FORT KENT, Maine — On the final cold day before a mid-week thaw, skiers from Aroostook County high schools gathered Tuesday, Jan. 10 for a Nordic team relay event at the Fort Kent Outdoor Center.
The relay format had skiers tagging one another at the start line at the end of each 3.75-kilometer loop. Clean and efficient handoffs were almost as important as fast skiing. The first two laps were classic and the final two were freestyle.
The Caribou boys Team 1 took home top honors, finishing in 51 minutes and 46 seconds. The Vikings were anchored by Bryce Coffin, one of four skiers on the relay team which also included Caleb Brown, Emerson Duplissie-Cyr and Alec Cyr.
The Warrior boys team finished with a time of 52.08, and took second place.
The Presque Isle boys were not far behind in third place, coming in at 57:11. The squad included Max Bartley, Connor Albertson, Garrett Morneault and Tommy Popov.
A combined Ashland and Maine School of Science and Mathematics boys team, consisting of Daniel Wortman, Weston Robinson and Tristan Pelletier of Ashland and Paddy Keith-Hardy of LCS/MSSM, came in fourth place.
Caribou also skied to the top spot Tuesday in the girls’ group. With lead skier Erin Kashian and anchor skier Kendra Furber, Caribou’s girls Team 1 finished in 1:04.13, three minutes ahead of the next team. Ciara Richards and Madeline Gudde made up the other legs of the victorious squad.
The Madawaska girls finished in 1:07.59 to earn second place. Fort Kent’s girls team earned third place with a time of 1:13.50. Three Fort Fairfield skiers teamed up with Izzy Jackson of Presque Isle on a combined team that took fourth. The three FF skiers were Dixie Grady, Kayla Martin and Jessica Halsey. The Ashland foursome of Kassandra Nelson, Ari Stadig, Mack Hall and Abby Walker was fifth and the MSSM squad was sixth, made up of Hannah Nelson, Rothery Sullivan, Naomi Kihn and Maddelyn Emerson.
In the mixed gender groups, the Vikings won their third top finish on the day with a time of 1:05.38 with a team made up of Jojo Fields, Josh Quist, Abigail Wimmer and Evan Desmond. Caribou’s other mixed team, including Rachel Ring, Kyle Boucher, Emma Hixon and Noah Hixon, took second place, followed by Fort Kent.
Nearly 70 skiers from Ashland, Caribou, Fort Fairfield, Fort Kent, Madawaska, MSSM and Presque Isle competed.
