Caribou boys fifth, girls sixth in state Class B ski meet

16 years ago

    PRESQUE ISLE — The Class B State Ski Meet wrapped up last Wednesday with an awards ceremony at the Nordic Heritage Center. Yarmouth swept both the overall girls’ and boys’ titles following the three-day meet which included slalom and giant slalom events at Big Rock Ski Area in Mars Hill and freestyle and classic cross country events in Presque Isle.

ImageContributed photo/Brent Jepson
    THROUGH THE GATES — Caribou’s Nate Rossignol placed 42nd in both the slalom and giant slalom events held at Big Rock last week as part of the Class B state championships.

    In the skimeister category, Caribou High School’s Laura Collins finished third behind winner Abby Mace of Maranacook and runnerup Rebecca Bell of Yarmouth. Heading into the cross country championship, Collins expected and hoped to place third. “I didn’t do as well in the skate race as I had hoped. I was tired and just had an off race, but coming in today I finished second and lost to Rebecca Bell by one point,” she said.
    Though only a sophomore, Collins has taken on a leadership role both on and off the slopes this year. “We have such a young team,” she said, “and with only 4 or 5 sophomores, I’m one of the oldest girls.”
    Both Collins and her teammates appreciate the interaction skiing brings.
    “Skiing is such a great experience and has such a good community. Everyone is always welcoming and, especially at states, it seems everyone wants the county girls to do well.”
    Also finalists in the combined discipline standings were Hallie Bartlett, Amber Griffin and Chelsea Carroll, all of Presque Isle HS, placing fifth, sixth and seventh respectively.
    Presque Isle’s Lucas Mathers, who won the boys giant slalom race, used his first-place points to win the boys’ skimeister title, ahead of Maranacook’s Sean Daigle and Ross Kendrick of Yarmouth. Other skimeister finalists included PIHS’s Andrej Chudozilav in ninth and brothers, Justin and Jacob Towle, also of PIHS, tied for 11th place.
    In the girls’ overall team results, Caribou finished in sixth place overall followed by Presque Isle in eighth. On the boys’ side, the Vikings placed fifth as a team while PIHS finished in eighth.
    Individual results for the girls’ classical cross country championship held Feb. 18 at Nordic Heritage Center include: Collins (CHS), seventh at 18:56.24; Katelynn Plourde (CHS), 13th at 19:52.50; Madison Outing (CHS), 26th at 21:35.13; Bartlett (PIHS), 30th at 21:46.53; Samantha Murchison (CHS), 34th at 22:15.40; Kelly Kashian (CHS), 39th at 23:27.47; Griffin (PIHS), 40th at 23:31.79; Nicole Madore (CHS), 43rd at 24:26.29; and Carroll (PIHS), 53rd at 27:21.68. Teamwise, Caribou placed fifth in classical, while Presque Isle finished eighth.
    The Caribou boys placed third in the classical cross country competition, while PIHS finished ninth as a team. Individually, Viking Finn Bondeson placed third with a time of 15:11.66. Other county finishers included: Mathers (PIHS), 12th at 16:06.84; Caleb Chapman (CHS), 16th at 16:23.32; Jesse Stephens (CHS), 18th at 16:25.65; Taylor Jepson (CHS), 19th at 16:44.38; Christian Sleeper (CHS), 27th at 17:20.84; Ezra Duplissie-Cyr (CHS), 33rd at 18:06.84; Jacob Towle (PIHS), 52nd at 21:29.79; Chudozilav (PIHS), 54th at 22:03.55; and Justin Towle (PIHS), 55th at 23:19.50.

ImageContributed photo/Brent Jepson
    VIKING RACER — Caribou’s Elizabeth Barbosa tallied a combined time of 1:48.61 in the giant slalom event of the state Class B alpine championships last week at Big Rock Ski Area, good enough for 34th overall. In the slalom event, she was 36th.