Nordic skiing: Leavitt right at home on its own course in Roy Varney Classic

TURNER — Logan Ouellette was proud of his Nordic ski race victory, but for the Leavitt senior, his success on the course was just another moment to remember and honor former Hornet Roy Varney.

Ouellette owned the 5K course at the Roy Varney Classic, turning in a first-place performance with a time of 15 minutes and 37.2 seconds at the Maine Outdoor Wellness Center on a frigid Tuesday afternoon.

“This is all for Roy, and I really love everything he did when he was here — and this is such a great race … and I use him as a role model every day,” Ouellette said.

Varney, an outstanding Nordic skier, died in a farming accident in 2019. Varney’s mother, Gloria, braved the cold and directed cars to the parking lot before she attended the race.

“It is quite emotional,” she said. “It is beautiful. It helps me remember. It just makes us even more proud of him and his journey, and the fact that we can continue to honor him in this way in something he truly loved and succeeded in.”

The past four days have been prosperous for Ouellette, who finished ninth in the Sassi Memorial Classic at Black Mountain on Saturday.

It was also a good day overall for the Leavitt boys and girls teams, which each finished at the top of heap against the other 13 teams that competed in the event.

The Leavitt boys’ winning score of 768 points did the trick. The Hornets were followed by Greely (761), Maranacook (755), Oxford Hills (735), Mt. Abram (691), Spruce Mountain (683), Orono (675), Mountain Valley (61), Edward Little (551), Dirigo (465), Falmouth (362) and Winthrop (164).

Isaac Seeker of Falmouth was the runner-up, and Maranacook teammates Wyatt Stevenson and Silas Bartol took third and fourth.

Other top-1o finishers for the boys included Edward Little’s Orrin Slover (seventh, 16:36), eighth-place finisher Jeffrey Warnock (16:45.4) of Mt. Abram and Leavitt’s Nathaniel Bell (10th, 17:21.5).

Orono’s Ruth White captured first place in the girls race with her time of 19:13.4, but the Leavitt girls won the whole shebang with 767 points. Rounding out the rest of the team scores were: Maranacook (743), Falmouth (734), Greely (733), Camden Hills (730), Orono (716), Oxford Hills (525), Spruce Mountain (479), Dirigo (465), Winthrop (347), Bangor (324), Edward Little (199), Old Town (167) and Mountain Valley (164).

Leavitt placed three girls in the top 10, including Jade Haylock (fifth, 20:08.4), Ali Dening (eighth, 20:57.1) and Iris Petrin (ninth, 21:09.4). Oxford Hills’ Meredith Harthorne finished 10th at 21:31.1.

The Hornets train at the Maine Outdoor Wellness Center, which certainly didn’t hurt their chances.

“Yes, I am pretty familiar with the course,” Ouellette said with a smile. “Today was fantastic. The tracks were really nice and the outsides were just enough where you were able to get some good grip, but was fast today.”

Ouellette embraced the freezing arctic winds that blew across the wide-open course.

“It kept me nice and cool because I was working out there,” he said.

He added that “a lot of hard work and spirit and dedication to this course” made his victory possible.

“I love the North Farm,” he said. “I really worked hard (on) this course and I love everything it stands for.”

For White, last year’s New England Nordic champion, the long trip was worth it to compete at the Maine Outdoor Wellness Center.

“I was just trying to push as hard as I could,” White said. “(The course) is really nice … and a fun race.”

Edward Little’s Kat Garcia was right behind White and finished second with a time 19:19.8.

“(The course) has a lot of everything, like you got the gradual downhills, a couple of steeper ones and the up-hills are fun — just got to push up over them and just keep cranking,” Garcia said. “It was a really fun race.”

Leavitt Nordic coach Dustin Williamson said Ouellette and Garcia are two fine skiers.

“Kat had a fantastic race and a great first lap and great second lap,” Williamson said. “She is a phenomenal skier. It is really great to have her (training) with us this year.

“Logan is incredible. He is a smart racer; he is a talented racer. His technique is awesome, and I am really proud of his finish.”

Williamson said Tuesday’s race was large, but not the largest, but he was glad it was held at the Maine Outdoor Wellness Center.

“(The Varney Classic) was postponed a couple of times and then changed,” he said. “It is great to finally have it and even better to have it here at the Wellness Center. It is a place that Roy dreamed of having and it was a beautiful day to ski for Roy. He would have loved it. He loved classical and the conditions today were fantastic — a phenomenal event.”