FARMINGTON — The McCourt twins, Henri and Nora, each snagged a Class A classical state title for Mt. Blue on the first day of the Nordic skiing state championships Monday at Titcomb Mountain.
Teo Steverlynck-Horne of Freeport won the Class B boys’ title and Sylvia Harvey of Greely prevailed in the girls’ race. Orono’s Clara White and Fort Kent’s Alden Reardon were victorious in Class C.
The meet concludes Tuesday with freestyle pursuit races.
“It’s super exciting, (the big crowd) adds a level of excitement,” Nora McCourt said of Monday’s race. “It’s really fun, and it’s so fun to see so many people at Titcomb, where I ski every day. The community aspect is really awesome.”
First-place finishes are familiar for the McCourt twins, who are juniors. They both won KVAC titles earlier this month and took top spots at the Smells Like Ski Spirit race in December. Additionally, Nora placed first at the Roy Varney Hornet Classic and the Sassi Memorial.
Henri is now a three-time state champion, having also won last year’s Class A classical and freestyle pursuit state titles.
“They’re really fun to coach. I’m very proud of them and how they’ve each progressed as humans and athletes,” Mt. Blue Coach Emmy Held said. “They’re both great leaders on the team and are having some really stellar seasons.”
Nora McCourt finished the 5-kilometer classical race in 17 minutes, 33.4 seconds, nearly 19 seconds faster than runner-up and teammate Maya Kellett (17:52.2).
“I felt pretty good. Definitely still have some technique things to work on, but I felt like my double-pole was really strong and I persevered,” Nora McCourt said. “It was really fast out there.”
Mt. Blue skiers claimed four of the top six spots for Class A girls, which puts the Cougars in good position to win their third straight team title. Natalie McCarthy placed fourth, and Lucinda Carroll came in sixth.
Brunswick’s Maeve Woodruff took third, while Edward Little’s Kate Garcia finished fifth.
Henri McCourt’s time of 14:52.4 was more than 13 seconds faster than runner-up Henry Morrison of Portland.
Henri McCourt said a modified course for Monday’s races was fun to ski because it incorporated more downhills than usual, allowing skiers to pick up speed in crucial areas.
“You feel like you’re always just trying to get to the top as fast as possible, and then just come down,” McCourt said. “Because of that first modification, it was even more the case today, and that’s kind of a hard thing to do. You’re trying to have gone all out like three-quarters of the way through the race.”
Steverlynck-Horne, the Class B boys’ champion, said the fast conditions posed an extra challenge: He fell on one of the downhill sections because he was going too fast.
Despite the tumble, his time of 14:27.9 was the best of the day and almost 50 seconds faster than Class B runner-up Wyatt Stevenson of Maranacook.
“I think I held my own on uphills pretty well, like, I wasn’t slipping too much and I trusted the wax,” Steverlynck-Horne said. “I wasn’t super happy with my downhills; I took a tumble at one point and I hurt myself a little bit, but it happens.”
Steverlynck-Horne noted that Monday’s crowd was the biggest he had seen at a state meet during his four years skiing for Freeport. His senior season has been a success, as he won the Western Maine Conference freestyle and classical races, the Smells Like Ski Spirit race and the Roy Varney Hornet Classic. Last year, he was the runner-up to Leavitt’s Logan Ouellette in both state meet races.
Greely’s Sylvia Harvey finished in 18:46.3, about 20 seconds better than teammate Rowan Barry (18:48.8).
“I pulled it together, and the race was really great,” said Harvey, a sophomore. “All the way up the back, there was like no kick, but you know, you’ve got to keep it going, no matter what happens. It was a bit more of a mind battle today than at Fort Kent (last year’s state meet location).”
Clara White said her only goal for the Class C races was to have fun.
“Ski people are really nice, which I really like about the sport,” White said. “Everyone’s so supportive and cheering on everyone, which I really like, and it makes it a really fun atmosphere.”
White (18:02.3), a sophomore, finished about 24 seconds ahead of her sister, Ruth (18:26.2), who swept the classical and freestyle pursuit titles at the previous two Nordic state championships and is a three-time New England cross country champion.
“I’m most proud of my sister, to be honest, because it’s her last year,” White said. “She’s a senior, and I think she’s really helped to push me a lot in both running and skiing. She’s always so supportive, and I’m really proud of that.”
The Class C boys’ champion, Reardon, said Monday’s meet conditions were “really fast with a good kick,” which made for a fun ride. Reardon also won the classical race in 2023 as a freshman.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
