Aroostook County bragging rights in Nordic skiing will be on the line Tuesday and Thursday as championship meets are scheduled in both classical-style and freestyle racing.
Caribou High School hosts the Aroostook League Classical Championships at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12. On Thursday, Feb. 14, the league freestyle championships are set for 2:30 p.m. in Fort Kent. The freestyle meet was scheduled for Feb. 13, but pushed back a day due to the snowstorm expected throughout the region.
MSSM, Madawaska, Fort Kent, Caribou and Ashland are the schools that will compete for titles on the 5K courses.
Miguel Sanclemente of Fort Kent and Isabelle Jandreau of Madawaska have been the top individual skiers in regular season meets this season and both will look to continue their stranglehold as the overall leaders.
Nordic teams will wrap up the season at the state championships, to be held at Titcomb Mountain in Farmington Feb. 18 and 19.
The alpine ski season continues with a regular season meet Thursday at Bigrock Ski Area in Mars Hill beginning at 3 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 14. The Aroostook League championships will start at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 16, at Fort Kent’s Lonesome Pine Trails.
The Fort Kent girls and boys have dominated in the team results all winter and also feature the top individuals in slalom and giant slalom. Caribou, Presque Isle and Central Aroostook are the other local schools with full teams.
The state championships in alpine skiing will take place Feb. 20 and 21 at Black Mountain in Rumford.
Ski meets were held on consecutive days last week. Alpine meets were held Feb. 7 and 9 at Bigrock, with a Nordic meet held on Feb. 8 at the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle.
In the Feb. 7 alpine event, Bryce Madore of Fort Kent took first place in the first slalom boys’ race with a time of 1 minute and 17.39 seconds for his two runs. Pierre Hickey of Madawaska was third in 1:19.06 and Wisdom’s Sam Roy placed fourth in 1:19.33.
Bryant Grass of Central Aroostook was sixth overall in 1:23.6. Grayson McKenney of the Panthers took 10th. Kyler Caron of Presque Isle ended up 11th and Tiernan Barbosa was tops for Caribou by placing 12th.
For the girls in the first slalom race, Fort Kent’s Riley Sibley took the top spot in 1:24.33, while Warrior teammates claimed the next five positions. Edie Shea of Caribou earned a seventh place finish in 1:38.16 and Macy Wakem of the Vikes was 10th. Eleanor St. Peter led PI by coming in 12th overall.
In the second boys’ slalom race, Roy won in 1:18.83 and Madore was the runner-up in 1:19. Hickey placed third in 1:19.56, while McKenney was eighth in 1:29.69 and Presque Isle’s Alec Staples ended up ninth in 1:30.32. Devin White led Caribou with his 15th-place effort.
On the girls’ side, Fort Kent dominated with the nine fastest skiers in the second race, led by Sibley, whose time was 1:23.74. St. Peter took 10th in 1:49.57 to lead local competitors. Wakem came in 11th in 1:49.81.
On Saturday in the boys’ giant slalom race, Madore was the winner in 1:26.39 and Barbosa was the runner-up with a time of 1:28.44. Grass came in fourth in 1:29.99. Staples and Riley Roderick represented Presque Isle and led the team by placing 13th and 14th, respectively.
In the girls’ GS, Lyndsay Ouellette of Fort Kent prevailed in 1:29.24, with four other Warriors rounding out the top five. Shea took sixth in 1:35.19 and Izzy Higgins of Presque Isle claimed the eighth spot in 1:37.69.
Colby Theriault of Fort Kent won the slalom competition in 1:17.78. The Warriors had five others in the top 10. Grass was third in 1:18.61. Roderick took seventh in 1:23.19. Caribou’s White was ninth and Staples of the Wildcats was 10th.
The seven fastest skiers in the girls’ slalom were from Fort Kent, with Alexis Lovely grabbing the top position in 1:28.25. Cracking the top 10 in the girls’ GS from the region were Wakem, who took eighth in 1:39.79, and St. Peter, ninth in 1:44.52. Grace Bemis of the Wildcats was just out of the top 10, placing 11th overall in 1:45.89.
Wakem displayed her all-around skiing ability as she placed first in Friday’s Nordic competition in a time of 18:25.6. Kassandra Nelson of Ashland was the runner-up in 18:48.6, while Mya Eno of Fort Kent was third and Willow Hall, also of Ashland, fourth. Presque Isle’s Maddie Jackson came in 12th overall.
Samuel Bosse of Madawaska won the boys’ race in 15:35.9. Caribou’s Dakota Yakel, Tommy Pinette, Malachi Willey and Carter Belanger rounded out the top five in consecutive order. Dane Driscoll paced Ashland by coming in 10th place. Cole Bennett of Fort Kent took 12th and Presque Isle’s Ezra Leach was 17th.
