PI boys place 4th in alpine,
girls 6th in Nordic at state ski meets
Wildcat skiers posted strong showings last week at the state ski meets. The girls’ Nordic team placed sixth in Class B, while the boys’ alpine team was fourth in Class A.
The Presque Isle girls had their success at Titcomb Mountain in Farmington Feb. 18 and 19, 2016.
The Wildcat girls were led by sophomore Isabelle Jackson in Friday’s skate race. She was 10th overall out of 43 skiers in 15:43. Tori Koch, a junior, registered a 19th-place finish in 16:52.7.
On Thursday in the classic event, Jackson was 15th in 19:11.2 and Koch one position back in 16th in 19:15.6.
Emily Colligan took 23rd in the classic race and Mandy Graham 29th in the freestyle race to help boost PI’s score.
Presque Isle totalled 169 points — one point behind fifth-place Gray-New Gloucester. Yarmouth was the winner with 41 points.
For the boys, Wildcat sophomore Max Bartley posted a pair of strong performances. He was fifth in the skate race with a 12:49 clocking and a day earlier was eighth in the classic competition, sporting a time of 15:03.4.
Lucas DeAngelis of Maranacook swept the individual titles, coming in at 11:49 in the skate and 13:19.5 in the classical.
Class C’s state Nordic competition was held Feb. 18 and 19 at Black Mountain in Rumford.
Ashland’s Malcolm Milligan came in third place overall with a time of 18:37.5 and Fort Fairfield’s Thomas Krause was seventh in 19:32.7 in the classic race held Feb. 19. Also in the top-30 was Airin Harmon of Ashland (24th, 21:17.1)
In skate racing held the previous day, Milligan was again third in 17:19.3 and Harmon took 21st in 19:22.8. Krause came in 24th place in 19:36.6.
Tucker Pierce of Maine Coast swept the titles, winning the classic in 16:39.5 and the freestyle in 15:36.8.
Kassandra Nelson was 20th in the girls’ classic race in 24:58.9 and 30th in freestyle in 23:32.1. Sarah Watt posted the fastest times for FF, taking 49th in classical (30:43) and 39th in freestyle (25:55.9).
Maine Coast’s Fiona Ahearne won both races. She took the classic title in 19:21.8 and the skating in 17:51.6.
Alpine skiers from Presque Isle competed in the Class A meet, which took place at Mt. Abram. Nick Bartlett was eighth in the slalom in 1:14.13 and Bryce Smith 11th in 1:17.61.
In the G.S., Bartlett was 15th in 1:50.1 and teammate Bryce Smith 16th in 1:50.7.
As a team, Presque Isle placed fourth overall with 240 points. Edward Little of Auburn, Mt. Blue and Cape Elizabeth were the top three teams. The event included 13 teams overall.
On the girls’ side, Lydia Patterson led PI by placing 55th in the giant slalom with a time of 2:22.98. Alyssa Sweeney was 58th in 2:29.48 and Eleanor St. Peter 59th in 2:32.4. Natalie Bates paced the Wildcats in the slalom, placing 67th.
Central Aroostook competed in the Class B state meet held Feb. 16 and 17, also at Black Mountain.
In the girls’ giant slalom, Nicole Gebhart came in 25th in 2:26.59.
Lane Grass and Bryant Grass were 22nd (1:56.6) and 23rd (1:56.86), respectively, in the slalom. Taylor Campbell came in 29th. Lance Grass was 19th in the G.S. in 2:10.21 and Bryant Grass finished 28th in 2:14.3.
