FARMINGTON — It didn’t take the Rangeley girls’ alpine ski team long to find some gold.
The Lakers — in just their first season as a varsity program — took home the Mountain Valley Conference title at the MVC/Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championships on a blustery, freezing Saturday afternoon at Titcomb Mountain.
The Rangeley girls’ alpine ski team celebrates its Mountain Valley Conference championship Saturday at Titcomb Mountain in Farmington. The Lakers are in their first season as a varsity program. (Kennebec Journal photo by Dave Dyer)
Not bad for a rookie program that has no true home mountain of its own.
“It’s our first year in the MVC, and our first year in high school ski racing,” Rangeley coach Jeff Hawksley said. “But we’re not new to ski racing. There’s been (skiers) training for four years and who are just now becoming freshmen. It’s fantastic. We don’t have a home mountain. We ski at Titcomb twice a week, we ski at Black Mountain. Both places treat us incredibly well.”
The girls’ alpine team is comprised of just one senior, along with four freshmen and a sophomore. Rangeley also had success individually, as freshman Hannah McMillan swept the slalom and giant slalom titles.
“She’s really into (skiing),” Hawksley said. “She’s a good athlete, a good soccer player. If she keeps her head in it and really loves it, she’s just going to get better and better.”
Mt. Blue — competing at its home course — wrapped up three of the four KVAC titles, winning in boys’ alpine, as well as boys’ and girls’ Nordic. It was nearly a clean sweep, but Edward Little edged Mt. Blue by five points (62-67) for the girls’ alpine title.
Mt. Blue’s Ellie Pelletier finishes a run at the KVAC alpine ski championships Saturday at Titcomb Mountain. (Kennebec Journal photo by Dave Dyer)
Mt. Blue’s Ellie Pelletier finished with a top time of 1:21.84 to win the KVAC girls’ slalom title, nearly three seconds ahead of teammate and second-place finisher Jenna Hanrahan. The win provided Pelletier with a clean sweep over both alpine disciplines (slalom, giant slalom) for the week.
Emma Charles had similar success for the Cougars on the Nordic side, winning the freestyle event by more than two minutes to win the KVAC pursuit title, having also captured the classical crown during the first day of competition Wednesday.
Spruce Mountain won the MVC boys’ alpine title, while Orono took home the MVC girls’ Nordic title. Mt. Abram, led by David Kidd (first place in freestyle) and Dylan Wells (first place in pursuit) won the MVC boys’ Nordic championship.
Carter McPhedran led the way for the Maranacook boys’ Nordic team, which won the combined KVAC title. McPhedran finished first in the freestyle event with a time of 13:13, one second over Leavitt’s Roy Varney, who topped McPhedran for the pursuit crown.
“We’ve been having a really good team this year,” McPhedran said. “The top three guys have been first in multiple races, back and forth. We’ve been having a really good year, with a really good team. I think we felt pretty confident.”
The Maranacook boys also had success in boys’ alpine, as Robbie McKee was the top KVAC finisher.
Winthrop had winners in both alpine and Nordic. Maguire Anuszewski captured MVC giant slalom and slalom titles over the week, while Sam Allen won the freestyle title. Mt. Abram’s Emily Kidd won the MVC pursuit championship. Her teammate, Alice Mackey, was the top female MVC skimeister.
Mt. Blue’s Sam Smith competes during the KVAC nordic ski championships Saturday at Titcomb Mountain. (Kennebec Journal photo by Dave Dyer)
In boys Nordic, Jack Gilbert of Spruce Mountain was the top MVC skimeister, while Mt. Blue’s Sam Smith was the top KVAC skimeister.
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