By Quinn Graves
Special to The Star-Herald
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The Wildcats have a new face in charge of the alpine ski team this season. First-year coach Scott Smith is at the helm and brings with him years of skiing experience, including volunteering at Big Rock racing events and the Big Rock youth racing league as well as being a parent-coach to his son, who skis in the Maine Alpine Racing Association circuit.
This year’s rough weather gave the Wildcats a bit of a rocky start to the season, with the extreme cold and unseasonable rain making it difficult to train early on.
“The weather was a challenge and we had two events postponed,” Smith said. “We have only missed training on snow a couple of times due to the low temperatures, [but] the athletes are motivated and determined to train in whatever mother nature throws at us.”
The boys squad for this season includes a mix of youth and experience. Leading the way is senior Kyle McCallum, and bringing more experience to the table are juniors John Freeman and Chris Carroll. Sophomores Bryce Smith and Sam Gray and freshmen Nick Bartlett and John Saucier round out the roster, assuring that the future of the Wildcats is in good hands.
The girls look to senior Shannon Sweeney and junior Cameo Madore to provide the leadership to this relatively young squad. Sophomore Alyssa Sweeney and freshmen Grace Player and Sarah Morneault complete the roster.
Smith believes that this season has been a successful one.
“We went into the season with a realistic set of goals and have already met some of them,” he said.
The Class B state meet will be held Feb. 28 and March 1 at Mt. Abram.
