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.
In the skimeister category, Caribou High School’s Laura Collins finished third behind winner Abby Mace of Maranacook and runnerup Rebecca Bell of Yarmouth. 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.
Mathers, who has been skiing since he was 3, is the second in his family to win the title of skimeister, following in his brother’s 2005 footsteps and remaining calm throughout the entire competition and thought his best run was on the giant slalom.
“I trained on the same trail the race took place on the day before, so I kind of had a feel for it. The snow was in great condition, rock solid and hard,” said Mathers. “I was calm and really prepared, definitey ready and excited to race.”
Mathers went on to confess that, given the choice between cross-country and alpine, he’d choose alpine. “They’re both different competitions, but the giant slalom is my favorite by far.”
As Mathers prepared to hit the snow in the meet’s final competition, cross country, he was ahead by one point in the competition for skimeister, but secured the time and place needed to win boys’ skimeister title.
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.
Contributed Photo/Brent Jepson
BEST RUN OF THE DAY — Wildcat skier Lucas Mathers burned up the giant slalom course at Big Rock last week during the state Class B championships, taking first place with a two-run combined time of 1:22.12. Mathers’s state title run also helped claim top honors in the coveted state skimeister compeition, which combines scores in four skiing categories — slalom, giant slalom, freestyle cross-country and classical XC.
