Katie Yeaton of Mt. Blue skis past a gate during the Class A State championship slalom race last season at Black Mountain in Rumford. She finished seventh. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal
Want to win an alpine ski title?
Good luck, because you’ll likely find a pack of Mt. Blue Cougars blocking your path down the slopes.
The Mt. Blue girls won the Class A and Kennebec Valley Athletic Valley Conference championships last winter while the boys were runners-up at both events. Both teams figure to be in title contention again. The Cougars open their season Dec. 21 with a giant slalom event at Saddleback.
Mt. Blue loses a pair of graduated stars in Sadie McDonough and Khloe Dean; McDonough was fourth in the slalom and fifth in the GS at last season’s state meet, while Dean was seventh in the GS.
But the Cougars return plenty of talent.
Katie Yeaton, now a junior, was seventh in slalom and 10th in the GS at the state meet, while senior Molly Kearing also turned in top-20 finishes in both disciplines. Classmate Vivian Cormier was sixth in the slalom. Returning junior Abbey Goodspeed was 14th in the GS.
Junior Elisa Mezzoli and sophomores Maddy Keller and Ashlyn Dailey also figure to add depth, and the Cougars welcome back senior Taylor Gordon, who competed for Mt. Blue as a freshman before she spent two years at a ski academy, according to 18th-year coach Mark Cyr.
“The girls team is very strong this year!” Cyr wrote in an email. “We did lose a couple of very good racers in Sadie and Khloe, but we kept some very talented athletes. … I see great things for the girls team this year, at the conference and state level.”
Molly Kearing of Mt. Blue High School races down the Grey Ghost ski trail last season at Saddleback Mountain in Rangeley. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
The boys will have to weather the graduations of Josh Smith, Ashton Beaudoin and Sam Goodspeed, who all turned in strong finishes at last season’s MVC and state meets. But the Cougars return junior Trent Beaudoin, who placed in the top 20 in the state slalom and GS, along with senior Dylan Farmer, junior Jackson Hardy and sophomores Brody Farmer, JJ Alexander, Tyler McGarry and Colin Drake.
“The boys team will have to work very hard to replace Sam, Ashton and Josh,” Cyr said. “Those are some very big shoes to fill, and I am confident the boys team we have assembled this year can do that very thing. I’m hopeful that we have the depth to turn in some big numbers.”
Skowhegan’s boys look to improve on last season’s sixth-place finish at the Class A state championships. Junior Asa Stroman turned in top-20 finishes in the slalom and GS, while senior Oliver Barden placed 24th in the giant slalom and “has been working out and building on his skills,” coach Billy Finley said.
Finley also expects Connor Files, Drake Tracy and freshman Sebastion Dubbois to deliver points to the River Hawks.
“We think our boys team is a top contender to place strong in the KVAC conference and state meets this year,” Finley said.
The girls return Nyah Gunst, Carly McCabe and Kayla Bailey and hope to add at least one more skier before the season starts on Dec. 21 at Saddleback.
The Maranacook boys, who won the KVAC title and were edged out by Cape Elizabeth for last season’s Class B crown, lose stars Sam McKee, Dylan McGarr and Alex Clark to graduation, but return senior Aidan Guimond and sophomore Thatcher Riley. They will be backed a large group of freshmen and upperclassmen new to the program, according to 19th-year coach Ronn Gifford.
“The boys should be right in the mix when the championship season rolls around,” Gifford said in an email.
Thatcher Riley of Maranacook races down the Grey Ghost ski trail last season at Saddleback Mountain in Rangeley. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
The Maranacook girls graduated three top skiers, Anna Erb, Meghan Mahoney and Ella Trefethan, who helped the Black Bears to fourth-place finishes in both conference and state meets, Gifford said.
The Black Bears return captains Anna Albert and Maggie Morrill, while freshmen Phoebe Bell, Siena Brinton, Alexandria Stewart, Hali Isaacson and Amy Roberts bring years of experience on the slopes. “The key will be how quickly they all transfer that experience into a racing mindset that will determine their overall team results,” Gifford said.
Several athletes from other schools train with Maranacook: Messalonskee junior Sage Whitehead returns after finishing 10th position in the slalom in the KVAC meet and 27th in the GS in Class A. She is joined by Cony sophomore Hannah Marshall and Monmouth freshman Annabelle Carlton.
Winthrop brings back a pair of stellar sophomore boys in Will Grant and Jaxon August. Grant was 16th in the giant slalom at the Class B meet while August was fifth in the GS at the Mountain Valley Conference meet.
Mt. Abram’s boys look to repeat as Mountain Valley Conference champs.
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