FORT KENT — Mt. Blue High School glided off with Class A boys and girls Nordic state titles, racking up the most points after two days of competition.
The Mt. Blue girls have won three consecutive team state championships, while the boys team has claimed two in a row.
Henri McCourt led the pack for the Cougars’ boys team with his winning time of 14:33.3 in the 5K freestyle on the second day of racing at the Fort Kent Outdoor Center on Thursday.
McCourt, who won the classical state title on Wednesday, also finishes first in the combined standings with a time of 30:36.3. Mt. Blue earned two more top-10 finishes in the combined: Carson Zundel took fourth at and Grayson Hoeft finished sixth.
Hoeft (15:45.9) placed seventh in the freestyle and Zundel (15:49.8) was eighth.
Edward Little’s Orrin Slover placed second in the freestyle with a time of 15:20.76. Oxford Hills’ Cameron Sherbinski and Dean Rudman finished 18th and 24th, respectively.
The Mt. Blue boys tallied 782 points. Greely (761) took second and Deering (736) third.
In the girls Class A 5K free style competition, the Cougars grabbed five places in the top 10: Nora McCourt (17:29.8) placed second, Bridget Reusch (17:47.4) was third, Maya Kellet (18:19.4) took fourth, Moriah Reusch (18:28.2) came in sixth and Natalie McCarthy (19:10.2) finished ninth.
The Mt. Blue girls finished with 786 points. Greely (740) was the runner-up and Portland (739) took third.
Annabelle Brooks of Cheverus topped all of the Class A girls with her first-place finish of 17:24.1. She also was the classical champion. Each of Thursday’s freestyle champions also won Wednesday’s classical races.
Edward Little’s Katherine Garcia grabbed ninth place in Class A with her time of 18:40.8. Oxford Hills’ Meredith Harthorne finished 18th at 22:34.6.
Logan Ouellette, who has been on a roll throughout this season, followed up his Class B classical title a first-place finish in the freestyle competition, gliding in at 14:28.6.
But Freeport (775) edged Yarmouth (772) for the Class B boys team title, with Leavitt (754) finishing third.
Gray-New Gloucester’s Michael Maines took eighth at 15:37.2 and Leavitt’s Nathan Bell (16:33.5) finished 15th.
Caribou’s Kayley Bell came in with a blistering time of 17:01.8 to win the the girls Class B freestyle.
Leavitt’s Iris Petrin (sixth, 19:59.9), Haley Martston (eighth, 20:21.5), Abby Marston (ninth, 20:29.6) and Ali Denning (10th, 20:35.8) each finished in the top 10, while teammate Jade Haylock (21:23.8) was 14th
But Freeport prevailed to collect the Class B Nordic state tile with 773 points. Leavitt finish second with 766.
Fort Kent Community School was comfortable and right at home to collect first-place finishes in the boys and girls Class C Nordic state championships.
In boys racing, Fort Kent’s Alden Reardon finished at the top with his winning freestyle time of 15:09.4.
Mt. Abram’s Jeffrey Warnock had an impressive fourth-place finish at 16:03.2 and teammate Carter Butterfield (19:36.8) took 15th. Spruce Mountain’s Samuel Geissinger (18:07.1) came in eighth.
Mountain Valley’s David Packer (21:59.1) was 19th, Telstar’s Kayan DeGruttola (24:46.4) was 31st, and Joseph Szakas (27:20) had Winthrop’s highest finish at No. 36.
Orono’s Ruth White did what she does best and won the girls Class C freestyle competition with a winning time of 17:30.8. Orono’s Clara White (17:44.4) finished second, and Rowan Tanguay took third for Fort Kent with her time of 18:29.4.
Phoebe Dow (24:28.6) of Winthrop was the area’s top finisher in the Class C girls race, coming in 15th. Telstar’s Ella Akers (24:57.6) took 17th, Mountain Valley’s Brook Buotte (25:42.9) was 19th, and Spruce Mountain’s Hannah Perkins (27:08.9) glided in at 20th.
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