Sports Reporter
The first nordic ski meet of the season took place last Tuesday at Caribou High School. The format was a dual-start and the course was three kilometers in length.
The Caribou girls and boys captured the team titles. The Viking girls scored 21 points to defeat Fort Kent (28), Fort Fairfield (43) and Presque Isle (63). Laura Collins of Caribou was the winner with a time of 10 minutes, 38 seconds.
Hallie Bartlett was the fastest Wildcat, placing sixth in 12:09, while Melissa McKenney was tops for Fort Fairfield in 12:16, good for eighth overall.
Julia Brown, Emma Bartlett, Chelsey Carroll, Jolonna Gough and Courtney Colligan were PI’s other competitors. Veronica Plourde, Kylie Plourde, Victoria Plourde, Kaitlyn Kinsey and Camille Huffman were other Fort Fairfield skiers.
The Viking boys had 12 points, featuring five of the top seven overall finishers, to beat Fort Kent (24) and Presque Isle (54). Fort Fairfield, with only two competitors, did not figure in the team results.
Winning the race was Caribou’s Finn Bondeson in 9:06. For Presque Isle, Justin and Jacob Towle had the team’s best times of 12:55 and 12:59, respectively. They placed 26th and 27th overall. Isaac Wortman of Fort Fairfield was 31st in 14:52.
Thomas Freeman, Adam Curtis, Gabe Player and Freeman Short also skied for Presque Isle. Collin Cassidy was Fort Fairfield’s only other skier among the field of 37.
At Big Rock Saturday, the second alpine meet of the racing season was held. Central Aroostook was the boys giant slalom team champion with 21 points, followed by Fort Kent with 24, Caribou with 45 and Presque Isle with 84.
Taking first place on the individual side was CA’s Shane Miller with a combined time of 1:41.28 for his two runs. Caribou’s Ethan McDuffie was the runner-up in 1:41.96, with CA’s Caleb Jewett taking the third position in 1:43.6. The Panthers’ Ethan Stiles was 10th in 1:49.98.
Presque Isle’s Adam Curtis finished just 1/100ths of a second out of the top 10. His time was 1:49.99.
In the girls giant slalom, Fort Kent was the winner with 21 points. Caribou was second with 24 and Presque Isle third with 57.
Lydia Kieffer of Caribou took individual honors with a 1:49.14 clocking.
Bartlett led the way for the Wildcats with an eighth-place performance in 1:58.67.
Fort Kent took first in the boys slalom with 18 points. Central Aroostook was close behind with 20, with Caribou (51) and Presque Isle (87) following.
Jesse Guimond of Fort Kent was the winner in 1:34.13. Miller and Jewett, both of CA, were second and third, respectively. Miller’s time was 1:34.87 and Jewett’s was 1:37.27.
Curtis paced Presque Isle by coming in 16th in 1:58.85.
The girls slalom team winner was Caribou with 22 points. The Vikes were four points better than Fort Kent, with Presque Isle in third with 54.
Lydia Kieffer again took the victory in 1:48.07. Bartlett came in seventh place and was the fastest PI skier in 2:05.76.
Jacob and Justin Towle, Freeman, Player and Short were other PIHS competitors in the meet. Emma Bartlett, Gough and Carroll also competed for the Wildcat girls.
