CARRABASSETT VALLEY — Mt. Blue has put itself in position to capture another Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference ski crown in both the boys’ and girls’ competition after the first day of racing at Sugarloaf Outdoor Center on Friday.
The championships, postponed from Wednesday and moved from Black Mountain in Rumford to the Carrabassett Valley facility due to a scheduling conflict, resume Saturday.
In the Mountain Valley Conference, the championships for which ran concurrently, the Monmouth girls and Mt. Abram boys had solid days on the snow to lead their respective team races.
The Cougars took control of the girls’ race with a pair of top performances. Sarah Wade blew away the field with a time of 18:01.5, more than a minute and a half ahead of teammate Julia Ramsey. The duo’s 1-2 finish, along with Miriam Cohen in 10th and Leah Hardy in 11th, gave Mt. Blue 24 points, eight better than Leavitt Area High School’s 32.
Brooke and Mackenzie Varney paced the Hornets with a 5-6 finish.
Hannah Despres of Maranacook placed third, Torri Pelletier of Mt. Ararat finished in fourth, India Lucas of Oxford Hills captured seventh, Maranacook’s Abby Despres came in eighth and Leavitt’s Alisha Labbe rounded out the top 10 in ninth position.
The boys’ KVAC race is hotly contested. Mt. Blue finished the day with 30 points, one better than Leavitt and just two better than Maranacook.
Ike Doiron led the way for the Cougars in third place, one spot behind Maranacook’s Ethan Harriman. Sam Wood of Mt. Ararat won the KVAC race in a time of 14:23.0, 1:18.5 better than Harriman.
Harrison Knowlton and Rylee Knox of Leavitt rounded out the top five.
Gerencer, Thombs rule MVC
Izzy Gerencer of St. Dominic Academy is the 2014 MVC freestyle champion after besting the field in a time of 19:08.8. Dylan Thombs of Monmouth led the way for the boys in 15:20.9.
On the team side, Monmouth’s girls, led by Becki Bryant in second place, have an 18-point lead over Winthrop after the freestyle event. Jada Choate was Winthrop’s top skier in third position.
Telstar is just seven back of the Ramblers after a fourth-place finish from Carla Boyle-Wright.
The Mt. Abram boys skied off and hid Friday, placing three skiers among the top five to register just 24 points, 12 better than Dirigo in the freestyle event.
Thomas Farraday and Xavier Romanoski placed second and third, respectively, to pace the Roadrunners. Courtland Talmage added a fifth-place finish, while Seth Thomas placed 14th to round out the team’s scoring.
Dirigo’s pack finished well together. Sam Rock, Keenan Martin and Ben Buck placed 7-8-9, with Sawyer Smith claiming 12th place.
The KVAC and MVC teams will ski again Saturday at Titcomb Mountain in Farmington to decide the classical championship and team Nordic titles.
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