With the KVAC/MVC championships less than two weeks away, the Cougars put together their best individual and team performances Friday at Titcomb Mountain. Mt. Blue placed four skiers in the top 10 and took first at the midseason KVAC/MVC meet.

Kyle Farrington paced the Cougars with a fifth-place finish with a combined time of 1 minute, 19.11 seconds. His first and seconds runs of 38.49 and 40.62 seconds, respectively, were both fifth best. 

“That’s the best I’ve seen them ski, not only as individuals but more importantly as a team,” Mt. Blue coach Mark Cyr said. “They skied as a team tonight. They knew what the course was like. We had a lot of communication up and down the hill talking to the assistant coaches and making sure they knew what was going on with the course and they just skied really, really well.” 

Hunter Bolduc (1:20.23), Miles Pelletier (1:20.64) and Mitchell Haines (1:20.69), placed sixth, seventh and ninth, respectively. Bolduc, a freshman, had the sixth-best first run and the ninth-fastest second run. 

“I feel pretty good, finishing in the top ten,” Bolduc said. “The snow was pretty grippy if you had the right edge for it. I liked it. I had nice sharp skis.” 

The top 15 finishers posted a faster time in their first run. Mt. Blue’s Dylan Roberts, who finished 16th and didn’t factor into the team score, shaved off nearly 11 seconds on his second run. After clocking in at 48.08 on his first run, Roberts completed his second run in 37.15, the second fastest time. 

Cyr thought the course held up well throughout the night. 

“I think it was exactly the same,” Cyr said. “I don’t think the conditions changed at all. It was firm, it was fast and it wasn’t going to go anywhere. I don’t think there was any difference between that first run and that second run at all.” 

The Cougars finished with a team score of 27 on the boys’ side. Maranacook and Mountain Valley tied for second with 62, while Edward Little (80) and Showhegan (135) rounded out the top five. 

Falmouth’s Tom Lesniak was the top individual finisher with a combined time of 1:11.30. Both his first run (35.03) and second run (36.27) were the top times of the night. 

Oxford Hills’ Chris Burns (1:18.54) finished fourth, Winthrop’s Charlie Dehaas (1:22.92) took 12th and Edward Little’s Kyle Mooney (1:23.18) and Isaac Elliott (1:25.77) placed 14th and 18th, respectively, in a field of more than 80. 

The top finisher on the girls’ side also belonged to Falmouth. Krysia Lesniak finished with a combined score of 1:20.14. Her first run of 38.91 was tops on the day for the girls. 

Right behind Lesniak was Edward Little’s Brooke Lever, who had the fortune of being the first skier down the mountain for both her runs. Lever used that to her advantage, posting a first run time of 39.36, third-best among the field of more than 70. 

“I had a lot of fun with it,” Lever said. “I came out here and I was just going to go for it. Second run was a little rough, but the course was holding up pretty well. The bottom part was a little icy, but I stuck it through and ended up finishing, which is all I really wanted.” 

The junior finished her second run in 41.93, also third-best among the field. She edged out Maranacook’s Erin Guilmet by 0.68. 

Being the first skier down the mountain, Lever had a lot of time to watch her competition post their respective times. She tried her best to avoid that temptation. 

“I try not to let it get in my head,” Lever said. “I look at the people who are close to me and I like to watch my competition go down, but I don’t like to look at it too much because it freaks me out.” 

Lever’s second-place finish helped the Red Eddies take sixth as a team with 124 points. Camden Hills grabbed the top team score with 40, followed by Oxford Hills with 62. Maranacook (80), Falmouth (105) and Spruce Mountain (120) rounded out the top five. 

Oxford Hills placed two skiers in the top 10 in Annika Kahkonen (1:23.34) and Miranda Murphy (1:25,75), who finished sixth and seventh, respectively. Lewiston’s Alesha Gregoire (1:28.06) was 11th and Lever’s teammate, Victoria Beliveau, was 13th in 1:29.89. Leavitt had three skiers in the top 20, led by Kaitlyn Leclerc (1:30.00). 

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