Nordic skiing state championships: Mt. Blue's Henri McCourt, Leavitt's Logan Ouellette win classical titles
Feb. 22—FORT KENT — Mt. Blue's Henri McCourt and Leavitt's Logan Ouellette dominated their respective 5-kilometer classical races on day one of the Nordic skiing state championships Wednesday at the Fort Kent Outdoor Center.
McCourt claimed the Class A title with a winning time of 16:03.0. That was 33 seconds faster than runner-up Tait Harvey of Greely. McCourt's Mt. Blue teammate, Carson Zundel was third. The Cougars had four other skiers place in the top 13, including Grayson Hoeft (fifth), Cyrus Evans (ninth), Luke Doscinski (11th) and Elias Bartlett (13th).
Orrin Slover was Edward Little's top finisher, in 14th, and Cameron Sherbinski paced Oxford Hills' contingent in 19th.
Ouellette won the Class B race by nearly as much as McCourt. His winning time of 16:15.6 was 30 seconds faster than Freeport's Teo Steverlynck-Horne.
Gray-New Gloucester's Michael Maines finished in 13th, with Leavitt's Nathaniel Bell one spot behind.
Mt. Abram's Jeff Warnock was a close runner-up to Fort Kent's Alden Reardon in the Class C race, finishing in 17:15.5 — 1.9 seconds back of Reardon. Fort Kent filled out the rest of the top five, with Fletcher Marquis, Rafael Sanclemente and Mitchell Harvey finishing third through fifth.
Mt. Abram's Carter Butterfield finished seventh, Samuel Geissinger led Spruce Mountain's contingent in 11th, Winthrop's Joseph Szakas placed 24th, and Telstar's Kayan DeGruttola (27th) finished just ahead of Mountain Valley's Joseph Packard (28th) and David Packard (29th).
Mt. Blue's Bridget and Moriah Reusch led a dominant showing by the Cougars in the Class A girls race, as Mt. Blue skiers claimed eight of the top 13 spots.
Annabelle Brooks of Cheverus was the Class A champ, clocking in at 18:41.7 — 20.5 seconds ahead of Bridget Reusch. Moriah Reusch finished another eight seconds back in third. Nora McCourt placed fifth for the Cougars.
Edward Little's Katherine Garcia finished seventh, with Mt. Blue's Lucinda Carroll, Natalie McCarthy and Maya Kellet rounding out the top 10.
Meredith Harthorne was the top Oxford Hills finisher, in 16th.
Caribou's Kayley Bell won the Class B title in a time of 20:16.3. Leavitt had three finishers inside the top 11, led by Ali Dening in sixth. Jade Haylock placed seventh and Iris Petrin 11th.
Orono's Ruth White took the Class C title with winning time of 18:51.4. Telstar's Ella Akers was the top area skier, finishing in 15th.
Winthrop's Phoebe Dow, Mountain Valley's Brooke Buotte and Spruce Mountain's Hannah Perkins placed 18th, 19th and 20th, respectively. Megan Spaulding was the top Dirigo finisher, in 32nd.
The two-day championships conclude Thursday in Fort Kent with the freestyle races.
