SOUTH BERWICK — Jacob Sansoucie is a senior at Marshwood High who is co-captain of the Alpine ski team and a pole vaulter for the indoor track team.
This will be a busy month for Sansoucie, who plans to compete in the Class A Alpine state championship meet at Shawnee Peak in Bridgton and the Class A indoor track state championship meet at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham over a five-day span beginning Feb. 14.
“He likes things with helmets,” said Rich Luciano, head coach of the ski team. “He’s a really hard worker who just wants to get better. He will sponge up information, translate it and make it work for him. He does the same thing in track.”
Sansoucie is also involved in the school’s color guard and plays the alto saxophone. He didn’t begin skiing until seventh grade, and then only after giving snowboarding a try.
The Hawks placed fifth of 13 Alpine teams in Class A last February, with Sansoucie occupying the team’s fifth slot in both slalom (66th overall) and giant slalom (61st). So far this winter, he has placed among Marshwood’s top three skiers twice.
For indoor track, Sansoucie has jumped 11 feet to provisionally qualify for the state meet. His best outdoor jump is 10 feet.
Q: How do you balance two very different sports in the same season?
A: It takes a lot of mental and physical motivation. I can’t have a job in the season, that’s the agreement my parents and I have. It would take up too much time and I’d be way too stressed.
That’s one thing. I’ve been in maybe one AP and one Honors course. So I haven’t been in super-hard classes, but I still push myself. I always have to have designated time when I get home to do my schoolwork. When I’m done with my sports, I tend to go home, do my homework, and get a good night’s sleep so I can go back to school.
Q: Any other tips?
A: You have to eat healthy. You have to keep your weightlifting up. Do a lot of running.
Q: Powderhouse Hill in South Berwick has a rope tow, three trails and 175 feet of elevation. Is that where you started skiing?
A: Yes, I wasn’t really good at snowboarding and I saw people skiing and thought, ‘Oh, this is going to be a lot more fun.’ So I tried it (in seventh grade) and here we are. It was just my friends teaching me.
Q: What was the most important thing to learn about racing?
A: You’re supposed to have your feet wide apart to the point where it feels uncomfortable. I used to ride more backseat, with my skis super close together.
Q: Do you have a favorite skiing moment?
A: Last year at states when I raced giant slalom, the headwall was really icy. I was about to slip out but I dug my edge in and cut through the ice and I got to the next gate. It was a nice moment because it was my first time racing states. I thought, ‘Ah, that’s the reason I spent an hour last night sharpening my skis.’
Q: When did you start pole vaulting?
A: My freshman year, outdoor track season. My sister, Mikaella, pole vaulted for four years (at Marshwood). She’s now in Orono (as a junior at the University of Maine) vaulting.
Q: Ever had any serious injuries?
A: I got a concussion from running outside the high school carrying a pole, which got caught in an unseen crack in the road. Totally my fault. I’ve also ripped up my elbows, had patella tendinitis and my right knee hurt for a while. But I don’t like to complain about injuries people have it a lot worse than me.
Q: The Alpine state meet will be held Feb. 14-15, the Thursday and Friday before school vacation. Are you concerned about missing two days of class?
A: I’m taking three Marshwood classes and I’m at Sanford (Regional Technical Center) in the morning, which I’m more worried about missing than Elective Team Sports, Band and Mythology.
Q: Why do you go to Sanford?
A: I go there for Health Occupations. We learn how to take care of elderly patients – we call them residents. We learn basic care like how to make a bed nicely, how to toilet people, how to clean everything. At the end of the year we take an exam to get your CNA, which is a Certified Nursing Assistant.
Q: Is that for a possible career?
A: I’m planning on enlisting in the Air Force at the end of summer so I can go into a heath-related field. I’m hoping to go into either diagnostic imaging or trauma nursing. I really want to be a nurse one day.
Glenn Jordan can be contacted at 791-6425 or
Twitter: GlennJordanPPH
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