That doesn’t make a fall or two, or a key injury, any easier to take.

The Edward Little and Mt. Blue girls, expected to battle for the Class A alpine crown this week, each suffered setbacks on their way to the podium, and Class B-turned-Class-A Greely and Fryeburg are now in the four-team mix with just one day — two runs of the slalom — to go.

“That’s ski racing,” EL coach Tara Eretzian said. “You go as hard as you can, and sometimes you catch an edge or you just fall. It happens.”

Poised to potentially double up with both the boys’ and girls’ teams, the Eddies’ girls were in great shape after one run. Despite a fall by freshman Lexis Clavet, who scored the 18th-fastest second run, Edward Little led the standings by a slim margin.

In the second run, though, Allarie Lever, another freshman, took her own tumble. EL’s fourth scoring skier ended up in 42nd place, and the Eddies are 23 points back of leader Greely.

“It’s a lot to make up, but we know we can ski well in the slalom,” Eretzian said.

KVAC champion Emily Blackwood, EL’s lone senior, took third place.

“I wanted it more,” Blackwood said of her improved second run. “I usually do better on my second run.”

Phoebe Chamberlain clocked in at No. 11, followed by Megan Howes and Jennifer Rioux.

Greely, meanwhile, sped out to the lead early on the skis of freshman Maddie Whittier, who posted the fastest time in both runs to run away with the individual GS title.

Perennial contender Mt. Blue is again in the mix, despite battling some injury issues of its own, but kept pace with depth.

“Our second skier (Emily Deane), she’s a really good skier, and I think she still ended up placing,” the Cougars’ top skier, Abbi Davis, said. “But that just shows how deep we are as a team, and that’s what’s important overall.”

Davis was third-quickest in the second run and placed fifth, followed by Heather Farrington in 10th, Eliza Richard in 30th and Deane in 35th. The Cougars’ 80 points are nine behind Greely, and just three ahead of surprising Fryeburg. The Raiders finished 17th, 18th and 19th, along with 29th.

But calling the friendly confines of Titcomb Mountain of Farmington home helps the Mt. Blue squad feel confident about its chances in Wednesday’s slalom event.

“We know we’re a better slalom team,” Davis said. “We’ll see what happens (Thursday). We’re usually right in there for GS, but slalom tomorrow will help us out a little bit.”
Oxford Hills also placed three skiers in a row in 24th, 25th and 26th, and the Vikings are lurking in the top five, too.

Over at Black Mountain in Rumford, Mt. Blue placed three skiers in the top four at the freestyle Nordic race, led by Shelby Aseltine in first, and scored 23 points, 15 better than Mt. Ararat’s 38.

Edward Little was next with 43 points, and Leavitt came in with 59.

Hannah Mogensen led the Eddies with a seventh-place finish, followed closely by Katelyn Williamson in eighth.

Hannah Allen of Mt. Blue took third behind Janna Kurnick of Fryeburg. Emily Ramsey placed fourth. Lucy Knowlton was Leavitt’s top finisher in sixth.

Overall, Mt. Blue is way out in front. Over two events, the Cougars have 103 points. Edward Little is at 137.

Class C

Sam Largess led a contingent of four Telstar skiers in the top seven as the Rebels took firm control of the Class C alpine ski championships at Lonesome Pines Ski Area.
Largess’ combined time of 1:35.36 was third-best on the day in Class C. Teammates Tara Cowin, Morgan Lee and Rachel Wheeler finished 5th, 6th and 7th, respectively, as Telstar scored a measly 21 points. Fort Kent is in second.

Abigail Jensen of St. Dom’s, competing as an individual, earned a medal with a 10th-place finish in the GS. The Class C alpine meet also concludes Wednesday at Lonesome Pines with the slalom event. Fort Kent leads the Class C Nordic competition, posting 20 points Tuesday.

Class B

Emily and Erin Luce of Mt. Abram proved to be a powerful 1-2 punch at the Class B alpine championships at Saddleback in Rangeley on Tuesday. Emily finished first in 1:27.16, while Erin took second in 1:27.27.

As a team, the Roadrunners sit in fifth place, one point and one place behind Mountain Valley of Rumford.

In the Nordic freestyle event in Rangeley, Sadie James of Mt. Abram led the local finishers, and the ‘Runners placed fifth there, as well.