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RANGELEY — A snowstorm changed the schedule for the Class A Alpine skiing championships, but Falmouth’s boys and girls teams weren’t going to let weather impede their quests for repeat titles.

The Falmouth girls (1,515 points) claimed their fourth straight team title Tuesday at Saddleback Mountain, while the Falmouth boys (1,553 points) took the top step of the podium for the third year in a row.

This year’s meet was different from victories in the past. Monday’s winter weather forced the two-day meet to be shortened into one day. Instead of each athlete making two runs down the giant slalom course on Monday and two slalom runs on Tuesday, skiers took just one run per event.

Temperatures stayed in the mid-teens throughout the day, but with the sun shining and the wind calming down after lunch, the Grey Ghost track provided excellent conditions for the racers.

“They all know how to approach a race, depending on what we’re faced with,” Falmouth coach Evan Keefer said. “Every hill’s different, all conditions are different, sometimes you’re in blizzards, sometimes you’re in the most beautiful day ever. It worked out for us.”

Edward Little was the runner-up for both boys and girls (girls, 1,461 points; boys, 1,532). Camden Hills (1,429), Fryeburg Academy (1,414) and Scarborough (1,409) rounded out the girls top five; and Fryeburg (1,510), Freeport (1,380) and Marshwood (1,370) followed Falmouth and EL in the boys scoring.

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Margo Hesson led the way for the Navigators, winning her second straight title in giant slalom (45.86 seconds) and earning a fourth-placed finish in slalom (38.56). Teammate Ella Morse placed second in slalom (38.12) and 12th in giant slalom.

Hesson, who said she started the season with issues trusting her edges and her skis, got a boost of confidence when she heard about the schedule for the truncated meet.

“I feel like I was very lucky when this happened, because I’m definitely a first-run skier,” Hesson said. “It kind of benefited me to that sense, because I know a lot of these other girls who are so good — the competition is so good — they’re definitely second-run skiers. It didn’t affect me that much mentally, I just knew if I could send it down the course and get the best time that I could, stay up and do good for myself and my team, I knew I would be fine.”

Marshwood junior Hazel Martin considers herself one of those second-run skiers. Although she was initially disappointed about having only one run, Martin won the slalom race (37.20 seconds) and placed third in giant slalom (46.36).

“I tried to get in the mindset that I already did a run, and that my inspection was like my first run,” Martin said. “I kind of just wanted to go all out. I was really nervous before the GS race, especially with the conditions being sort of similar to when I broke my leg. (During Martin’s freshman season, she suffered a compound spiral fracture to her left leg that has required three surgeries.) I was pretty nervous, but I cleared my head before I got in the start gate, and I went down and it ended up being pretty good.”

The Falmouth boys earned their championship with depth, as three Navigators finished in the top 10 in slalom and four did so in giant slalom. Ian Christie placed fourth in both races, and Zach Small was right behind in fifth each time.

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Fryeburg’s Merrik Iacozili and Tucker Barnaby spent most of their day next to each other on the timesheet and podium. Iacozili edged out his teammate for the morning GS crown (43.01 seconds to 43.08) before Barnaby returned the favor in the afternoon slalom (34.03 to 34.24). Poland’s Dylan Cobb placed third in both events.

“One run,” Barnaby said,” so you just gotta full send or no send.”

The Raiders’ top finishers both described themselves as first-run racers and found Tuesday’s schedule a bit odd. They got to the Saddleback area on Sunday evening, and they spent Monday free skiing the hills and examining the terrain. It proved beneficial.

“Your sight can only do so much when you’re looking at a bunch of just completely white surface. You kind of have to feel it,” Iacozili said. “It’s really nice that we got the chance to feel the trail a day ahead. Of course I would have rather raced, but it’s still nice that we got something out of it.”

Cooper Sullivan covers high school and collegiate sports in Brunswick and the surrounding communities. He is from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where he studied at Wake Forest University ('24) and held...

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