HARBOR SPRINGS — The Petoskey boys ski team is in a class of its own.
The Northmen skiers crushed the slopes at Nub’s Nob in Harbor Springs by collecting their fifth straight Division 2 state championship title after a team score of 68 points. Monday’s title run marks the program’s 13th D2 title in 12 years, and the Northmen show no signs of slowing down.
The boys team has finished in the top three every year since 2015, and Petoskey head coach Ben Crockett credited his entire coaching staff and the skiers’ parents for the teams’ success since he began coaching the Northmen in 2019.
“The boys came together after a regional event where we had some strong competition,” Crockett said. “When they realized it was a foregone conclusion they were going to win another state championship, they rallied and came together to execute a plan.”
With Petoskey boys coming in first place, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s finished runner-up (102), and Notre Dame Prep (134) finished third. Great North Alpine placed fourth (134), and Harbor Springs finished in fifth with a team score of 155.
Northmen junior Gavin Galbraith finished with an individual state medal in the slalom and a third-place finish in the giant slalom. Cadillac’s Brady Koenig finished runner-up in the giant slalom after a combined time of 50.74.
Galbraith finished the slalom with a combined time of 1:08.53 and the giant slalom with a combined time of 50.85. Teammates Taylor Keiswetter and McClure Galbraith placed in the top 12 in the giant slalom. Keiswetter finished eighth after a combined time of 51.74, and McClure placed 12th with a combined time of 52.21.
“It’s great that all of my hard work has paid off this season, thanks to all my coaches and the Nub’s Nob staff,” Galbraith said.
Galbraith’s journey to get to where he is today started freshman year when he was named the 16th skier on the varsity roster. After waiting for his turn, he didn’t shy away from the moment.
Last season, Galbraith watched the Northmen capture their fourth straight state title, and the junior sensation was motivated to keep the streak alive.
“All my coaches and family have been pushing me to keep this streak going,” he said. “If we didn’t win today, it would’ve been a bummer; but we would’ve tried our best, and that’s all that matters.”
Onekama’s Braydon Sorenson finished runner-up in the slalom after a combined time of 1:09.07. Harbor Springs’ Jackson Deegan finished fourth in the slalom after clocking a combined time of 1:10.1.
Cadillac walked away from the girls race with their second D2 championship title in three years and fourth straight top-three finish. The Vikings finished with a combined team score of 72. Harbor Springs finished runner-up with a 91.
“A couple of years ago, we snuck up and got a ski title; but this year, we had more of a target on our backs knowing we had a pretty good team to do something special,” Cadillac head coach James Netzley said. “It was a little nervous feeling today because of the start.”
Netzley said the girls made it a goal year to repeat what they did in 2022 after finishing third last year.
“We said last night that it was going to take a complete team effort if we wanted to do something special today,” Netzley said. “That came true, and we relied on every kid on the team.”
The Vikings started shaky at the slalom with a couple of girls falling; but in the end, several skiers pulled through. Senior Onalee Wallis led things for the Vikings with second-place finishes in the slalom and giant slalom. Wallis finished the slalom with a combined time of 1:12.63 and the giant slalom with a combined time of 51.67.
Cadillac senior Avery Meyer placed fourth in the giant slalom after a combined time of 53.39 and third in the slalom after a combined time of 1:16.76. Great North Alpine’s Grace Rowe finished fourth in the slalom after a combined time of 1:17.46.
“They are pretty special kids,” Netzley said about Meyer and Wallis. “Both have been first-team all-state for four years in a row, and they have gotten a top-10 finish since their freshman year. Not many kids can do that by the time they come in as freshmen and cap off their senior year with outstanding performances.”
The Petoskey girls ski team didn’t have the outing they’d hoped for, but senior Marley Spence stamped herself as one of the best high school athletes in the state after walking away with her fifth straight D2 individual state medal. Spence finished first place in the slalom (51.17) and giant slalom (1:12.19).
Crockett found no disagreement in naming Spence as one of the best individual high school athletes to come out of Petoskey — even the state.
“We’ve been trying to dig into the history books in Michigan, and she is definitely at the top of her group historically of anybody who has competed in a sport,” Crockett said. “She is the best in Michigan, and there is no question about it.”