Local high school skiers qualify for elite team

6 years ago

RUMFORD, Maine — Nine Aroostook County skiers made Maine Nordic ski teams and qualified to compete in larger events this month.

Seven of the nine took part in an Eastern High School Championships qualifier held Saturday, March 3, at Black Mountain in Rumford.

Kassandra Nelson of Ashland is the lone member of the U16 girls’ team that participated in an event held March 9-11 at Gore Mountain in North Creek, New York.

She placed 14th in the pursuit with a time of 38 minutes and 2.1 seconds. The top 24 qualified for the elite Maine U16 team.

Isabelle Jackson of Presque Isle (fourth place, 31:44.1), Isabelle Jandreau of Madawaska (fifth, 31:47.8), Kirsten Main of Central Aroostook (18th, 33:48.6) and Dolcie Tanguay of Fort Kent and a student at MSSM (20th, 33:56.5) qualified to respresent the state on the women’s team.

The top 24 racers made it onto the team. Abby Streinz of Hersey is an automatic qualifier after having qualified for Junior Nationals.

Qualifying for the men’s team for being among the top 26 were Max Bartley of Presque Isle (second, 27:46.8) and Niko Naranja of Fort Kent (25th, 31:02.5). Caleb Streinz of Hersey is also an automatic qualifier.

The New England Nordic Ski Association’s Eastern High School Championships are scheduled at Black Mountain March 16-18.