STOCKHOLM — After participating in the Aroostook League classical ski championships 12 days earlier, middle school skiers congregated in Stockholm March 21 for the freestyle championships in Nordic skiing.
Once again, it was the Caribou girls and the Fort Kent boys collecting titles.
The Viking girls posted five of the first seven finishers, including overall winner Anna Soderberg, whose time was 8 minutes and 24 seconds on the 2.9-kilometer course. In second was teammate Sarah Doak, whose time was 8:55.
Erin Patton was fifth in 9:49, Jillian Flynn sixth in 10:01 and Lauren Chapman seventh in 10:26 as Caribou’s other top performers.
Caribou had 14 points, with Fort Kent taking runner-up honors with 34 and Fort Fairfield placing third with 41. Madawaska (81), Union 122 (83), Presque Isle (99), Ashland (134) and Limestone (148) followed.
A pair of Fort Fairfield skiers made the top 10, with Morgann Towle in third with a time of 9:10 and Alexis Coiley in eighth in 10:27.
Madeline Gudde and Morgan Outing, both of Caribou, finished just out of the top 10. Gudde was 12th in 11:18 and Outing 13th in 11:19. Fort Fairfield’s Hannah Langworthy was 15th in 11:33.
Kaitlyn Ring of Union 122 was first for her team and 17th overall in 11:40. Presque Isle’s Taylor Williams was 23rd in 12:31, while Elyzabeth Bencivenga of Limestone was 31st in 13:34. Brittany Harris led Ashland’s squad by placing 34th in 13:46. A total of 59 girls competed.
The Fort Kent boys were dominant with 18 points, tucking five skiers among the top 10 to come out on top. Kamran Hussain of the Warriors finished in 7:08 to win the meet. He was followed by teammate Andrew Bailey in second in 7:30.
Caribou’s Brendan Cyr, who won the classical meet, placed third this time in 7:35.
Local skiers making the top 10 were Lance McKenney (7:39) and Robbie Watson (8:08), both of Fort Fairfield in fourth and fifth, respectively. Malcolm Milligan of Ashland was sixth in 8:09 and Jason Bartley of Presque Isle was 10th in 8:29.
After Fort Kent in the team rankings was Caribou with 58. Madawaska and Fort Fairfield both had 66 points, but the Owls took the tie-breaker by having a sixth skier compete. Presque Isle (77), Ashland (94), Union 122 (96), and Limestone (177) rounded out the schools competing.
Michael Marquis of the Vikings came in 13th place in 8:57. Gannon Therrien of PI took 14th, also with a time of 8:57.
Dylan Conroy was the first Union 122 skier to finish, coming across the line in 9:25, good for 18th. Jason Sprague logged a time of 13:08 and placed 55th to lead Limestone. The boys meet featured 73 racers.
At a regular season freestyle meet in Presque Isle March 14, the Caribou girls captured the victory behind Soderberg and Doak, who again were first and second in the standings.
Soderberg won the race in 10:29.2 and Doak followed in 10:50.8.
In the boys’ competition, Cyr placed third in 9:18.7 as the Vikings came in second as a team to Fort Kent.
