Staff Writer
Despite buckets of rain the night before, Saturday morning dawned as one of the sunniest days Aroostook County had seen all week – perfect weather for a ski day. The Feb. 28 ‘Dash for Cash’ invited skiers from all over to take part in crowning Maine’s fastest skier. With nearly 75 participants, this first annual Maine invitational ski sprint proved to be a success.
Middle school students started off the day with 10 a.m. exhibition ski sprints, eventually moving into the individual races. For the middle school boys teams, Caribou finished in first, with Union 122 in second and Ashland in third. The middle school Caribou girls team also finished first for team races and Union 122 was awarded second. In the middle school individual races, Tyler Strid of Caribou placed first, Nolan McDuffie of Caribou took second and Malcolm Milligan of Ashland finished third for the boys. For the middle school girls, Ginger Kieffer, Ashley Richards and Clara Collins, all of Caribou, placed first, second and third respectively.
At 1 p.m., the Caribou Vikings high school ski team took the track. As the only high school team to register and participate in this year’s ‘Dash for Cash’, the Viking teammates had exhibition races among themselves.
Mark Shea, of Maine Winter Sports, oversaw the event and attributed the relative ease and notable fun of the event to everyone’s “can-do” attitude. “I think for a first time event things went really well. Everyone remained flexible and had a positive attitude.
The open races commenced at 3 p.m. and adults were split into categories by age and gender. In women’s 39 and under, Beth Ann Chamberlain of Caribou placed first. Following her were Eileen Carey of Presque Isle and Hilary McNamee of Fort Fairfield in second and third respectively. In women’s 40 and over, Linda Milligan of Ashland was awarded first place with Catherine Packard of Mapleton finishing in second.
For the men’s 39 and under category, Gary Colliander of Fort Kent placed first and Nick Michaud, also of Fort Kent, came in second. Russell Currier of Stockholm finished up the category in third. And, in men’s 40 and over, Petr Jakl of Presque Isle took first place, with Carl Soderburg of Caribou in second and Juff Dubis of Fort Kent in third.
Contributed photo/Christopher Horsman
IN A BURST OF INTESITY, Ashland’s Malcolm Milligan (43) leads his sprint in Caribou on Saturday. The Ashland middle school boys team took third in the team competitions.
