RUMFORD — Mt. Blue’s Jack Kearing went on a tear and raced off with slalom and giant slalom victories, helping the Cougars collect the KVAC championship at Black Mountain on Tuesday.
Kearing turned in combined winning times of 1:24.34 in slalom and 1:33.70 in GS. But he wasn’t happy with his first run of GS racing.
“It was all right,” he said in between runs. “… So I am looking forward to the second round. Will see, will see. (The course) was a lot faster than I thought it would be.”
Mt. Blue’s Jack Kearing skis on the edges Tuesday during his first slalom run of the KVAC boys Alpine ski championships at Black Mountain in Rumford. Kearing won both the giant slalom in the morning and the slalom in the afternoon, leading the Cougars to the team title. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal Buy this Photo
Kearing did make it up on his second run, with a time of 46.03 seconds compared to a first run of 47.67.
The Cougars’ win Tuesday earns Mt. Blue a sweep of KVAC Alpine crowns. The girls team claimed the conference championship at Black Mountain last week. The school’s teams also are in contention at the Nordic KVAC championship, which will concluded Wednesday afternoon at Titcomb Mountain. The girls are in first place and the boys team, which includes Alpine standouts Kearing and Josh Smith, is in second place behind Edward Little.
Mt. Blue boys team’s title came from strong top-10 performances in both events. The Cougars finished with 1,552 points, followed by Edward Little (1,498), Oxford Hills (1,488), Skowhegan (1,455), Hampden (1,394), Leavitt (1,324), Maranacook (1,321), Camden Hills (1,276) and Gardiner (985).
“I think we skied the GS well, and we are not typically a better GS team than a slalom team, but we skied the GS really well,” Mt. Blue coach Mark Cyr said. “We had a couple of crucial falls in the first round of slalom.
“Unfortunately, in the second run, a lot my guys had to dial it back. I talked to Jack Kearing after his second run. He looked solid. He looked clean, but he didn’t seem to be sending it, and that is exactly what he said after his second run. So in the second run, we had to ski smart. Unfortunately, in the second run, we had to dial it back.”
Josh Smith (second, 1:34.42), Xander Gurney (eighth, 1:39.71) and Sam Goodspeed (10th, 1:42.07) really helped give the Cougars the edge in GS. Rounding out the top 10 were Maranacook’s Sam McKee (third, 1:34.61) and Dylan McGarr (fifth 1:35.70), Oxford Hills’ Mario Devivo (second 1:35.70), and EL’s Connor Brann (sixth, 1:36.50).
“All in all, we had a pretty good day,” Maranacook coach Ronn Gifford said. “In the giant slalom, all four skied well. They were strong, nice and balanced.”
“We had a couple of difficult sections for a couple of the boys,” Edward Little coach Jodd Bowles said midway through the KVACs. “But we have four solid guys there so we have to head to slalom to see what we can pull out here.”
In slalom racing, Mt. Blue’s Gurney (1:34.32) and Goodspeed (1:37.53) finished eighth and 10th respectively. Maranacook’s McGarr (third, 1:29.51)and Michael Tamborini (ninth, 1:35.60) had strong performances. Mario Devivo (1:27.58) and Nick Bancroft (1:31.66) took second and fifth, respectively, for Oxford Hills.
Brann also had second-place Edward Little’s highest finish in the slalom, coming in 11th.
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