The Caribou boys and girls Nordic teams and the Fort Kent boys and girls alpine teams were the big winners in the Aroostook League skiing championships held last week.
The Vikings swept both the classical and freestyle meets, with the classical held last Tuesday at the Nordic Heritage Center and the freestyle at the Fort Kent Outdoor Center Thursday.
In the classical, individual titles went to Presque Isle’s Noah Rossignol, who won the 5K race in 18:32.6, and Caribou’s Sarah Doak in 21:26.7.
Caribou’s depth paved the way to their team victories. The boys had five of the top seven finishers, while the girls featured five in the top 10. Leading the way for the Viking boys were Lukas Lagasse, second in 19:19.8; Michael Marquis, third in 19:21.9; Riley McDuffie, fourth in 19:29.3; Caleb Willett, sixth in 19:37.7; and Bryce Coffin, seventh in 19:40.2. Daniel Randolph cracked the top 10 as well, placing 10th in 20:02.7.
For the girls, finishing behind Doak was teammate Lauren Chapman, who was second in 23:42.6. Eileen Patton was sixth in 25:11.7, Ciara Richards eighth in 25:46.4 and Erin Kashian 10th in 26:14.4.
In the boys’ race, Thomas Krause of Fort Fairfield was ninth in 19:48.3. Wildcat teammates Izzy Jackson and Emily Colligan were top-10 finishers for the girls, with Jackson placing fifth in 25:05.4 and Colligan ninth in 25:57.2.
On Thursday, McDuffie was the overall boys’ winner in freestyle in 17:56.3 at the 5K distance. Caribou’s Elijah Verhoff was fifth in 19:08.4 and Randolph sixth in 19:10.2.
Also in the top 10 for the Vikes were Alec Cyr, eighth in 19:11.1; Willett, ninth in 19:11.2; and Coffin, 10th in 19:29.2.
Max Bartley of Presque Isle was 11th in 19:31.1 to lead his squad.
Doak claimed first in the girls’ race in 21:25, 2:16 faster than teammate and race runner-up Richards, who clocked in at 23:41.1. Chapman came in third in 24:06, while Patton was seventh in 25:47.8 and Kaitlyn Ring ninth in 26:13.3.
The Wildcats’ Jackson came in 10th in 26:25.2, followed closely by teammate Tori Koch in 11th in 26:31.2.
Although the Warriors dominated the downhill races held Saturday on their home course, there were some top-10 placements generated by local skiers.
In the boys’ giant slalom, Presque Isle’s Nick Bartlett was second in 1:38.08, Bryce Smith of PI third in 1:40.04, Zach Grass of Central Aroostook fourth in 1:40.31, Lane Grass of CA ninth in 1:47.01 and John Saucier of the Wildcats 10th in 1:50.09.
Samantha Kearney of CA was third in the girls’ GS in 1:47.31, with Alyssa Sweeney of Presque Isle fourth in 1:49.48 and Nicole Gebhart of CA sixth in 1:52.36.
For the slalom, Bartlett was third in 1:22.24, Saucier eighth in 1:29.78, Smith ninth in 1:30.42 and Lane Grass 10th in 1:30.73.
On the girls’ side, Kearney was the runner-up in 1:30.55, Gebhart was sixth in 1:45.26, Lydia Patterson of PI eighth in 1:51.59 and Richards of Caribou ninth in 2:03.93.
In skimeister results, which takes into account the finish in all four disciplines, Bartlett was the second-place male finisher and Richards came in second in the girls’ results.
The state championships for classes B and C will be held Monday and Tuesday.
The Nordic Heritage Center will host the classical and freestyle races, while Bigrock Ski Area in Mars Hill will be the site of the downhill events.
