Staff Writer
After the first snowstorm of the winter the Tigers have taken to their skis in preparation for the 2007-08 high school varsity skiing season. While Fort Fairfield lacks the numbers of many Aroostook County and state schools, they boast a passion for slicing tracks onto the snow trails and a state champion among their skiers. In the 2006-07 Aroostook County meet, attended by six teams, the girls finished in third in both classical and freestyle races.
The boys came away with fourth in classical and fifth in freestyle. Tiger senior Hilary McNamee skied her way to the County championship title in freestyle and classical and went on to the Class C state title in both races. The girls’ team finished fifth of 10 schools at the state level and the boys in sixth out of 13 competitors in cross country racing.
Last year’s top two boys, Brendan McLaughlin and Mitchell McLaughlin graduated, along with Sadie Ayoob.
Coach Paul Lamoreau looks to a group of juniors to push their pace without the McLaughlins on the boys’ side. Patrick Kinsey, Noah Rush-Mawbry and Ian Towle all make promising tracks at team practices. Freshman Nathan McLaughlin brings new techniques to the squad. “He is a strong skier who should challenge the juniors for a top spot,” noted Lamoreau about his freshman recruit.
The girls will also feature youth with freshman Kaitlyn Kinsey ranking second on the team after McNamee.
“I am very excited about this ski season,” said McNamee. “It looks quite promising. We’ve got plenty of snow, enthusiastic coaching and some great personalities on the team. I am a bit shocked that this is my last year of skiing, but what a great excuse to race hard.”
Junior Joe Colburn and sophomore Shane McGillan will also don their skis for Fort Fairfield for their second year as Tigers.
Fort Fairfield even welcomes novice athletes to their sport in freshman Samantha Lewis.
Lewis tries her endurance and balance for the first time on skies this year. “Her goal is to just learn how to ski before attempting any meets later in the season,” explained Lamoreau. “The ski season has just begun and we are still looking for a few more girls to join.”
The Tigers will work their skiing technique and hope to improve their individual and team records throughout the season. Lamoreau and his team hopes to finish in the top 50 percent of the squads at the championship races. Therefore, every meet will mark another checkpoint passed to that goal.
“Since Fort Fairfield is a small school competing against mostly larger schools in the Aroostook League, every meet is challenging,” commented Lamoreau. “There are three keys to preparing for these meets: ski, ski, ski. Getting lots of time on skis is the most important thing for us.”
With a solid layer of snow now in place, the Tigers can wax up their equipment to take advantage of the area trails. “Our goals as a team are to work hard, ski fast and have fun,” said Lamoreau.
