Mt. Blue High School Nordic ski coach Emmy Held talks with Cowen Young while getting skis ready for the KVAC and MVC Nordic championships at Black Mountain in Rumford on Feb. 7. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Mt. Blue Nordic ski coach Emmy Held looks at the five-hour trek to the Fort Kent Outdoor Center as an opportunity for her athletes to compete in the same environment where skiers train for the Winter Olympics.

Several coaches feel the same way about the long drive north to watch athletes perform in this setting.

“Really excited to ski on those trails,” Held said. “They are world-class. I am excited to be up there.”

The Cougars, along with other area teams, will take their show on the road to compete in the Class A, B and C boys and girls Nordic state championships in Fort Kent, beginning with classical racing on Wednesday, Feb. 22 and ending with the freestyle competition on Thursday, Feb. 23.

Held said she hasn’t seen many of the teams in the southern part of the state.

“Most of the Class A teams, like some of the southern schools, we don’t get to ski against them much — and especially this season. There haven’t been a lot of races,” Held said. “But that being said, usually the Portland three schools, like Portland, Deering, Cheverus and Falmouth, are up there. Perhaps Greely, (but) we really haven’t raced any of those ones, but they are usually up in the mix with us.

“I think we are ready to compete against whoever is ready to take us on. I know there are some competitors that some of my athletes are really looking forward to seeing again that they get to know at some of the bigger races. But they really enjoy the friendship and camaraderie as well as the competition.”

Held said the Cougars, the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference champions, are ready for action at Fort Kent.

“Well, we haven’t had as many races as I’d like this season,” she said. “We’ve been training hard and training smart. I am really excited about the depth that we have with this team this year. We’ve really been developing a lot of younger skiers and skiers we’ve had throughout the years.”

Mt. Blue’s depth came in quite handy in the KVAC championships when senior Carson Zundel was ill and could not participate in first day of racing.

“… We still won by a good margin, just with the depth we had behind him,” Held said. 

Henri McCourt, Grayson Hoeft, Elias Bartlett and Lucas Doscinki all finished in the top-10 in the freestyle without the ailing Zundel, who returned to compete in Day 2 of the KVACs and turned in a fifth-place showing in the classical race. McCourt won the boys classical pursuit.

Mt. Blue’s contingent of talented girls skiers includes Nora McCourt, Bridget and Moriah Reusch and Maya Kellett. Nora McCourt was the KVAC’s freestyle championship.

Edward Little’s Kat Garcia, who finished seventh in the KVAC championship freestyle and classical races, and Orrin Slover should also play a factor in each race. Slover took fourth in the KVAC classical race and collected third-place finishes in the freestyle and classical pursuit.

Leavitt coach Dustin Williamson echoed Held’s sentiments concerning the long journey north to Fort Kent.

“It will be really great having the state meet in Fort Kent at a world-class facility,” Williamson said.

Williamson knows the Class B title will be a tough battle for the Hornets. 

“This is going to be a very competitive Class B Nordic meet between Freeport, Yarmouth and Leavitt,” he said. “The team is getting excited and pumped.”       

The Leavitt skipper is also aware of such fine skiers like Yarmouth’s Aksel Yeo and Cornelius Welsh and Caribou’s George Ferland in the boys competition. On the girls side, Williamson pointed to Caribou’s Kayley Bell and Maranacook’s Olympia Farrell as skilled competitors.

However, the Hornets also have a bunch of talented Nordic skiers on hand.

Logan Ouellete shined at the KVAC championship, becoming the freestyle winner and snatching second-place finishes in the classical and pursuit competitions. He also won the Roy Varney Classic. Leavitt also features other top boys skiers like Gabe Durazo, Jacob Dening and Nathaniel Bell. For the girls, Ali Dening, Jade Haylock and Iris Petrin help give the Hornets the edge. The three took the 12th-, 13th- and 14th-place slots in the girls freestyle competition at the KVAC championship.

No matter what happens in the Class C championships, the Spruce Mountain team is ready for a road trip.

“We are super excited to head to The County,” Spruce Mountain coach Kerry Brenner said. “This will be the first time any of us on the team have had the opportunity to go there. Hopefully, they have some great snow conditions up in Fort Kent.”

Brenner said the Phoenix will probably be in the middle of the pack. “We need to recruit more skiers and create a middle school team,” she added.

Samuel Geissinger and Hannah Perkins are Spruce Mountain’s two top skiers. Geissinger took second in the MVC championship freestyle and Perkins finished ninth in the girls portion.

The coach said the top three teams to watch are Orono, Fort Kent and Mt. Abram.

Mt. Abram’s Jeffrey Warnock won the MVC’s boys freestyle competition and teammate Carter Butterfield took third.

On the girls side, Brenner said “(Ruth White from Orono) will probably win” the Class C individual championship.

Mountain Valley coach Dylan Cayer admitted he hasn’t kept his eye on the competition because he was focused on a “new” Falcons team.

Cayer praised David Packard for a seventh-place finish in the MVC championship classical race and ninth in the freestyle portion. He added that Packard’s brother Joey is “quite good.”

“I have coached (David) for three years, so he is doing quite well,” Cayer said. “He will be my only four-year skier.”

“On the girls side, we have Brook Buotte and it is her first year skiing,” said Cayer, adding that Buotte had two seventh-place finishes at the MVCs.

Cayer is looking forward to watching the Falcons compete in Fort Kent.

“Well, it is the furthest in northern Maine I’ve ever been,” Cayer said. “I don’t think I have ever been past Bangor. I went to school in Orono, and for me, that was like the end of the world.”