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-10 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; Brendan Cyr of Caribou in 16:47.9; Cody Johnson of Fort Kent in 18:10.4; Tim Deschenes of Madawaska in 18:22; Darin Jandreau of Madawaska in 18:33.1; Riley McDuffie of Caribou in 18:37.4; and Caleb Willett of Caribou in 18:39.55.
For the girls, following Hannah Streinz in the top 10 were Lydia Streinz of Katahdin in 19:32.2, Sarah Doak of Caribou in 19:32.7; Ashley Richards of Caribou in 19:35.1; Chelsea Bard of Caribou in 21:03.1; Ginger Kieffer of Caribou in 21:44.7; Anna Soderberg of Caribou in 21:46.1; Rudy Martin of Fort Kent in 21:48.6; Gentle Prescott of Fort Kent in 22:45.7; and Lauren Chapman of Caribou in 22:56.2.
Also part of the 25-skier field was Fort Fairfield’s Veronica Plourde, 18th overall in 26:10.1.
The Caribou boys and girls were the team winners.
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. Carter Voisine of the Warriors was second in 1:42.63, followed by Sean Barbosa of Caribou in 1:44.81. Nolan McDuffie of the Vikes was fourth in 1:44.82.
Ouellette completed a sweep by also winning the slalom in 1:18.86. Teammate Brady Lizotte was the runner-up in 1:20.67 and Voisine was third in 1:21.27. The Warriors scored a perfect 10 in the event.
Barbosa led the Vikings by ending up 10th in 1:29.79.
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 and Rudy Martin of Fort Kent was fourth in 1:52.46. Taking fifth was Danielle Ouellette of the Warriors in 1:52.47.
Leading Caribou was Courtney Burby, who was ninth in 1:56.49.
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 Martin was third in 1:38.19. Julia Richards of Madawaska was fourth in 1:39.06 and Kearney ended up fifth in 1:39.56.
Alexa McCrossin was Caribou’s fastest slalom skier, recording a time of 1:57.75.
