RUMFORD — Silas Eastman knows that his skiing career will undoubtedly return him to a race at Black Mountain of Maine in the future. Given that he will continue his career at Colby College in Waterville all but assures him of that.

But that didn’t keep the multi-time state Nordic skiing champion from being a bit reflective Tuesday after his latest triumph at the venerable track.

“I’m really hoping I get to come back here a lot during college,” Eastman said.

Eastman turned in the only sub-12-minute time of the afternoon Tuesday in a freestyle race that featured the infamous “High School Hill” at Black Mountain, turning in a blistering time of 11:45.6 to capture yet another Nordic crown, this time as a senior for Fryeburg Academy.

“I was really happy they added the hill back in,” Eastman said. “I really just wanted to go out there and give it my all, and I think I did that.”

Eastman has been a mainstay atop the leader board at Black Mountain in both state title races and in large-scale exhibitions such as the Sassi Memorial.

“I’m happy of course, but it’s also sad that I won’t be back here with the team again next year,” Eastman said. “I’ve really enjoyed it. But it’s a good feeling to be able to look back and see what I’ve done the past four years.”

After building a 20-point lead over Leavitt and Mt. Blue in the classical race Monday, Falmouth extended that lead with an eight-point margin of victory over the Cougars on Tuesday. The Yachtsmen were also 19 points better than the Hornets in the freestyle race, good enough to capture the boys’ Class A Nordic crown.

“The skiing in southern Maine is very strong, and we’re lucky to have teams like (Class C runners-up) Freeport, (Class C champion) Merriconeag, Yarmouth. They just make us better skiers when we come to bigger events like this,” Falmouth coach James Demer said.

The Nordic win, combined with a strong showing on the first day of Alpine competition, puts the team in position to capture the overall state title through three events.

“It feels great to have the potential to bring that prize back to our school, if we’re lucky enough to,” Demer said.

Wade tops girls’ race

Mt. Blue’s Sarah Wade isn’t ready to bid adieu to the fabled trails at Black Mountain just yet, and with her performance this week, she might never want to leave.

Wade’s time of 14:56.6 Tuesday in the Class A freestyle race was 10.3 seconds faster than that of Portland’s Abby Popenoe, lifting Wade to the state crown in the discipline.

“I just had to remind myself constantly that I was so close,” Wade said. “It’s pretty much the last race of the season, so I really wanted to go out and finish well.”

Faced with better weather and snow conditions Tuesday than Monday, Wade set a quick pace as one of the early finishers and watched as none of the rest of the entrants could match her time.

With an even better showing Tuesday than Monday, the Falmouth girls completed the team Nordic sweep, earning 30 points to 41 for Portland to claim the Class A Nordic combined crown, 61-79.

“We’ve been building all year and we’ve been improving all year,” Falmouth coach Jeff Walker said. “It all came together at the end.”

“I think we made wise choices in terms of who we skied (Monday) and who we skied (Tuesday),” Demer added. “It really worked to our advantage. A seven-point lead against a very strong Portland team wasn’t that much.”

The Leavitt girls, the defending Class A Nordic champions, finished third with 93 total points, while Oxford Hills (140) and Mt. Blue (144) rounded out the top five.

In the overall Class A girls’ competition, the Vikings appear to be in the drivers’ seat with only the slalom left to race Wednesday.

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