Skiers right at home for States
Local skiers avoided long bus rides and sleeping in hotel rooms and were able to compete on familiar courses as the Maine Principals’ Association Maine Skiing Championships for Classes B and C were held Feb. 16 and 17 at both the Nordic Heritage Center and Bigrock Ski Area.
Leading the way in team results were the Central Aroostook boys, fourth in Class C for slalom, and the Wildcat boys, fifth in Nordic.
In the Feb. 16 boys’ 5K classic cross country race, held at NHC in Presque Isle, the Wildcats’ Noah Rossignol came in fifth in 16:57.7 and Max Bartley of PI also finished among the overall top 20.
Thomas Krause of Fort Fairfield was seventh in the Class C boys’ race with a time of 17:45.8. Malcolm Milligan of Ashland took 17th in 18:34.4.
In the girls’ Class B race, Tori Koch was Presque Isle’s best finisher in the race, taking 33rd in 23:53.5.
In Class C, Caitlin Paradis of Ashland was the top Aroostook County finisher. She took 28th in 24:31.6. Lillian Ashby of Fort Fairfield came in 42nd in 27:53.3.
The freestyle boys’ race was held the next day and Rossignol was 14th in 16:32.7.
Milligan placed 10th in Class C in 16:23.5. Krause placed 30th.
The girls’ freestyle race saw Isabelle Jackson of the Wildcats lead her team by placing 26th in 21:05.3.
Paradis took 34th in 23:40, while Sarah Watt led Fort Fairfield with her 52nd-place effort in 28:03.9.
In the Class B giant slalom in Mars Hill, Presque Isle’s Bryce Smith was the state boys’ champion in 45.69 seconds. His teammate, Nicholas Bartlett, was third in 46.05 seconds. Alyssa Sweeney had the top effort for girls. The PI skier came in 10th in 51.14 seconds.
Zack Grass of Central Aroostook was eighth in 47.92 seconds, with Lane Grass taking 18th in 50.31. The girls’ Class C race saw Samantha Kearney of the Panthers take sixth in 49.64.
For the boys’ slalom, Smith came in fourth in 43.09 seconds, while Jon Saucier of PI was 15th in 52.64 seconds. Sweeney took 22nd in the girls’ slalom in 56.92 seconds.
In Class C, Lane Grass was ninth in 49.9 seconds and Taylor Campbell 16th in 53.03 to lead the way for the host Panthers. Kearney claimed the ninth position in 50.28.
In the skimeister competition for Class B, which takes into account an athlete’s placement in all four skiing disciplines, Saucier of Presque Isle was fifth overall, with Samuel Gray and John Freeman also in the top 10.
