Ski teams wrap up season at state meet

The Class B alpine ski championships took place Friday and Saturday at Mt. Abram in Greenwood.
The fastest skier for Presque Isle on the boys’ side Friday in the giant slalom was Bryce Smith, who fashioned a time of 1:32 for his two runs to take fifth place overall out of 53. Nicholas Bartlett of the Wildcats took 22nd place in 1:42.31 and John Saucier was 38th in 1:48.73. Chris Carroll, Samuel Gray and John Freeman were PI’s other competitors who placed during the event.    Leading the charge for the Wildcat girls was Alyssa Sweeney, who came in 22nd out of 47 skiers in 1:55.43. Shannon Sweeney placed 30th in 1:57.78, while Grace Player, Cameo Madore and Sarah Morneault also competed for Presque Isle.
In the slalom on Saturday, Smith came in 12th in 1:19.93 and Kyle MacCallum bounced back by placing 17th in 1:26.13.
On the girls’ side, Shannon Sweeney ended up 37th in the slalom in 1:49.24. Player, Morneault and Alyssa Sweeney were PI’s other finishers.
Alyssa Sweeney came in 10th overall in the final girls’ skimeister standings. She scored 178 points. The skimeister competition involves the top placement in all four disciplines — Nordic classic and skating and alpine G.S. and slalom.
In Thursday’s Class C giant slalom race at Sunday River in Newry, Samantha Kearney and Nicole Gebhart, both of Central Aroostook, placed 18th and 19th, respectively. Kearney had a time of 1:35.6 for the two runs, while Gebhart’s time was 1:36.
Cody Clayton led the way on the boys’ side for the Panthers, placing 28th in 1:51.2. Devin Faulkner placed 32nd in 1:56.9, Jon Gebhart 35th in 2:28.3 and Zack Grass 36th in 3:19.4.
In Friday’s slalom event, Kearney was 13th in 1:22.4 and Nicole Gebhart 28th in 1:39.3 in girls’ racing.
Clayton captured sixth place in 1:12.9 and Grass eighth in 1:14.8 for the CA boys. Jon Gebhart was 21st in 1:31.3.
The Caribou girls and boys ski teams fashioned top-five showings at the Class B state Nordic meet, held at Sugarloaf Outdoor Center in Carrabassett Valley.
In  the Feb. 14 freestyle meet, the Caribou boys placed fourth with 150 points, while the girls were fifth with 153.
Presque Isle’s Noah Rossignol placed 24th with a time of 15:53.8, while teammate Gannon Therrien was 29th in 16:05.4. The Wildcats scored 282 points, good for eighth in the team standings out of 11.
In the girls’ competition, Caribou was led by Sarah Doak, who came in 10th in 17:10.5. Kendra Furber placed 18th in 18:06.9.
Presque Isle placed 11th with 410 points. Emily Colligan was the Wildcats’ top skier on the day, coming in 56th in 24:08.
The previous day, the classic-style meet took place.
Rossignol again led the Wildcats by placing 25th in 19:01.4. PI scored 141 points and placed eighth.
The Caribou girls scored 72 points and were fourth in the team rankings. Doak came in eighth place with a 20:23.6 clocking. Chapman took the 13th position in 21:17.1 and Patton was 24th in 22:47.1. Sirena Cyr came in 29th in 23:22.5 and Furber 30th in 23:27.7.
Presque Isle’s score of 195 points placed the Wildcats 10th out of 11 teams. Colligan was 40th in 25:28.3 as PI’s top skier.
The Class C competition took place at Black Mountain’s Chisholm Ski Club. Fort Fairfield’s Sarah Beaulieu had a solid state meet by placing 11th in the classical race Feb. 19 with a time of 19:44.5. Lillian Ashby was 36th in 23:48.2 and Jordann Coiley 45th in 25:13.1. Sarah Watt took 50th in 25:59.1.
For the boys’ Thomas Krause of the Tigers was 20th in 17:52.9. Kaeman Lejuene finished in 21:37.7, good for 57th overall.
In freestyle girls’ racing the following day, Beaulieu took the ninth position in 17:48. Watt was 46th (23:41.4), Ashby 49th (24:16) and Coiley 50th (24:24).
The Tiger girls placed ninth as a team in both disciplines.
Krause came in 40th among boys’ freestyle skiers in 17:11.1. Lejuene was 60th in 23:55.1.