RUMFORD — It was a red letter day for Emma Charles — who earned another state championship with a freestyle pursuit win — and Mt. Blue’s boys and girls Nordic teams collected the Class A state titles Thursday at Black Mountain.
Charles, a senior, also took first in the classical race Wednesday, giving her wins in the classical and freestyle races at all three state championships she competed in.
The Mt. Blue girls won their fourth team title in six years, having also won in 2016, 2017 and 2020. The boys previously brought home the team crown in 2016 and 2017.
Marancook won the girls Class B title, and Fort Kent is the Class C champion. The Yarmouth boys won Class B, and Mt. Abram claimed the Class C boys title.
Caribou’s Kayley Bell (Class B) and Orono’s Ruth White (Class C) followed Charles’ lead in sweeping their classification’s classical and freestyle titles.
Falmouth’s Joey Rouhana followed up Wednesday’s classical win with a freestyle win Thursday to claim the Class A boys pursuit title with a combined time of 28:11.
Yarmouth’s Owen Redfield won the Class B boys freestyle race. Leavitt’s Logan Ouellette, who took first in the classical, finish fifth Thursday but still won the pursuit title.
Mt. Abram’s Alex Hemingway placed third in the Class C freestyle but built enough of a lead in the classical to hold off Spruce Mountain’s Abrahm Geissinger and freestyle champion Luke Streinz of Southern Aroostook for the pursuit championship.
SHIFT IN THE WEATHER
It was a different course for the 5K freestyle pursuit competition after skiers sloshed their way through slush and puddles and faced bare ground due to an unusually warm day Wednesday. The blustery cold and a well-groomed course made for fast skiing on Thursday.
Charles, who finished with a combined time of 31:36.5 between the two races to earn her third individual pursuit championship, said she felt good and was elated there was no water to contend with, like on Day 1.
“I feel like I don’t need to lay in a snowbank today,” said Charles, referring to Wednesday’ spring-like sun. “It cracked me up seeing that picture in the paper.”
Mt. Blue’s Brynne Robbins, who came finished second with a combined time of 33:50.3, said racing on a different route made for a new challenge.
“I have never actually raced this alternative 5K route, so it was really interesting to see how the strategy was kind of different,” Robbins said. “I found me having a quick temper and also training at Titcomb, which is one of the most rugged mountains in Maine, really helped me do what I did today.
“I would also like to say training with the teammates who you see coming across the line has really helped me be so aggressive and power through the rest of the course.”
Mt. Blue’s other scorers were Nora McCourt (third, 34:55.0) and Bridget Reusch (fifth, 35:13.3). Moriah Reusch (eighth, 35:40.8) also was in the top 10, while Kamryn Joyce finished 11th (36:15.9), Lucinda Carroll came in 13th (36:43.9) and Natalie McCarthy placed 16th (36:42.2).
Mt. Blue came away with girls title with 793 points, followed by Cheverus (740) and Deering (740), who tied for second.
“All eight (girls) finished in the top 16 so that’s pretty amazing,” Mt. Blue coach Emmy Held said. “I am just proud of their hard work, and they are such a cohesive and kind group of skiers and push themselves every day, so it is an honor to coach them.”
In other Class A girls action, Edward Little’s Nora Condit (6:54.5) and Katherine Garcia ( 37:09.7) came in 14th and 15th, respectively.
The Mt. Blue boys team racked up 782 points. Portland (762) finished second and Falmouth (753) third.
The Cougars were led by Henri McCourt, who finished second overall with a combined time of 29:49.0. Carson Zundel (30:03.2) took fourth, Josh Smith (31:55.4) finished seventh and Grayson Hoeft (32:32.0) and Alex Hardy (32:40.4) finished ninth and 11th, respectively, for the Cougars.
“(The course) was kind of hard … the opposite of yesterday,” Henri McCourt said. “It was really hard. It was icy, but there was kind of little bit of powder, like surgery snow on top. (There were) pretty slippery conditions. I was pretty happy with my race.”
Rouhana’s 11-minute, 34.8-second run through the freestyle course helped him finish more than 100 seconds ahead (28:11.8) of McCourt. Ryan Gray, Rouhana’s Falmouth teammate, took third in the pursuit.
Oxford Hills’ Grey Vanderwood finished 13th at 32:58.4. Simon Hall (18th, 33:36.5) was Edward Little’s top finisher.
DAY OF CHAMPIONS
Class B girls champ Maranacook (772) was paced by the top-10 finishes of Elsa Bergdaht (third, 38:53.2), Jenna Badeau (sixth, 40:32.9) and Olympia Farrell (seventh, 40:38.7).
“Their effort was spectacular,” Maranacook coach Steve DeAngelis said. “I mean, it was a super-fast course and some tough corners. They were worried about it at first, and our girls in general struggle with the downhills, but they did great today. I really proud of them. Their effort was as good you can get.”
Maine Coast Waldorf’s Emma Haims (37:35.6) was second in the Class B girls pursuit, finishing more than a minute behind Bell.
Leavitt, which finished second to Maranacook with 765 points, was paced by Jade Haylock (fifth, 40:01.6) and Ali Dening (eighth, 40:52.4).
“I think I just had a really clear head,” Haylock said. “When we did our course preview, I was really worried about the ice. I just cleared my head and told myself it will be all right.”
In Class B boys competition, Leavitt’s Ouellette held off Freeport’s Sam Robinson to earn the pursuit title. Ouellette beat Robinson by two seconds Wednesday, then came in nine-tenths of a second behind Robinson in the freestyle.
“Such different conditions (today),” Ouellette said. “It was really icy and hard pack compared to yesterday, which was wet and slow … but today was a great racing day.
“I have to give a huge kudos to the Freeport kid that was behind me. He was pushing me through the whole race. I was pushing him, and it was an awesome battle between the two of us.”
Yarmouth’s Askel Yeo placed third (31:11.2) in the pursuit and Maranacook’s Max Olmstead (31:12.9) fourth. Gray-New Gloucester’s Michael Sweeney (1:50.1) took ninth.
Yarmouth racked up 773 points. The Hornets (738) finished third in Class B, while Robinson led the Falcons (770) to a second-place showing.
Class C boys champion Mt. Abram (767) was bolstered by three top-10 pursuit finishes: Hemingway (first, 29:42.1), Jeff Warnock (sixth, 33:15.6), and Cameron Walters (seventh, 33:33.7).
Hemingway wasn’t particularly happy with his performance in the freestyle, in which he finished third at 12:34.
“I think it was a tough race,” Hemingway, who won the second classical state title of his career Wednesday, said after Thursday’s race. “It was icy. I still think I will hold to the pursuit but skate time, you have some phenomenal kids skiing today.”
Southern Aroostook’s Streinz won the freestyle race with a time of 11:59 and finished third in the pursuit (30:27.0). Spruce Mountain’s Abrahm Geissinger finished second in the classical, the freestyle and the pursuit (30:22.1).
Fort Kent (767) was second in the boys team competition, followed by Waynflete (759).
Fort Kent won the Class C girls team title with 781 points. Waynflete (769), led by the fourth-place finish of Auburn’s Sarah Morgan, took second and Orono (750) third.
The Mt. Abram girls, who placed fourth, had two skiers crack the top-10, with Emily Kidd (38:28.6) and Autumn Pulk (41:24.4) sailing in at third and eight place, respectively.
“We had our race yesterday and it was complete water,” Pulk said. “It seems like the complete opposite — a really cold day. It was pretty icy, The corners were really bad. I think I did pretty good for freshman year.”
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