Alpine skiers kick season off with Fort Kent meet
FORT KENT, Maine — The first alpine ski meet of the season in Aroostook County was held Saturday at Lonesome Pine Trails, and the host Warriors defeated Presque Isle, Caribou and Central Aroostook to sweep the morning and afternoon competitions for both boys and girls.
Leading the way for the Wildcats was Nick Bartlett, who was second in the morning giant slalom event in 1:46.36. Teammate Bryce Smith was seventh in 1:50.92, while Chris Carroll (1:53.12) and John Saucier (1:58.64) were ninth and 10th, respectively.
That afternoon, Smith placed third in 1:44.89, while Bartlett was sixth in 1:52.26, Carroll seventh in 1:52.29 and Saucier 10th in 1:58.77.
For the girls, Alyssa Sweeney of the ’Cats was fifth in the morning race in 2:00.47 and fourth in the afternoon in 1:56.21.
Central Aroostook was paced on the boys’ side by Zach Grass, who was sixth in the morning event in 1:50.29 and fifth that afternoon in 1:48.88. Lane Grass of the Panthers placed eighth in the afternoon in 1:55.44.
The Panthers’ Samantha Kearney was the runner-up in both races. Her time was 1:55.84 for the first run and 1:52.97 for the second. Nicole Gebhart was sixth (2:01.6) in the morning and eighth (2:02.69) in the afternoon.
Nordic meets over the past couple weeks have been cancelled due to the cold weather. Another planned for Thursday at the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle is also expected to be scrapped based on the bitter forecast.
Bigrock in Mars Hill is scheduled to host another alpine meet this Saturday, while Madawaska is in line to host a Nordic competition next Tuesday, Jan. 13.
