Houlton High School offers as many sports to its student-athletes as possible, and this year, two female students were able to compete on the ski slopes.
Senior Madelene Anderson and sophomore Emma Hines represented Houlton High School.
“Central Aroostook is gracious enough to let our student-athletes ski with them,” said Bruce Nason, Houlton High School athletic director. “Travis Kearney (CAHS) was the coach and did a great job with our girls. I cannot say enough good things about him.”
Anderson and Hines were scored as individuals, but trained with the Central Aroostook ski team.
“Unfortunately, we do not have enough participants to have a full team,” Nason added.
The Houlton girls competed in two alpine events, the giant slalom and slalom, and were timed in each event, as they made two runs down the mountain.
“They both did a great job,” said Nason. “They finished 14th and 18th at the state competition at Bigrock.”
The state competition includes all Class C schools, with the regular season involving teams from Fort Kent, CAHS, Madawaska, Presque Isle and Caribou.
Hines has a unique connection to Houlton skiing. Her father, Ryan Hines, and his brother, Derek, skied at Houlton High School under their mother Diane Hines for five years.
“When Derek was on the Houlton ski team, he competed against Travis,” said Diane.
The last Houlton ski teams competed in 1989-94.
“Em and Madelene take the bus with the Central Aroostook ski team to the meets,” Diane explained. “Travis is very generous with his time coaching these two girls.”
