LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — Maine skiers helped New England secure another Alaska Cup on Saturday at the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Cross Country Junior National Championships.

New England has won three consecutive Alaska Cups, and nine of the past 10.

The Junior Nationals concluded with three mixed-gender 4×3-kilometer freestyle relays.

Orrin Slover, an Edward Little sophomore who skis for Quarry Road Ski Club, skied the fourth leg for the fourth-place team in the U16 relay. Leigh Niedeck, Ivan Ivanov, Brooke Greenberg and Slover were the second-fastest New England U16 team with a time of 35:42.2. New England also took second.

Greenwood’s Nyla Scott, who skies for Gould Academy, and former Spruce Mountain skier Abrahm Geissinger were on the fifth-place U18 relay (32:21.2), one of three New England teams to place in the top five.

New England foursome Mirra Payson, Jack Lange, Greta Kilburn and Finegan Bailey teamed up to win the U20 relay with a time of 28:22.4. Quarry Road skier Caden Cote was part of the 16th-place team.

HIGH SCHOOL NORDIC
MCCOURT TAKES 3RD: Mt. Blue junior Henri McCourt skied to a third-place finish in the boys 7.5-kilometer classic mass start race during the second day of the New England Nordic Ski Association’s Eastern High School Championships on Saturday hosted by Holderness School in Plymouth, New Hampshire.

McCourt finished the race in 25 minutes, 2.8 seconds. Vermont’s Quinn Uva won the boys race with a time of 24:47.6, while Friday’s freestyle winner, Oliver Wilson (25:02.8) of New Hampshire, took second. McCourt placed fifth in the boys freestyle.

Beckett Cote, who races for Quarry Road Ski Club, was Maine’s only other top-20 finisher, coming in sixth (25:58.9).

Greely’s Tait Harvey was the next Maine boy, finishing 23rd. Gould’s Ian Brown took 30th.

Mt. Blue’s Elias Bartlett placed 41st and teammate Damian Wynn came in 62nd. Leavitt’s Gabe Durazo was 90th.

Other boys finishers from Bethel’s Gould Academy were Parker Nellis (72nd), Will Brown (82nd), Lucas Barstow (86th) and James Crowley (87th).

Later in the day, McCourt took 18th in the boys 1.1-kilometer freestyle sprint, which included rollers, barrel turns and a drop jump. Beckett finished third and Freeport’s Teo Steverlynk-Horne was sixth.

Nora McCourt was again Maine’s highest girls placer, following Friday’s fifth-place showing with a seventh-place finish (29:07.6) in Saturday’s classic race.

Gould’s Hannah Grohman (29:27.5) was one place behind Nora McCourt, coming in eighth.

Orono sisters Ruth White (11th, 29:55.8) and Clara White (20th, 30:37.7) also finished in the top 20.

Three Mt. Blue skiers were Maine’s next highest placers, Natalie McCarthy took 35th, Lucinda Carroll 37th and Maya Kellett 38th.

Edward Little duo Kat Garcia and Nora Condit came in 48th and 49th, respectively. Leavitt’s Jade Haylock was 75th and her teammate, Abby Marston, took 80th.

For Gould, Brynn Newsome was 52nd and Evelyn Burnes 82nd.

Nora McCourt finished fifth in the girls 1.1K freestyle sprint, while Grohman took fourth. Greely’s Sylvia Harvey was 15th, Kellett 16th and Clara White came in 20th.

Maine finished fourth in the team standings. New Hampshire won the title. Vermont was second, Massachusetts third and New York came in fifth.

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