CARRABASSETT VALLEY – Mt. Blue packed three skiers among the top five finishers in the girls’ slalom and two of the top five in the boys’ race to clinch the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference boys’ and girls’ ski championships Saturday.
Leavitt used its strength in the Nordic events to finish second to the Cougars in the boys’ meet. Maranacook, Oxford Hills and Edward Little rounded out the top five.
Mt. Blue finished comfortably ahead of Oxford Hills for the boys’ crown, followed by Maranacook, Leavitt and Camden Hills.
Edward Little’s Sam Armstrong, who was seventh after his first run, found a near-perfect line on his final run to nip Mt. Blue’s Reid Bond in the slalom by four-hundredths of a second. Armstrong’s teammate Tyler Dorris, who won Wednesday’s giant slalom, had a disastrous first run, which left him more than five seconds behind the leaders. But Dorris recovered and posted the fastest second-run time by nearly a second to move up from 22nd to 14th.
Amy Gifford won the girls’ slalom, but Mt. Blue’s Tory Gray, Abby Martin and Heidi Judkins finished 2-3-5.
Mike Lessard of Leavitt avenged his loss earlier in the week to Messalonskee’s Sam Mendes to capture the classic pursuit Saturday. The Hornets’ depth paid off with the championship in the Nordic portion of the KVAC meet with Anthony Drouin and Justin Fereshetian finishing sixth and seventh.
Tom Esponnette took the bronze medal, while Mt. Blue’s Greg Allen and Welly Ramsey rounded out the top five. Mandy Ivey of Oxford Hills easily won the girls’ classic pursuit to sweep both Nordic races. Ivey finished nearly a minute ahead of runner-up Rebecca Schoen of Mt. Blue. Lauren Fereshetian led three Leavitt skiers in the top 10 to give the Hornets the overall KVAC Nordic title. Marybeth Kelson and Katelyn Beeckel placed seventh and ninth.
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