All eyes may not necessarily be on a skier for Day 2 of the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference/Mountain Valley Conference ski championships Tuesday.
Instead, they may be looking upward. Or on a television set at the local weather forecast.
Because of a Nor’easter that’s predicted to bring about two feet of snow to the area, the second day of the ski championships are in jeopardy.
“Hopefully we can have Day 2,” Mt. Blue Alpine coach Mark Cyr said. “Right now they’re worried we might not be able to get Tuesday in because of the snow coming in on Sunday (and) Monday. It’s not necessarily the mountain or the conditions on the hill, but there may be schools that won’t allow their buses out even on Tuesday. So we’ll see what happens. Hopefully we get it in.”
Day 1 — originally scheduled for early last week — was moved to Saturday. Even with the storm ending by Tuesday, recovery from such a snowstorm takes time, and may hinder school districts in being able to get to Black Mountain in Rumford.
If Day 2 had to be moved — to any day later in the week — it would be cutting it close to both the Class A and Class B state championship ski meets, which begin with the Alpine events on Feb. 21.
“I don’t want to speculate what they would do, but I guess there’s some conflicts as far as the mountain and schools,” Cyr said. “We’re getting close to states, and there’s only so much time we can fit this second day in. If we have to postpone on Tuesday, there’s not a lot of days we could do it.”
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The Mt. Blue boys ski team is in contention with Maranacook for the overall team championship in KVAC, and it’s a race so tight after Day 1, only a point seperates both teams.
The Black Bears lead with 64 points, while the Cougars trail with 65. There’s plenty of momentum on Mt. Blue’s side, especially after Miles Pelletier won the slalom event in Alpine on Saturday.
“Miles has become a great Alpine skier,” Cyr said. “He was always good, but this year he’s really stepped it up. His Alpine skiing is amazing. He used to actually be a skimeister, but he stopped doing that last year, and it’s really helped his Alpine. He’s a strong kid and he’s solid, just a solid skier.”
Cyr has confidence in his team going into the giant slalom event on Day 2.
“Years ago, Mt. Blue was typically not a very good (giant slalom) skier,” Cyr said. “But we are a much better GS team now. We’ve done some training on bigger mountains and we really focus on GS training here, even though this isn’t a bigger mountain. … My team is a much better GS skier than they were 10 years ago. Just because we’re going into a giant slalom event doesn’t mean we’re going to be in any trouble. I think we can pull ahead if I can get my top four guns to really stand and let it go.”
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On the girls side of the KVAC competition, there’s a bit more of a distance. Maranacook leads in overall team score with 71 points. In second place is Camden Hills, with 109 points.
Rachel Tooth helped that lead in a big way Saturday, winning the slalom event in Alpine.
“(She) was aggressive working across that flat and striking that balance,” Maranacook Alpine coach Ronn Gifford said. “Skied the pitch really great. Her day.”
But it didn’t end there. Laura Parent helped lengthen the lead with a victory in Nordic, taking first in the classical event.
While the Black Bears are competing hard for the KVAC title, Gifford said the team is looking for self improvements in preparations for the state meet.
“It’s ski racing. It’s pretty hard to throttle back,” Gifford said. “It’s all about trying to go fast and trying to improve. We really approach the KVACs as kind of a prep for the state meet. Love to do well here, but it’s all about consistent runs and being fast, letting it fall where it falls but preparing for the state meet.”
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Mt. Abram put forth an impressive outing on Saturday at Titcomb.
In Nordic, the Roadrunners placed three skiers in the top four spots of the boys classical race: Xavier Romanoski (2nd), Harry Walters (3rd) and Brandon Hemingway (4th).
Mt. Abram almost had as much success in the girls classical race, placing three skiers in the top seven spots: Risa Marble (2nd), Alice Cockerham (4th) and Destiny Thorndike (7th).
Because of that success, the girls lead the overall team score for Mountain Valley Conference squads after two events, with a score of 62. The Roadrunners are followed by Telstar (66 points) and Mountain Valley (112 points).
The boys are in second place after the first day, with a score of 72 points. They are in close contention with Telstar, which has 66 points.
Staff Writer Drew Bonifant contributed to this report.
Dave Dyer — 621-5639
ddyer@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @Dave_Dyer
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