Basketball may be attracting much of the media’s attention these days, but a number of other winter sports have also hit their pinnacles recently, including that definitive cold-weather competition, the one that most readily embraces the frigid outdoors and the newfallen snow. A pair of two-day affairs, Nordic and Alpine Skiing States unfolded recently at the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle and Big Rock in Mars Hill.

The Freeport and Merriconeag ski teams have both assembled impressive multi-year streaks, and neither disappointed in 2015. In Class B, the gentlemen Falcons took second overall, behind Maranacook, while their lady counterparts finished third, again behind the Black Bears.

In Class C, Merriconeag’s girls posted a blistering No. 1 on the Nordic side of things (Merriconeag doesn’t field an alpine team), and so did their boys. Merriconeag’s dominance was so complete, it’s easy to imagine they could also have won a class up – or two classes up.

“Obviously we were really excited with both the boys and the girls teams,” said Freeport Nordic head coach Dan Smith. “They suffered through some challenging, cold, windy conditions, and had a lot of scheduling issues, but everybody took it in stride. People gave everything.”

The Freeport Nordic boys grabbed second to Maranacook in the Classical race, 29-39, with Bennett Hight, Yacob Olins and Kyle Dorsey all registering top-10 times. Hight (17:05.10) grabbed sixth, Olins (17:09.20) seventh and Dorsey (17:23.80) ninth. The Black Bears’ Ethan Harriman set the pace that day, crossing the line in just 15:29.30.

“The boys are coming off first place in the WMCs, with an outstanding performance by Yacob Olins and Kyle Dorsey. They took that momentum right into the State Meet,” Smith said.

But the squads reversed performances in the Skate, and the Falcons slipped from Maranacook’s claws 32-34. Hight took third (15:14.00) in that race and Olins (16:04.00) sixth, and Nate Smail and Dorsey both placed solidly as well, finishing 11th and 12th respectively. John Lane of Yarmouth crossed first in the event, in 14:20.20.

“Kyle and Yacob came through with some really gritty performances that sealed the deal,” Smith said.

Maranacook’s Alpine boys bested Freeport in both the Giant Slalom and Slalom. The Black Bears accrued a slim 47 points, while Freeport tallied 71. In fact, the Falcons managed just fifth in the Giant Slalom – back from Yarmouth, Presque Isle and Camden Hills as well – suffering a blow when Caleb Abbott, regularly a top finisher, did not finish. Blake Enrico (46.05) grabbed third in the race and Ryder Bennell (48.77) 17th. Teammates Isaac Salisbury, Charlie Zachau and Griffin Agnese claimed 23rd, 28th and 32nd. Bryce Smith (45.69) of Presque Isle took first.

The Falcons recovered in the Slalom, taking second again on 45 points to the Black Bears’ 37. Enrico stopped the clock at 42.27, good enough for third, two slots back from winner Nathan Delmar (40.80) of Maranacook. Bennell (44.76) finished sixth, Salisbury 16th, Agnese 20th and Abbott 26th.

“It was not [Caleb’s] day,” Thomas said lightly. “It was Blake’s day instead.”

“The whole thing went out of sequence,” Thomas said, referring to the awkward travel times, schedule changes and weather conditions that threw the entire competition, and many of its participants, for a loop.

“We went up there a day early because of the blizzard, and then it was really cold and they canceled the race on Monday, and we had to do just a one-run race on Tuesday. Keeping kids’ heads in the game is hard.”

Yarmouth placed third in the Slalom, but Freeport’s score across the two events was enough to keep them one slot ahead of the Clippers in the Alpine results. That performance, taken in tandem with the Falcons’ outstanding Nordic numbers, brought a second-place overall finish home to the school.

“The boys ended up being a total team effort,” said Freeport Alpine head coach Jay Thomas. “Every kid that we took, all six boys, we had to use one of their times to make it happen. All season, we had that kind of depth, so we could go back there and say, ‘We could use that time.’”

On the girls’ side, Freeport finished second to Yarmouth in both Classical (24-37) and Skate (24-45). Elizabeth Martin (18:55.80) and Lily Johnston (19:16.90) went two-three in the former, and Jasmine Olins finished 11th, while Martin (16:48.10) grabbed second in the latter, Johnston (17:15.00) fourth and Olins (18:44.60) eighth. Gray-New Gloucester’s Kaelyn Woods won both races, in times of 17:23.00 and 16:17.10.

“We’d been missing Lily Johnston during the conference championships,” Smith said. “But she was healthy again for the State meet, and we had some really amazing performances from Lily and Lizzie Martin, and overall they were able to pull it together and bring home second.”

The lady Falcons struggled in the Alpine events, in part for a lack of bodies; the team is just three deep, and though a squad is permitted one ghost time, allowing them to figure into a team competition, that ghost time is equivalent to the last time turned in, so it’s not much of a boon. Still, Wynne Cushing took 14th, Ashley Taylor 25th and Kaia Williams 34th in the Giant Slalom, and Cushing took eighth (50.40), Taylor 27th and Williams 38th in the Slalom, for a sixth-place Alpine result. Cape Elizabeth won both races handily.

The Freeport girls’ second place Nordic performance buoyed their Alpine numbers, and the school claimed third overall, with 311 points, behind No. 1 Yarmouth (134) and No. 2 Maranacook (294).

Also of note: The Freeport Boys Alpiners also brought home the Class B Sportsmanship award, voted on by coaches. Moreover, Bennell’s, Enrico’s and Cushing’s top-10 finishes earned them a trip to Sunday the 22nd’s Alpine Shootout at Black Mountain, in Rumford, where Enrico won a spot on the Maine state team.

In their turn, Merriconeag chewed up and spat out all takers. For the girls, first-place winner Samantha Pierce (18:29.40) set the pace in Classical – and by a substantial margin. Even teammate Fiona Ahearne, who took second, came in almost 30 seconds behind Pierce, at 18:58.20. Then, Olivia Skillings (19:38.70) grabbed fourth and Louie Ahearne (22:05.80) eighth for a combined team score of just 15. Second place Orono was miles back, with 54.

Likewise, then Merriconeag girls crushed their closest competitor in the Skate race as well. This time, that was Monmouth, who, with 64 points, were even more miles back from Merriconeag, at 18, and this time, it was Fiona Ahearne (17:08.30) claiming first among individuals, Pierce (17:37.70) claiming third and Skillings fourth (18.06.60). Louise Ahearne (20:26.40) crossed the line in 10th.

Not to be outshined, the Merriconeag boys proved equally intimidating, taking first in Classical over Fort Kent by a score of 17-45 and first in Skate – again over Fort Kent – by a similar tally, 15-47. Forrest McCurdy (15:50.60) and Tucker Pierce (16:23.40) went one-two in Classic, with Lars Gunderson (17:38.90) coming in fifth and Zach Neveu (17:52.80) ninth.

McCurdy and Pierce repeated as Nos. 1 and 2 in Skate, in 14:30.50 and 15.01.10 respectively. Zach Neveu (15:41.70) and Nick Neveu (16:08.20) took fifth and seventh in the race. Those kind of numbers don’t earn a team anything but No. 1.

The Freeport Alpine boys brought home another trophy from States this year. From left are Charlie Zachau, Ryder Bennell, Caleb Abbott, Blake Enrico, Isaac Salisbury, Griffin Agnese.The Freeport Nordic team consists of, in back, head coach Dan Smith. Third row, from left, Perrin Davidson, Nathan Smail, Yacob Olins, John Smail and Bennett Hight. Second row, from left, Elizabeth Martin, Virginia Fullagar, Jasmine Olins, Kyle Dorsey, Elizabeth Kolle, Taylor Schenker and Maya Eagan. First row, from left, assistant coaches Doug Martin, Eli McCurdy and Joel Hinshaw, as well as team member Lily Johnston.The Freeport Alpine boys didn’t just win second at States last week; they also won the Sportsmanship award. From left are Griffin Agnese, Caleb Abbott, Black Enrico, Charlie Zachau, Ryder Bennell, Isaac Salisbury.Bennett Hight, of Freeport, skis during last week’s state championship race in Presque Isle.Merriconeag’s ski team consits of front row, from left, Calla Barton, Olivia Skillings, Louise Ahearne, Eli Gundersen, Thomas Kolle, Dylan Wu; middle row, Davis Ritger, Fiona Libby, Emma Goldberg-Courtney, Fiona Chace-Donahue, Fiona Ahearne, Nicholas Neveu, Lars Gunderson, Zach Neveu and coach John Tarling; ad top row, Samantha Pierce, Forrest McCurdy, Tucker Pierce and Jannis Greissl.

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