Edward Little’s Jordan Cummings cross blocks a gate during her second run in the slalom event at the Class A Alpine championships at Black Mountain of Maine in Rumford. Cummings finished 14th helping her team come away with a second-place finish overall. (Brewster Burns photo)
RUMFORD — There were bright spots for Edward Little and Oxford Hills, and those handful of shining performances came in the slalom portion of the girls’ Class A Alpine Championships at Black Mountain on Saturday afternoon.
Miranda Chadbourne slipped into ninth place with a combined time of 1:38.91 to help give Edward Little a second-place finish in the Alpine championships with combined total of 153 points after two days of skiing.
“The girls … I am real proud of their performance because Jordan Cummings (14th, 1:40.93) stepped it up huge in GS and Miranda Chadbourne stepped it up huge in slalom, and Sarah Lachance (22nd, 1:49.88) and Mallory Ouelette (62, 2:16.76) skied as well as my back ones because middle two had some problems,” Edward Little coach Jodd Bowles said. “So they tried to carry the team and they actually skied as aggressively as I have ever seen. I was very proud of them.”
“It went pretty well,” Cummings said. “My first run was definitely better. I am feeling comfortable.”
Conditions were not exactly perfect, but Chadbourne didn’t let that prevent her from finishing in the top 10.
“It was a little rough, but what can you expect with conditions like this,” Chadbourne said. “
Caroline Burns turned in a third-place performance in slalom with a combined time of 1:30.85 after an up-and-down Friday in giant slalom racing at Mt. Abram in Greenwood.
“It went well,” Burns said. “I was in third for thefirst run so I tried to ski a clean second run. I am happy with it.”
Fryeburg Academy won the whole shebang with 137 points, followed by Falmouth (178), Marshwood (209), Mt. Blue (212), Camden Hills (235), Cheverus (293), Hampden Academy (319), Freeport (320), Oxford Hills (351), Gorham (370), Kennebunk (376), Windham (461).
Cheverus’s Annesley Black (1:27.77) won the slalom competition, followed by Brooke Juneau (1:28.40) of Fryeburg Academy.
Top finisher for Mt. Blue was Ashley Wiles (16th, 1:47.38), and Leavitt’s Kayla Leclerc finish 17th with a combined time of 1:47.42.
Mt. Blue’s Brooke Bolduc (28th, 1:54.62) said: “It was not what I would have liked, but it was a fun course. It was a lot like our hometown one.”
Boys’ slalom
Oxford Hills stepped out its performance in the boys’ slalom race and slipped into second place just ahead of Edward Little. Falmouth was top dog.
“I don’t think our boys were the best team on the hill today” Bowles said. “I think Falmouth skied the best. We haven’t seen the results, but we have to give them kudos.”
Falmouth’s AJ Noyes (1:23.72) and Owen White (1:27.00) finished first and second, respectively. The Yachtsmen also placed two other skiers in the top 10 — Ben Keller (5th, 1:27.67) and Gibson Scott (9th, 1:29.21).
Edward Little’s Connor Jackson (1:27.17) and Kyle Mooney (1:27.44) finished third and fourth, respectively.
“I think I did good,” Jackson said. “I laid down two runs and finished, so I am happy with that. A lot more ruts the second run and I was just all over the place.”
“Connor was in the complete zone this series,” Bowles said. “He was there. I think it was a retirement present for his father, who is the assistant coach. But, yeah, he nailed it. Like I said, it doesn’t come easy. Connor was in the zone for two days. They did a great job with some difficult conditions.”
Mooney said the course was beaten up and challenged all skiers.
“It was pretty rough,” Mooney said. “Some ruts, better than yesterday. Couldn’t have got much worse.
“I kind of feel like second run was faster, a little bit out of control, but I stayed up. The first run was smoother.”
Colby Van Decker (1:28.79) and Jacob Mills (1:28.80) placed seventh and eighth for Oxford Hills.
“Super rutty. Just throws you around … you have to go with it,” Thomas Bancroft (1:32.27), who finished 12th for Oxford Hills, said.
Jack Kearing was Mt. Blue’s highest finisher, taking 16th with time of 1:34.54.
Mt. Blue coach Mark Cyr things should have went better for his Cougars.
“Tough day, tough year,” Cyr said. “Tough KVACs, rough state championships. We just have to learn to race and do better at the bigger events. We do very well, great during the regular season.
“We are always in the top one or two, and then when we get to the bigger events, just kind of stiffen up and we get concerned. They need to ski, I don’t know if it is thinking about it too much because sometimes I think they overthink it. They have to ski looser, but we’ll pull it together.
“Our goal next year is spend some more time on the big hill and get some more GS training. We hope that helps our state championships, when it comes to GS, especially.”
Oxford Hills’ Caroline Burns navigates the upper part of the course on her first run in the slalom event at the Class A Alpine championships at Black Mountain of Maine in Rumford. Burns finished third in the event.Oxford Hills’ Jake Mills skis dissappear in the deep ruts as he makes his way down the pitch in the slalom event at the Class A Alpine championships at Black Mountain of Maine in Rumford. Mills finished eighth and helped his team finish second overall.Oxford Hills’ Colby VanDecker navigates deep ruts in the soft afternoon snow during his second run in the slalom event at the Class A Alpine championships at Black Mountain of Maine in Rumford. VanDecker finished seventh, pacing his team and helping it finish second overall.
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