By Quinn Graves
Special to the Aroostook Republican
CARIBOU, Maine — Coach PJ Gorneault is in his sixth season at the helm of the Caribou High School Nordic ski team and is in the midst another successful year with the Vikings.
The teams captured the Aroostook League title recently and are now preparing for the Class B state meet, to be held at Carrabassett Valley Feb. 20 and 21. Caribou graduated many seniors that were a vital part of last year’s team. However, that didn’t stop Gorneault from expecting good things from his squad.
“Going into the season, Coach [Evan] Graves and myself knew that we had a very young team,” he said. “So, unlike previous years, we had to readjust our team goals and focus on being competitive in the County first and work from there.”
Gorneault said strong leadership and key improvements were demonstrated by the athletes early on.
“The team as a whole progressed nicely throughout the season with more and more of our athletes having breakthrough performances and becoming more competitive in races,” he said. “We are fortunate to have two great captains in [senior] Keith Draper and [junior] Sarah Doak, who both have excelled at the state level to lead the team and demonstrate the hard work that is required to reach that level.”
The Vikings have already showed some success at the state level, with many students taking part in the recent Sassi Invitational in Rumford. The girls were sixth out of 41 teams and the boys were ninth out of 38. During that meet, Doak was fourth overall out of 185 skiers and sophomore Lukas Lagasse qualified for the Maine Junior Team.
The poor weather to start the season didn’t heavily impact the Vikings, with Gorneault giving credit to trail groomers Curtis Richards and Doug Plourde.
“[They] do a fantastic job with the maintenance and upkeep of our trails, so if there is enough to ski on they make sure it is ready,” said the coach.
This year’s boys team consists of seniors Tyler Strid, Alex Murchison, and Draper; juniors Michael Marquis, Dylan Coty and Dustin Coty; sophomores Riley McDuffie, Elijah Verhoff and Lagasse; and freshmen Caleb Brown and Bryce Coffin. The girls squad includes senior Sirena Cyr; juniors Lauren Chapman, Kaitlyn Ring, Mackenzie Deveau, Elise Gudde and Doak; sophomores Eileen Patton and Maura Freme; and freshmen Kendra Furber, Madeline Gudde, Emma Belyea, Erin Kashian and Julia Page.
Even though seniority isn’t big on this season’s team, Gorneault is excited for the future.
“We are very young team with some kids who show a lot of potential and like to ski,” he stated. “If they stay committed and focused, we should be competitive for years to come.”
