Pictured is the Sugarloaf Area Ski Team which comprises ski racers from the MSAD #58 school district under the direction of Coach Scott Hoisington and other volunteers. The girls’ alpine team is the 2010 Class A state champions and the boys finished in second place. (Contributed photo) FARMINGTON -– Sugarloaf Area Ski Team, which is made up of MSAD #58 athletes, continued its dominance in alpine ski racing. Like last year the team again competed in Class A ski racing to see how they fare against some of the toughest competition in the state.

The girls’ and boys’ teams competed in slalom events at Spruce last Wednesday and then giant slalom at Titcomb on Saturday.

In the end, SAST girls are the state champions and the boys’ team took second place.

The SAST girls were a favorite led by Elise Luce who had a landmark season as an eighth grader. “Elise won every race she entered this year, she also beat all the boys in the state GS meet,” said SAST coach Scott Hoisington. Consistent with the regular season, Luce won both the slalom and giant slalom state events.

Lexi Bullen of the Sugarloaf Area Ski Team is getting up on the arcs at the state Class A Slalom Championships at Spruce Mountain. (James Daigle photo) The boys came from nowhere after the Slalom event and skied exceptionally well in the GS to secure second place for the team.

The boys were sitting third after the slalom with 61 points behind Farmington Area Ski Team with 33 points and Maranacook in the lead with 25 points.

SAST’s Patrick Banahan put down two solid runs missing a first place combined finish by two-tenths of a second and settled with the silver. “Patrick really came through in the GS and almost won,” Hoisington said.

The SAST boys came back to win the giant slalom at Titcomb which earned them the overall second place finish in combined alpine.

“Yes, great year and a great last race,” Hoisington said. “Having the boys win the GS was a great accomplishment.”

Hoisington said the girls’ team was very deep and even some of the younger team members such as 5th grader Natalie Gray, showed much improvement. Gray came out to become a scorer for the local ski team.

Last Wednesday the girls showed their dominance in a short slalom race at Spruce Mountain. Luce led the pack by an impressive three seconds in a 20-second race. Behind her was teammate Megan McCormack who finished second. Gray was the third scorer finishing 7th and Emily Listowich rounded out the scoring finishing 10th. With a combined team score of 20, the SAST girls won the slalom event ahead of Maranacook with 43 and Telstar with 68.

The boys settled for third with Banahan leading the scoring in slalom coming in 7th. Also scoring for team SAST was Mitchell Gray, Henry Kearing and Ethan Wilson.

Hoisington said the team showed lots of spirit, worked well together and there was a lot of teamwork demonstrated at the states. “We had several kids who were on the team who drove down just to watch their teammates,” Hoisington explained.

Titcomb’s giant slalom featured the one-two-three punch of Luce, McCormack and Lexi Bullen all taking the podium in order. Gray was the final scorer, but one of the most notable finishes, Hoisington explained, was SAST skimiester Hattie Rosenberg who finished 9th in GS and could have been a team scorer. Hoisington pointed out her true sportsmanship and care for the team by electing to opt out of team alpine racing for her skimiester role. As the only skimiester for team SAST, Rosenberg took the podium with a third place finish.

In the boys’ winning giant slalom, Banahan led the team scoring with a podium second place finish. Also scoring was Gray (5th), Kearing (11th) and Wilson (18th) for a team high 36 points.

At the award ceremony the overall alpine championship was awarded to the SAST girls who won by a sizable margin with 36 points followed by Maranacook with 98 and Telstar with 137.

In a closer watch, Maranacook won the overall alpine with 82 points, followed by SAST with 97 points and FAST with 102.

The SAST Nordic participants did not have the skiers for team results, but Thomas Faraday skied solid taking two fifth place finishes in freestyle and classical. Rosenberg and Emma Houston finished 18th and 19th in order in the freestyle.

Hoisington pointed out a solid performance by Houston in the classic Nordic race where she finished 7th.

“We had fun, raced hard and learned how to be competitive with much larger schools of Class A. It is a shame for the season to come to an end,” Hoisington said. “I hope the kids take advantage of the great spring weather and snow conditions to keep improving. Also we could have not had the success without the support of the parents and other coaches. Many thanks to both groups of volunteers,” Coach Hoisington added.