RUMFORD — The Alpine ski season has been a disappointment at times for Mountain Valley Jaden Boulanger.
The sophomore has had trouble finishing races, but she put her past on hold in the KVAC/MVC championships’ giant slalom competition
Boulanger not only copped a Mountain Valley Conference title, but she also topped every KVAC girls competitors with a combined time of 1:56.29 at Black Mountain of Maine on Wednesday.
“I finished one race this year,” said Boulanger, who also was the MVC giant slalom champ last winter. “And I just thought I’d make it down (in the race). I am excited. I am glad I came back and finished this.
“I am surprised I got first. I knew I could do it, like, finish, but I just had to (will) myself to do it.”
The KVAC/MVC championships continue with slalom competition at Titcomb Mountain in Farmington on Saturday.
The top five team scores in the boys KVACs after the giant slalom include: Maranacook, Mt. Blue, Edward Little, Skowhegan and Oxford Hills. In the girls KVAC competition, the top five are: Mt. Blue, Camden Hills, Oxford Hills, Maranacook and Hampden.
In the MVC boys, the teams are Mt. Abram, Mountain Valley, Rangeley and Winthrop. In the MVC girls, Rangeley leads the pack, followed by Telstar, Mountain Valley, Spruce Mountain and Mt. Abram.
Mountain Valley Alpine coach Todd Papianou was elated and proud of the way Boulanger bounced back to top the pack.
“The kid has got some grit,” Papianou said. “She’s had a tough season. She hasn’t completed all of her races, so taking that stuff like that in perspective, and putting it behind her and coming out … and putting it on the line, shows she’s got some, like — call it Mountain Valley-Rumford tough. Rumford-tough, man! It is a gritty mill town, and she’s a kid who knows how to fight for what she wants, and she did today. She knows what she wants and she’s working as a sophomore to get there. We are just helping guide her because she has natural ability and skill and that will to win. She’s really got it.
“It doesn’t happen every day, and she had some results that didn’t make her happy this year, but today she should be pretty proud.”
Camden’s Zola Roberts took the KVAC girls title with a winning time of 1:59.78.
Mt. Blue’s Josh Smith finished first in the KVAC boys competition with a winning time of 1:55.64, and Charlie Pye of Mt. Abram made off with the MVC boys GS title with his time of 2:00.09.
“I like this course; it is quicker,” Smith said. The conditions felt better than the first run. I wasn’t pushing it because it is a big, big race, so just stand up.”
Mt. Blue coach Mark Cyr said Smith turned in a fine performance.
“I thought Josh did well,” Cyr said. “He has been struggling with a couple of technique issues. Not to get real technical, but his outside ski, he just couldn’t control it, so we have been working on that and he seemed to have figured it out.”
Oxford Hills’ Nick Bancroft finished sixth with his time of 1:59.67 and Mt. Blue’s Sam Goodspeed (2:00.1) finished seventh.
“I was more comfortable on my skis and up top, I was able to push it harder,” Bancroft said.
“He skied well today,” Oxford Hills coach Tim Hutchisen said of Bancroft. “He put together two solid runs. For a kid who hasn’t done a ton of training because he is skimeistering. He has spent a lot of time on Nordic skis, but the balance on those Nordic skis is paying off here on the hill. I thought he skied very well.”
Maranacook’s Sam McKee (1:55.72) took second place in the KVACs. In the MVCs, Mountain Valley’s Joel Tardiff (2:00.39) finished second and Rangeley’s Daxxtyn Williams (2:09.54) took third.
On the girls side, Rangeley’s Amelia Stokes (1:59.78) and Breezy Quimby (2:01.93) finished second and third, respectively, in the MVCs portion.
Leavitt’s Sophie Simard (1:59.80) took second in the KVACs, followed by Mt. Blue’s Sadie McDonough (2:00.18) and Katie Yeaton (2:02.61). Oxford Hills’ Elizabeth Dietrich finished sixth with a time of 2:03.10.
“Sophie Simard did awesome today,” Leavitt coach Scott Berube said. “She was in second place after first run. She kept her head in it and attacked the second run and didn’t hold back and ended up in a good spot.”
The KVAC/MVC Nordic championships start Thursday at Sugarloaf and finish Saturday at Titcomb.
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