Skiers get in work on trails
By Kevin Sjoberg
Sports Reporter
It’s championship time for local ski teams. The regular season came to an end last week with a Nordic meet in Presque Isle last Tuesday and an alpine meet in Fort Kent Saturday.
At the Nordic Heritage Center, the format included a race utilizing both the freestyle and classical styles.
Katahdin skiers took the top positions, with Daniel Streinz winning the boys’ five-kilometer event in 15:57.7 and Hannah Streinz taking the girls’ race in 18:56.8.
The remainder of the boys’ top-five was made up of Kamran Hussain of Fort Kent in 16:38.9, Lance McKenney of Fort Fairfield in 16:42.6; Jon Rochester of Presque Isle in 16:46.3; and Brendan Cyr of Caribou in 16:47.9.
Ashland’s Malcolm Milligan crossed the finish line in 20:02.4, good for 19th overall out of 36 who completed the course.
For the girls, following Hannah Streinz in the top five were Lydia Streinz of Katahdin in 19:322, Sarah Doak of Caribou in 19:32.7; Ashley Richards of Caribou in 19:35.1; and Chelsea Bard of Caribnou in 21:03. Also part of the 25-skier field was Presque Isle’s Danielle Allen, who was 14th in 25:04.6 and Fort Fairfield’s Veronica Plourde, 18th in 26:10.1.
The Caribou boys and girls were the team winners. Madawaska was the boys’ runner-up and Fort Kent took second on the girls’ side.
In Saturday’s downhill races at Lonesome Pine Trails, Fort Kent ruled the day with first-place finishes in all four events.
In the boys’ giant slalom, the Warriors scored 14 points to dominate the competition. Brandon Ouellette of FK won in 1:40.92 for his two runs.
The top Presque Isle skier was Chris Carroll, who was 11th in 1:48.77. Zach Grass of Central Aroostook placed 14th in 1:50.62.
Ouellette completed a sweep by also winning the slalom in 1:18.86. Grass was sixth for the Panthers in 1:25.53 and Carroll of the Wildcats took seventh in 1:28.45.
The Warrior girls posted 17 points in the G.S. to win the meet. Alexa Pelletier of Fort Kent won in 1:46.2, with Emma Bartlett of PI second in 1:50.11. Samantha Kearney of Central Aroostook took third in 1:51.95.
Ouellette was first in the slalom race in 1:31.18, helping her team to the victory with 21 points. Bartlett again was the runner-up in 1:36.49 and Kearney ended up fifth in 1:39.56.
The Aroostook County championships began Tuesday with the classic 5K at 3 p.m. in Fort Kent. On Saturday, Bigrock in Mars Hill will host the G.S. and slalom county meet beginning at 9 a.m., while Caribou is the site of the freestyle 5K next Tuesday, Feb. 12. That meet gets under way at 3 p.m.
