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.)
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.)