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| Contributed photo/jMavor Photography Sarah Doak of Caribou placed in the top three in a pair of state ski races held last week in Rumford. |
By Kevin Sjoberg
Sports Reporter
The state championships in skiing took place last week, with the Class C meet held in Presque Isle and Mars Hill and the Class B meet taking place at Black Mountain in Rumford.
Fort Fairfield’s Lance McKenney was able to claim an individual state title in the Class C boys’ classic race, held at the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle Feb. 18. McKenney completed the five-kilometer course in 15 minutes and 48.2 seconds to defeat a County rival, Katahdin’s Daniel Streinz, by 10.8 seconds. Fort Kent’s Kamran Husain was third in 16:10.8. A field of 81 skiers competed in the race.
In the girls’ classic race that same day, Veronica Plourde of the Tigers placed 38th out of 70 racers with her time of 25:27.2. Lydia Streinz of Katahdin was the fastest skier in 18:55.6, followed by her sister, Hannah, in 19:19.3.
McKenney also placed fourth in the freestyle event last Tuesday in 14:08.5. Streinz gained the victory in 13:07.9. Ashland’s Malcolm Milligan was 29th in 16:52.5.
Hannah Streinz of Katahdin was the girls’ freestyle champion by clocking the course in 16:02.6. She beat her sister by 14.3 seconds. Plourde was 41st in 23:05.6 and led the way for the Tigers.
For downhill at Bigrock in Mars Hill, the top placement for local skiers among girls belonged to Central Aroostook’s Samantha Kearney, who was seventh in last Tuesday’s giant slalom with a time of 1:37.48 for her two runs. Teammate Paige Garrison was 15th in 1:39.29.
At the Class B meet, the boys’ and girls’ classic cross country race kicked off the competition last Wednesday. On the boys’ side, Caribou’s Brendan Cyr fashioned a fifth-place overall finish in 15:22.6. Keith Draper of the Vikes cracked the top 10 by finishing 10th in 16:02. Caribou placed third as a team with 60 points, behind Yarmouth (24) and Maranacook (31).
In the boys’ skate (freestyle) race the following day, Cyr again was fifth overall in 13:01.6. His Caribou teammate, Caleb Willett, was 11th in 13:46.8. The Vikes again placed third as a team. Their 56 points trailed only Yarmouth (14) and Maranacook (49).
The Vikes’ top performance in the giant slalom, held Thursday, came courtesy of Dean Walker, whose time of 1:42.86 was good for 21st overall.
Thomas Freeman of the Wildcats was 29th in 1:47.34 and was the fastest skier among his team.
Friday’s slalom race saw Bryce Smith of PI take 19th in 1:26.98 to lead the way for County skiers. Wildcat Chris Carroll was 26th in 1:31.69 and following closely behind was Caribou’s Walker, who was 27th in 1:32.09.
Thomas Freeman took sixth place in the skimeister final results with 140 points. Freeman was also 36th in the slalom, 37th in the classic and 38th in the freestyle to make up his total score.
In the girls’ competition, Caribou’s Sarah Doak was strong in the classic race and ended up as the race runner-up in 17:29.5. Teammate Chelsea Bard was fifth in 18:00.9 and Ashley Richards, also of Caribou, came in 10th in 18:22.6. Combining the efforts of Anna Soderberg and Ginger Kieffer, who were 16th and 17th, respectively, the Vikes placed second as a team with 33 points, only eight behind victorious Yarmouth.
For Presque Isle, Bonnie Corey was 27th overall in 21:20.3.
Doak came in third in Thursday’s freestyle event in 15:22.6. Bard took eighth in 15:43.1, while Kieffer and Richards were 12th and 13th and Soderberg 15th. Caribou once again came in second behind Yarmouth, with the margin being a mere nine points.
Corey once again paced PI by ending up 33rd in 19:26.
The Wildcats’ Emma Bartlett was fourth in Thursday’s G.S. Her time for the two runs was 1:41.87. Shannon Sweeney of PI was 15th in 1:52.64 and Caribou’s Kieffer took 18th in 1:54.93.
In Friday’s slalom, Sweeney was 26th in 1:57.25, while Alyssa Sweeney was one place back in 1:57.9.
For Caribou, Kieffer led the way by placing 40th in 2:23.66. She placed second in the skimeister standings with 87 points. The winner, Kaelyn Woods of Gray-New Gloucester, totaled 37 points.
