County championships under way in skiing
By Kevin Sjoberg
Sports Reporter
The first leg of the Aroostook League Championship in skiing took place last Tuesday in Caribou, with the host Viking teams coming away with victories in the classical cross country meet held on the five-kilometer course at the high school.
The second portion, the freestyle XC meet, was scheduled for Tuesday at the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle. The final meet features the Alpine giant slalom and slalom competitions, to be held Saturday at Bigrock Ski Area in Mars Hill.
The state meets begin next Tuesday, Feb. 22 and will be held through Thursday, Feb. 24. Class B teams Caribou and Presque Isle will compete at Mt. Abram and Black Mountain and Class C teams will compete at Saddleback Mountain and the Rangeley Trails Center.
Last Tuesday, the Caribou boys and girls posted the low scores on the day.
In the girls’ meet, Caribou won with 14 points, followed by Fort Kent with 29, Fort Fairfield with 51 and Presque Isle with 64.
Vicky Bernard of Fort Kent was the individual champion with a time of 21:33, but the Vikes showed their domination by taking the next six positions.
Veronica Plourde and Melissa McKenney were 12nd and 13th, respectively, for the Tigers. ey was just one second back.
Bonnie Corey paced Presque Isle by taking 14th in 27:24, while teammate Lauren Schiff was just one spot behind at 28:19.
The boys’ race saw Caribou lead the way with 16 points. Presque Isle posted 34 and Fort Kent 37.
Caleb Chapman of the Vikings earned the individual title by finishing in 17:42.
Two Presque Isle skiers followed, as Jesse Rochester was third in 18:55 and Jon Rochester fourth in 19:08.
On Saturday, a regular season slalom meet was held at Bigrock. Only Central Aroostook, Caribou and Presque Isle participated.
In the boys’ giant slalom, Central Aroostook led the way as they had the top three finishers. Logan Brewer was first in 1:38.73 for his two runs. Presque Isle’s Kyle MacCallum was first for his team and fourth overall in 1:46.44. Panther Taylor Garrison won the G.S. 1:36.01.
Thomas Freeman (1:54.31) was PI’s top G.S. competitor.
The girls’ meet saw Emma Bartlett of PI take second in the G.S. in 1:47.7 and third in slalom in 1:44.58.
