run was wasn’t as good as my first one,” Klinger said. “I had a little hiccup in the middle. I knew it was going to be close.
“I’m happy. Me and Mitch are always neck and neck. We’re good buddies.”
Petoskey head coach Erik Lundteigen said it is skiers like Makela that keep the Northmen program going strong.
“It’s nice when you have the best skiers in the state,” he said. “It helps the program because all the kids have someone to look after and emulate. I guarantee there are other kids who will want to be up (on the podium) where Makela was. We’ve been fortunate over the years to have quite a few of those kids. It builds on itself.”
Makela’s teammate Ethan Siegwart (1:01.45) finished third in the slalom; Flint Powers Catholic’s Devin Hope (1:01.53) was fourth. Great North Alpine’s Christian Stellin (1:01.67) and Finn Husband (1:01.86) finished 5-6, and Cadillac’s Alex Netzley (1:01.91) was seventh. Cranbrook Kingswood’s Jevon Hovey (1:03.21) was eighth, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central’s Ben Finkelstein (1:03.25) ninth and Benzie Central’s Gabriel Johnson (1:03.53) 10th.
Netzley wasn’t disappointed with his slalom finish after beginning the day with an individual title in the GS (56.91).
The Vikings sophomore won by four tenths of a second over Makela, who Netzley had been battling all season in Big North Conference competition.
“We’ve had a lot of good skiers come through Cadillac, so it’s cool to put my name up with them,” Netzley said. “I’m just really excited. It’s fun to go out there and ski. I’m just happy I had a good result today.”
Netzley said he used last season’s trip to the MHSAA Finals, as a freshman, as a learning tool, and he hopes Monday’s championship will provide much the same in his next two years.
Great North Alpine — in its first season using the team name — completed another successful run as the runner-up.
The Grand Traverse-area co-op, formerly referred to as Elk Rapids-Traverse City St. Francis, was runner-up in 2016 as well.
“It’s awesome to be up there with that trophy two years in a row,” Stellin said. “Last year was cool, but this year with the name it’s more of a team. You feel closer to every one and more unified. It was really cool to bring the trophy to that name.”
Great North Alpine coach Doug White commended the champion Northmen simply by saying, “You’re not going to catch Petoskey.”
Stellin (57.46) finished third in the GS, giving him two top-five finishes on the day. Klinger (58.29) was fourth, Siegwart (58.73) fifth, Harbor Springs’ Max Sydow (58.85) sixth and Charlevoix’s Matt Good (59.36) seventh. Harbor Springs’ Sam Bailey (59.40) was eighth, East Grand Rapids’ Johnny Southwell (59.56) ninth and Cranbrook Kingswood’s Hovey (59.73) 10th.
Cranbrook Kingswood (121) finished third as a team, Harbor Springs (129.5) fourth, Cadillac (150) fifth, Flint Powers Catholic (172) sixth, East Grand Rapids (180.5) seventh, Caledonia (236) eighth and Pontiac Notre Dame Prep (237.5) ninth.
PHOTOS: (Top) Petoskey’s Mitch Makela approaches a gate during the Division 2 Finals on Monday at Boyne Highlands. (Middle) Great North Alpine’s Jonas Pryde leans into a turn during one of his runs. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Dehlin's Title Sweep Leads Marquette Boys' Return to Top Spot in Division 1
By
Nick Cooper
Special for MHSAA.com
February 25, 2025
HARBOR SPRINGS – Sam Dehlin’s final high school ski runs can undoubtedly be declared a success.
The reigning Division 1 Finals champion in the slalom once again took home the crown in that event and added another accolade to his resume with a first place in the giant slalom on a warm Monday at Nub’s Nob.
Dehlin also propelled the Marquette boys to the team championship as the Sentinels scored a combined 50.4 points, 13.5 fewer than second-place Traverse City West.
“Overall, I think it was a really good. I think all the people on our team skied to the best of their ability,” said Dehlin.
His first-place finish in the slalom clocked in at a combined time of 70.16 seconds, with Marquette teammates Conner Henry taking second place with a time of 72.99, Brady Audette finishing fourth (75.63) and Ben Kuhl sixth (76.52) solidifying an outstanding showing by the Sentinels as each earned first-team all-state honors.
Marquette’s team championship was its first since completing a run of eight straight in 2020. The Sentinels had finished third the last two seasons.
Not to be outdone, the Traverse City West and Central boys both finished among the top three. West finished in second place with a score of 64 points, and Central was third with a score of 103 points including the meet’s best giant slalom score of 25 points. Finishing fourth through ninth respectively were Clarkston (155), Lake Orion (203), Detroit Catholic Central (210), Rochester Hills Stoney Creek (256.5), Milford (261) and Northville (262).
Also earning first-team all-state in the slalom were Central third-place finisher Jace Rowell (74.27), West’s fifth-place finisher Cam Lewandowski (76.48), West’s Dane Lewandowski (76.56) in seventh, Central’s Trevor Suttle (77.02) in eighth, West’s Grady Ellis (77.28) in ninth and Brighton’s John Popov (78.37) in 10th.
“Overall, (we were) pretty consistent and stayed in the top 10 in both events, so that was good. The snow conditions weren’t ideal, but they worked, and we managed to get second overall,” said TC West’s Dane Lewandowski.
In the giant slalom, Dehlin secured the victory with a combined time of 52.88. Taking second was Broden Janczarek of Lake Orion with a time of 53.55. In third place, Traverse City Central’s Emerson Elkins clocked in at 53.91.
Giant slalom first-team all-state honors also went to Rowell in fourth, Kuhl in fifth, Cam Lewandowski in sixth, Ellis in seventh, Central’s Cooper Gerber in eighth, Dane Lewandowski in ninth, and Suttle in 10th.
As Dehlin’s career came to a close, the decorated slope star said he hopes to continue a passion that started long before high school.
“I've been skiing since I was 5 and then obviously racing high school all four years. (I’ve had) a lot of fun with high school racing. I’m kind of sad to see it come to a close. But I’m going to go to the University of Michigan (and) they have a club team that I’m going to try and join,” said Dehlin.
Click for full results. Click to watch NFHS Network broadcasts: Slalom | Giant Slalom
PHOTOS (Top) Grand Haven’s Maverick Hardebeck carves through a turn during the slalom Monday at Nub’s Nob. (Middle) Brighton’s Erik DeKeyser breaks past a gate during a slalom run. (Below) Lake Orion’s Raffael Anders finishes a giant slalom run. (Click for more from Tori Burley – photos to be added throughout this week.)