FORT KENT, Maine — High school and independent cross country skiers gathered Friday under sunny skies but with cold temperatures for an early season Nordic meet at the Fort Kent Outdoor Center.
The Caribou Vikings took the top team spots, for both the girls and boys, on the 5-kilometer classic course. On the girls’ side, Ashland finished in second, ahead of Madawaska by a single point. The Fort Kent girls came in fourth, followed by the Maine School of Science and Math in Limestone.
Abigail Streinz, one of several non-high school independent skiers taking part on Friday, was the top female skier, with a time of 18:47.89. Streinz lives in Hersey and trains with the Caribou-based Outdoor Sport Institute.
Madawaska’s Isabelle Jandreau was second, at 21:07.40. MSSM athlete and Fort Kent native Dolcie Tanguay was fourth with Presque Isle’s Izzy Jackson skiing to a fifth-place finish.
Kassandra Nelson was Ashland’s top girl skier, taking sixth overall. Caribou’s Ciara Richard’s eighth place spot was tops for the Viking girls. Jessica Halsey (10th) was Fort Fairfield’s fastest skier.
Another independent skier, Caleb Streinz, who also trains at OSI, took the top spot on the male side, with time of 16:06.16. Fort Kent resident and independent skier Matt Kelly finished in second place.
Caribou’s Emerson Duplissie-Cyr came in eighth. Garrett Morneault (19th) was Presque Isle’s top skier, and Harrison Walters (14th) was the fastest skier for the MSSM boys.
Tristan Pelletier’s 31st place was tops for Ashland.
The Fort Kent boys and Caribou boys’ teams each finished with 18 points on Friday, tying for first place. Madawaska finished with 61 points, followed by Ashland, with 65 points.
The cold temperatures let up just enough on Saturday to allow for alpine racers to hit the slopes at Fort Kent’s Lonesome Pine Trails. Earlier meets this season had been postponed due to hazardous travel conditions or extremely cold temperatures.
The hometown Warrior boys and girls skied to the top team spots in both the morning and afternoon slalom runs, with Fort Kent athletes also taking most of the top spots.
The Warrior boys came in first in the morning, followed by Central Aroostook in second and Caribou in third.
Lane Grass (fourth) and Bryant Grass (fifth) were the top finishers for the Panthers in the morning. Zechariah Morse (seventh) was Presque Isle’s top skier and Tiernan Barbosa (17th) was Caribou’s top finisher in the morning runs.
Eleanor St. Peter’s 10th place finish was the top for Presque Isle in the morning. Hope Shea (eighth) was Caribou’s top skier in the morning.
In the afternoon session, the Warrior boys came in first, with Central Aroostook second and Caribou third. Lane Grass was fifth, Bryant Grass sixth, Taylor Campbell of CA seventh, Morse eighth and Riley Roderick of the Wildcats ninth. Scott Bray of Caribou placed 14th.
The Fort Kent girls team came in first in the afternoon, followed by Presque Isle then Caribou. St. Peter paced the Wildcats by placing 10th and Shea came in 11th overall.
