CARIBOU, Maine — The last two meets were cancelled due to inclement weather, so Nordic skiers were excited to get back on the course when Monday’s competition rolled around.
In the freestyle meet held at Caribou High School, the host Vikings were able to pick up easy victories and Max Bartley of Presque Isle and Isabelle Jandreau of Madawaska continued their individual dominance with first-place finishes.
Max Bartley of the Wildcats crosses the finish line for the victory in the Nordic freestyle race at Caribou High School. (Staff photo/Don Eno)
The Caribou boys tucked five skiers in the top 10 and scored 21 points for the team win. They were 19 points better than runner-up Fort Kent, while Presque Isle (45), Madawaska (67), MSSM (80) and Ashland (84) followed.
Bartley clocked a time of 17 minutes and 44.7 seconds on the five-kilometer course to grab top honors for the third consecutive meet.
The Vikes showed off their depth behind Alec Cyr (third, 18:49.6), Devin White (fourth, 19:40.3), Evan Desmond (fifth, 20:04.2), Dakota Yakel (ninth, 21:18.3) and Kyle Boucher (10th, 21:29.9).
Fort Kent’s Niko Naranja was the second-place skier in 18:33, 48 seconds behind Bartley. Harrison Walters of MSSM was seventh in 20:42.3, Justin Pelletier of Madawaska 12th in 21:37.4 and Tristan Pelletier of Ashland 13th in 21:41 to lead their teams.
Reece Voisine of Fort Kent was sixth in 20:36.5 and Garrett Morneault of PI eighth in 21:17.1 as others who finished among the top 10.
In the girls’ meet, Jandreau picked up a 47-second win over runner-up Izzy Jackson of Presque Isle to earn individual honors for the third straight time, but Caribou had three skiers in the top 10 and claimed the team title.
The Vikings scored 21 points to beat out Madawaska (41), Fort Kent (43), MSSM (60) and Ashland (65).
Abigail Wimmer came in fifth overall in 23:35.7 to pace Caribou. Ciara Richards placed sixth in 23:38.6 and Macey Wakem came in eighth in 24:38.4 for the Vikes’ other top performances.
Dolcie Tanguay of MSSM was third overall in 21:38.9 and was followed by Kirsten Main of Central Aroostook, whose time was 21:43.8. Jessica Halsey of Fort Fairfield had a solid effort and took seventh in 24:18.7. Donna Morin of Madawaska was ninth in 25:15.4, Ashland’s Kassandra Nelson 10th in 26:11.3 and Fort Kent’s Riley Sibley 11th in 26:53.3 as their squads’ top performers.
The next Nordic meet will be a classic style race to be held at the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle Friday, Jan. 12 beginning at 3 p.m.
