Sports Reporter
CARIBOU – The snow is quickly melting away, but a month after picking up their first-ever girls’ state championship in Nordic skiing, the memories remain and the Vikings are still proud of what they accomplished both throughout the season and during that historic Class B meet in Rangeley.
Contributed photo/beckysheaphoto
Caribou junior Laura Collins, here competing at the Aroostook County championship meet at the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle, was a key member of the Vikings’ Class B state champion Nordic ski team.
Madison Outing, a junior, said the success was a by-product of the cohesiveness the team developed throughout the winter months.
“We really got close as a team,” Outing said. “We were always pushing each other.”
P.J. Gorneault is the team’s head coach, with Bob Sprague also bringing a lot of experience as a long-time assistant coach and former head coach. Both said the team’s “coachability” and work ethic were the key factors in gaining the title.
“The athletes have to buy into your plan, and if they don’t you can be the best coach but the kids won’t perform,” Gorneault said. “I was fortunate to have athletes that listened, asked questions and had fun while they did it.”
“The accomplishments of both the girls and boys Nordic teams were outstanding and were the results of their hard work over the entire season,” Sprague added.
On Feb. 18, the Caribou girls clinched the championship with a victory in the classical race. The Vikings bested Yarmouth by 11 points in that race and as a result beat Yarmouth by 10 points in the final Nordic standings.
“It took a determined and spirited performance in that [final] race to win the championship,” Sprague said.
Laura Collins was third in 20 minutes and 31.8 seconds, Kendra Stephens fourth in 20:45.9, Katie Plourde sixth in 21:21.9 and Emily Soderberg 13th in 21:54.4 to lead the way for Caribou in the finale.
In the freestyle race, Caribou fell to Yarmouth by a mere point, 33-34. Collins was fourth overall in 17:41.1, while Ginger Kieffer took seventh in 18:29.1 and Stephens placed 10th in 18:41.8. Ashley Richards was 13th in 18:49.6 to close out the Vikings’ scoring.
Outing said preparation was important at the state meet.
“We were all focused on taking the title,” she said. “We tried to go to the courses early and just tried to talk a lot about technique.”
Caribou also had posted some solid results in the skimeister competition, as Collins was second with 37 points and Kieffer was third with 79. The skimeister includes placement in all four disciplines of skiing: Alpine slalom, Alpine giant slalom, Nordic classical and Nordic freestyle.
As successful as the team was this season, the future appears to be just as bright. Of the team’s top seven skiers, none are seniors. Outing and Collins are both juniors and Katie Plourde is a sophomore. In fact, freshmen (Stephens, Kieffer, Richards and Soderberg) were key components as four of the team’s top performers were ninth-graders.
“In the first races of the season, we had a lot of freshmen who were in the top 10,” Outing recalled. “At that point, we knew we had some really good freshmen on the team.”
Gorneault wasn’t convinced early on that such a youthful squad could compete for a state title, but he had a feeling they would be one of the contenders.
“We had such a young team that I didn’t know what to expect,” Gorneault said. “The freshmen girls class has such great athletes and competitors and the only thing holding them back was themselves. Going into states, I was thinking of a top-three finish, hoping for a top-two and dreaming about winning.”
With the girls team’s success, the Caribou boys’ third-place overall finish at the state level didn’t get as much attention, but should not be downplayed, according to Sprague.
Contributed photo/Dave Allen Graphics
Sophomore Katie Plourde delivered a consistent season for the Caribou Vikings, this year’s Class B state Nordic championship team.
“Both teams skied very well,” he said. “The boys won the freestyle race and were just six points from finishing first overall. Caribou and the County were well represented by these ambassador athletes.”
The Caribou High School ski tradition is beginning to build. Three athletes have claimed individual titles since the early 1990s, including Anna Sprague, Russell Currier and Joey Bard. The Caribou boys won a state title in the mid-1990s and now both squads are contending regularly.
There are plenty of reasons behind the establishment of the successful program, according to Sprague.
“The Nordic program has enjoyed wide support from the school district, the recreation department, community civic organizations, the Maine Winter Sports Center and a lot of interested and dedicated people who encouraged and helped these athletes and the program get better,” he said.
“Also, the fact that four freshmen were members of the state championship team says a lot for the middle school program and their coach, Rob Kieffer.”
Gorneault concurred in giving the credit to a number of resources.
“Without these people, our program wouldn’t be what it is today – one of the best in the state,” he said.
