FARMINGTON — Hundreds of skiers competed in the Nordic skiing state championships Monday at Titcomb Mountain. By the end of the day, Carter McPhedran of Maranacook and Emma Charles of Mt. Blue were the top standouts.
McPhedran, a senior, won the Class B boys’ classical title with a time of 14 minutes, 23 seconds. Not only was he nearly two minutes faster than his closest Class B challenger, but his time was the best in any class. Class A champion Liam Niles of Portland was next closest at 15:10.
“I was really pumped to hear we were doing all the classes together (for classical) this year,” McPhedran said. “I’ve always wanted to see, I mean, I always have my results in Class B, but how would I have done with everyone?
“I was really excited about that. It’s really cool just to be compared to (other skiers from other classes), because there’s a ton of skiers in Class A and C, too, that you don’t ski against in Class B. It’s fun to ski against them. It was kind of a goal to be at the top of all of them in this race. (On Tuesday), they separate us (by class), and I really wanted to get (the win) today.”
Skiers in all three classes raced together for the boys’ and girls’ races using interval starts, with a new skier starting every 15 seconds.
McPhedran was the second skier to begin the boys’ race and set a pace that no one could match, including Niles, who started third.
“When I saw the start list and Liam right behind me, I was super pumped,” McPhedran said. “Going out first for my team, I could be anywhere from the first person out, to like 29th or 30th. I could have had no one near me. It was really nice to have him right behind me, so I could get splits off of him, my coaches could tell me, ‘You’re beating him,’ or ‘You’re behind, you’ve got to pick up (the pace).’ That was good to have him behind me and really help me push, for sure.”
Maranacook, the defending Class B champion, will have a hard time overcoming Freeport for the team title. The Falcons took four of the top 10 places, led by Caleb Hunter (16:11), who finished second.
The Nordic meet concludes Tuesday with freestyle pursuit races.
Alex Hemingway of Mt. Abram took the Class C boys’ title in 15:53.
Charles, a sophomore, put forth a dominant performance in the girls’ race with a time of 16:42. More impressive was the fact that she spent the previous two days qualifying for the junior national team.
“I had two days of racing before today,” Charles said. “I was pretty tired before today, but I was just riding the high (of qualifying). I think that creates another energy.”
The Cougars put themselves in excellent shape to take home the Class A girls’ team title on their home course. Brynne Robbins (17:36) finished second, while Bridget Reusch was seventh (18:49) and Kamryn Joyce 12th (19:45).
“We’re pretty ready for (Tuesday) already,” Charles said.
Yarmouth, led by individual champion Madeline Marston (17:43), leads the Class B standings. The Clippers had three others in the top seven — Anne Bergeron (third, 18:58), Mary Psyhogeos (sixth, 19:44) and Sadie Cowles (seventh, 19:52).
Dolcie Tanguay of the Maine School of Science and Mathematics won the Class C title in 18:52.
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