“(The Sassi course) is kind of the opposite of this,” he said. “Instead of all up and then all down it’s all down followed by all up. And it’s definitely High School Hill that everyone thinks of when it comes to the Sassi.”
Oxford Hills’ home course doesn’t have anything to equal the iconic climax of the Sassi course at Black Mountain. The competitive field is also a fraction of the size of the Sassi, which annually draws about two dozen schools from around the state.
Wednesday’s race featured five girls and four boys teams and 60 competitors, but it was still a good test on a near-perfect afternoon of skiing, especially given the ice storm that visited the area 24 hours earlier.
Gould swept the individual titles, with Marcus Wenworth winning the boys’ race and Stephanie Nicols winning the girls’, both by well over one minute. Leavitt’s boys and Gould’s girls won the team competition.
Gould scored five of the top six finishers in the girls’ race, with Nicols (17:16) and Isabel Chase (18:53) leading the way.
“The downhills were pretty fast,” Nicols said. “The beginning is challenging because it’s all up hill, but then you get the recovery on the downhill.”
Lilo Bean and Mia Shifrin finished third and fourt for the Huskies,with Leavitt’s Emily Thiboeau finishing fifth. Telstar’s Marta Opie, Edward Little’s Kirsten maine and Tyme Finnerty, and Oliva Swift of Oxford Hills rounded out the top 10.
The Huskies finished with 10 points, 32 ahead of runner-up Leavitt, with Edward Little finishing third.
The boys’ team competition was much tighter, with Leavitt edging Oxford Hills by two points, 28-30. Gould and Telstar followed.
Wentworth sped through the course in 14:07 to beat out teammate Duncan Forbes for first place by 1:23. He hoped to do well Wednesday, but winning wasn’t his top concern.
“You put on a bib and that race mentality comes out, but racing Eastern Cup next weekend, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do for threshold or whatever the workout of the day is,” Wentworth said. “I felt really relaxed today. It was nice.”
Bancroft finished third in 15:38, followed by Leavitt’s Noah Lind and Jason Labbe.
Bancroft used his background in alpine skiing to take advantage of the fast downhill finish on his home course.
“All of the downhill I can get is a benefit,” said Bancroft, a junior.
“The snow held up alright,” he added. “It actually got faster as we went because it was getting colder and the snow was freezing a little bit harder, especially on the downhills. Everywhere but the sunny spots it was pretty fast.”
“He’s been getting better every time out,” Oxford Hills coach Chris Easton said.
Oxford Hills’ Nate McNutt and Graham Huckins, Leavitt’s Roy Varney, and Gaelan Boyle-Wight and Kellen True of Telstar rounded out the top 10.
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