RANGELEY — In alpine state championship Class B girls skiing, there are nine possible podium spots between slalom, giant slalom and combined events. In those nine possible positions, the Mt Abram girl’s ski team members enjoyed standing on five of those spots.

The Roadrunners alpine and Nordic teams traveled to Rangeley on Feb. 16 – 18 for the 2010 High School Class B Championships.

Competing to bring home both the giant slalom and slalom top crown, MTA’s Emily Luce achieved what most high school racers or coaches rarely say. Last week, the Mt. Abram senior put down four incredible runs to become both the GS and slalom champion in the toughest class of competition.

The story get’s better for the Roadrunner racing program. Sophomore sister Erin Luce joined her on the podium taking second in GS and third in slalom.
State Giant Slalom Championships
1. Emily Luce - MTA 43.83(2),
43.33(1), 1:27.16(1)
2. Erin Luce – MTA 43.45(1),
43.82(2), 1:27.27(2)
3. Rebekah Kallgren – MCI 4.91(3),
44.14(3), 1:28.05(3)
State Slalom Championships
1. Emily Luce – MTA 41.74(1),
41.92(2), 1:23.66(1)
2. Rebekah Kallgren – MCI 42.47(3),
41.71(1) 1:24.18(2)
3. Erin Luce – MTA 42.37(2),
42.52(3), 1:24.89(3)

“It’s happened before for Mt. Abram, but it is not often that somebody is able to win both events at States,” alpine coach Bob Luce explained.

Out of six possible gold winners in class A, B and C in girl’s alpine racing and six in the boy’s class, only Emily Luce and Livermore Falls Alex Rose won both events this year. Some other gold winners this year did not even make the podium for their second event.

Coach Luce explained how hard it is to get four winning runs in both events with all the changes in the courses.

Earning the silver in GS, Erin Luce was just one-tenth of a second behind the board leader.

Putting down the fastest slalom run of the day in her second run, Kallgren bumped Erin Luce to bronze by sevententh of a second. Following these slalom podium finishers competitors were four seconds behind the pack. A lifetime in ski racing!

“Erin had her best two days of incredible high school racing. And to be on the podium beside her sister, is a pretty good sight for a parent,” Coach Luce said.

This was the first high school giant slalom race that Emily Luce had actually finished all year.

Coach Luce said joking, if you’re going to finish only one, this would be the place to do it.

“I think she has been pushing too hard at times and not taking the correct line. This season we have spent time working on the tactics in the course,” Luce explained, “But in the end, if you’re not pushing your not winning.”

Coach Luce praised Kallgren for her performance at the states and throughout the season. “She’s a great kid and a very good skier. Emily and Erin train with her on the weekends. In the GS and Slalom it just happened to be Emily’s days,” he said.

The slalom race was a challenge and presented a test for the racers. The snow was very hard, with quickly developing ice and vision was difficult due to the fog in the first run.

However, the Luce sisters and Kallgren are used to ski racing in these conditions.

“Due to their experience it almost put the three of them at an advantage,” Coach Luce explained.

The MTA alpine coach also credited Jillian Withee and teammate Siri Norris with solid outings. Withee finished 12th in slalom, but lost a ski near the end of her first run in GS. Even with the mishap, Withee finished the race for a team score.

“This was the best slalom finish that Jillian had in four years at the states. She typically does well in the GS, but her slalom runs at the states were unbelievable. Her slalom results contributed greatly to the slalom team results where MTA finished second behind Yarmouth,” he said.

“Siri’s finishes this season were extremely good for a freshman girl who never raced before,” Luce said.

In the overall alpine combined, the Lady Roadrunners took a final podium spot in second place behind Yarmouth. Mountain Valley finished third in combined.

Coach Luce also credited some of his boy members such as skimeister Brian Lambert and alpine racer Dylan McFarland.

“Brian did a great job as skimeister. He was up for all four races over three long days and showed a great deal of perseverance. Lambert finished 11th in the skimeister event which considers all finishes in both alpine and Nordic..

“Dylan McFarland showed great dedication by ski racing on one of the days when he was out sick with the flu,” Luce said.

In Nordic action the one to watch was freshman Sadie James who finished sixth in the State Class B skate race and ninth in the classic in Rangeley. Right behind James in the classic was MTA’s Nola Dixon who made the top ten out of 59 racers.

Also impressing MTA Nordic coach Buzz Bean was a notable 16th place finish from Holly Thomas. Also scoring for the Lady Roadrunners was Dixon and Anna Houston who came across 24th and 26th respectively.

Houston and Thomas also rounded out the skate scoring for MTA finishing 28th and 32nd.

The Lady Roadrunners team finished fifth in both skate and classic out of ten teams and was fourth in the combined Nordic out of seven teams.

On the boys end, the MTA skaters came across the line in order from 26th to 29th positions as scorers. The pack was led by Devin Littlefield and then Jake Carlton. Right behind them was Trent Rosenberg and Nick Carlton to round out the scoring.

In the classic it was Jake Carlton who led the MTA skiers in 27th. Freshman Jay Chenard was behind him in 29th followed by Littlefield and Nick Carlton who finished 31st and 32nd.

Skiers will be moving on to selection races for the state team next weekend and see who’ll be competing in the Eastern High School Championships.

The Mt. Abram boy’s team finished in sixth place in the classic, skate and also finished sixth in the combined Nordic events. Justin Greeley of Maranacook took the top podium spots in both Nordic events.