RUMFORD – When the Class A Nordic ski season began, Leavitt High School wasn’t even on the map. Sure, the Hornets had been strong in recent years, but heavy graduation had laid the team to waste.
Or had it?
The boys, paced by a junior, a sophomore and two freshmen, and the girls with only one senior, each started the final day of competition just one point ahead of a strong but equally young Edward Little team.
Apparently, classical cross country skiing is a forte among the athletes at Leavitt.
The Hornets’ girls’ team placed four skiers in the top 10, including skiers in second, third and fourth, and the boys had all four in the top 14 as they cruised past a bewildered Red Eddies team to claim both Class A Nordic titles at Black Mountain on Thursday.
“Their girls did the same as their boys did,” said EL coach Dan Campbell of Leavitt’s efforts. “They had fire in their hearts and they lit up the slopes. It was really something to watch, and it’s a tribute to their coaching staff and to how hard they work all the time.”
The coaching staff, Jason Leavitt and Dustin Williamson, came flying up the wooden stairs leading into Broomhall Stadium from the parking lot as the last racer from each race made their way to the finish. Locating a cluster of team members, Leavitt raced after them and hugged them.
“It’s just such a solid program all the way up,” said Leavitt after confirming the boys’ victory. “We lost some experienced skiers (the last two years) and someone had to step up.”
That someone in the boys’ race was Anthony Drouin, who posted a personal best time of 15:30.9 on a fast course to place eighth, just four-tenths of a second off of freshman Justin Fereshetian’s seventh-place time.
“All year I have been going after him,” said Drouin. “One of the parents was yelling splits out on the course, and told me I was close.”
On the infamous hill known as “high school hill,” Drouin nearly slipped, but recovered well.
“I got kind of bogged down,” said Drouin. “I made it up a few minutes later, though, on the downhill. I didn’t want to let the team down.”
Even Campbell, whose team trains with Leavitt on occasion, noted how much faster Drouin was Thursday.
“(Drouin) pulled it out big for them today,” said Campbell. “He showed a lot of heart and boy, did he make a difference. Leavitt smelled blood. This year they went beyond hard. They raised the bar and jumped clear over it.”
The girls, meanwhile, knew they were better in classical races than in freestyle races, but how much better remained to be seen as late as two minutes prior to race time.
“I don’t know that I could have predicted this,” said Katelyn Beeckel, who finished third behind Mandy Ivey of Oxford Hills and Hornets’ teammate Lauren Fereshetian. “I would have hoped it, but this is amazing.”
Beeckel was still winded from her race as teammates crossed the line, each with a time close to hers. meanwhile, one Edward Little skier shed a tear from behind her racing sunglasses, knowing that a stellar day by the Leavitt top four had ended the Red Eddies’ bid for a Nordic championship.
Mt. Blue, meanwhile, finished third in the boys’ Nordic combined, 34 points back of Edward Little, while Oxford Hills finished fourth, four behind the Cougars.
Telstar of Bethel rounded out the top five.
In the girls’ Nordic combined race, Oxford Hills, behind strong finishes from Ivey, Cammie Ingram, Lauren Damon and Julie Rugg, finished third behind Leavitt and EL. Mt. Blue took fourth, while Telstar again rounded out the top five.
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