RUMFORD — Maine Nordic skiing athletes and coaches with Franklin County roots had key roles in the 2012 U.S. National Cross Country Ski Championships recently completed at Black Mountainduring the week of Jan. 2.

Welly Ramsey of New Sharon, a Mt. Blue High School graduate who races for Maine Winter Sports Center in Presque Isle, took 14th place in the 30-kilometer classic race. This was an impressive finish against some of the best Nordic skiers in North America. Among other local athletes racing in the week-long competition were Derek Rowe of Farmington, who also skis for Maine Winter Sports Center, and Shelby Aseltine of Wilton, who competes for Bowdoin College.

Local fans also  had the opportunity to see these racers and some of the best young Nordic skiers from the Northeast athletes at the TD Bank Pine Tree Eastern Cup races sponsored by the New England Nordic Ski Association,held at Titcomb Mountain in West Farmington on Jan. 14-15.

On the coaching side, James Upham, originally from Wilton, Head Coach of the U.S. Paralympic Nordic Ski Team, brought the team to the Adaptive Ski Championships held at Rumford as part of the U.S. National Cross Cross Country Ski Championships. Both sit ski and stand-up athletes competed under Upham’s leadership. Among the competition highlights was the gold-medal finish of Christina Kouros, 16, of Cape Elizabeth, in the 5K sit-ski race, and two gold medals for Navy Seal Dan Cnossen, in the 10K sit ski and 12.5K sit ski.

In the coming weeks Coach Upham will lead the team to national-level competitions in Minnesota and Wisconsin before heading for the World Cup in Paralympic Nordic Sking at Vuokatti, Finland, in March.

Farmington native Matt Dunlap is Assistant Nordic Ski Coach for the University of Alaska, which brought two full teams, men and women, to the championships. The Alaska team had strong finishes throughout the week, including top among men’s and women’s Central Division college teams in the 30K and 20K classic races respectively, and a gold medal for Tyler Kornfield of Anchorage, in the men’s sprint classic race.

Dunlap is in his third year of the Alaska coaching staff, and also coaches the Alaska Men’s and Women’s Cross Country running teams.