KINGFIELD — Students from Kingfield Elementary School won the Kids Cup at the WinterKids Downhill 24 (D24) event at Sugarloaf after raising more than $13,000 and and skiing through the night during the 24-hour fundraiser held Feb. 26-27.

A team of 12 students from the school participated in the event, which encourages children across Maine to stay active during the winter while raising funds for youth programs. The team raised $13,185, exceeding the school’s original fundraising goal of $10,000. Half of the funds will go directly to Kingfield Elementary School to support outdoor learning programs, while the remainder supports the broader WinterKids program.

“I am just in awe of our community’s accomplishments this year at the D24,” Kingfield Elementary second grade teacher Erica Luce said.

Luce said the funds will support outdoor learning programs at the school, including skiing and skating activities, winter presenters and winter gear for students.

As a team, the students logged 273 ski run points during the event. Organizers said that total meant each participant averaged about 12.5 hours of skiing throughout the competition.

The event began the evening of Feb. 26, shortly after the students completed a full day of school.

“Ten out of 11 students were up there, in line, ready to start skiing at 8 p.m. Thursday night — mind you, they had all just completed a whole day of school,” Luce said.

During the overnight portion of the competition, participants skied Narrow Gauge from Kangaroo Hill while the mountain remained open for night skiing.

“This event is one of a kind for anyone who skis at Sugarloaf,” Luce said. “It is the only time you can night ski.”

At midnight, the event paused for a ski limbo contest designed to keep participants energized.

“We had five students participate in the limbo event,” Luce said.

One fourth-grade student finished second overall in the contest, competing against an adult former ski racer.

Even after the limbo event ended, several students continued skiing into the early morning hours.

“After the limbo competition, we still had three students who headed back on to the lift for 1 a.m. runs,” Luce said. “An impressive time to stay awake for anyone.”

Students returned early Friday morning to continue the competition as lifts reopened. Many arrived around 8 a.m. and began skiing again as the regular lifts started turning at 8:30 a.m.

Throughout the day, the team focused on accumulating points by completing multiple runs each hour while competing against other youth teams.

During a midday grooming break, two fourth graders represented the school in an inflatable obstacle course event. Around the same time, a parent discovered that fundraising points had been tallied and Kingfield Elementary had moved into the top position for the Kids Cup.

“If KES was able to keep most of their team on the hill and ski the remaining six runs of the event, they would win,” Luce said.

The news energized the team, which returned to the lifts and continued skiing through the final runs of the event.

The students clinched the top position around 6:30 p.m. but continued skiing through the final runs before heading inside for the awards ceremony.

“The kids were overjoyed to be called on stage, and they received loud applause from the room,” Luce said.

The Kids Cup is awarded to the youth team with the highest combined total of fundraising and ski points.

Luce said the team’s success reflected both strong community support and the enthusiasm of the students who participated.

“We set a high bar this year, but I think it was also the culmination of the four previous years of building a pipeline of kids, parents, and community support,” she said. “The kids realize how special an event this is and now look forward to participating.”