A group of veteran skiers, who are joined by some talented youngsters, have made the Maranacook Community School Alpine team one of the top programs in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference. Both the boys and the girls teams have the depth and experience to make a run at the conference and the Class B state championships.

"We have skiers who are really improving and showing promise," Maranacook coach Ron Gifford said. "They run the gambit from veterans who have stepped it up a notch to freshmen who are moving up the ladder." Among the veterans, Amy Gifford has been pushed by teammate Monica Purington, who is recovering from a knee injury. Emma Prysunka has also emerged, along with Katy Dutile and Kayla Brown.

"Monica has come back stronger than ever from her ACL knee injury of a year ago and is running a hard second to Amy in both events (slalom and giant slalom)," Coach Gifford said. "Emma will figure in the Alpine scoring when the big meets come and Katy and Kayla are skiing well."

For the boys, Sean Valiant and Casey Coyne are starting to finish in the top five consistently. Casey Spencer continues to improve, along with and Dan and Ben Timm, Jackson Witherill, Sam Pelletier, Ian Peale, Devin Brennan and Adam Thompson.

"We have a group of boys that have formed a tight pack of close finishes," said Gifford. "They have scored well for the team."

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This week's Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference ski meet should feature a number of hotly contested individual races in both Alpine and Nordic events. Mt. Blue is the defending team champion in boys and girls but look for Maranacook to make a serious run at the Cougars.

Day 1 of the competition kicks off at Black Mountain in Rumford on Wednesday with a 5K freestyle race and the giant slalom. Day 2 of the championships shifts to Titcomb Mountain in Farmington for a 5K classical race and the slalom event.

In girls Alpine, Amy Gifford and Monica Purington lead the way for Maranacook, while Kyle Cyr and Abby Martin pace Mt. Blue. Skowhegan's Christine Bussiere and freshman Rebekah Kallgren from MCI are also prepared to battle for the top spots. Mt. Blue's Alex Prentiss, Maranacook's Sean Valiant, MCI's Bart Kallgren and Skowhegan's Andy Calder make up one of the more exciting fields to run in the Alpine events in recent years. Any of the four are capable of setting an extremely fast pace for the others to follow.

On the Nordic side, Rebecca Schoen of Mt. Blue has been setting the tone this season with a number of first place finishes. Emma Prysunka and Jenny Monsulick of Maranacook will be in pursuit along with Messalonskee's Lindsay Mathes. The boys Nordic races loom as a confrontation between Welly Ramsey and Derek Rowe of Mt. Blue and Kyle Marvinney and Craig Maffei of Maranacook.

Mt. Blue's Prentiss and Maranacook's Prysunka are the defending Skimeister's in boys and girls, respectively, and are returning to defend their titles.

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The Mountain Valley Conference championship meet will run both days at Black Mountain in Rumford. A 5K Nordic freestyle and giant slalom race will open the championships Thursday with a 5K Nordic classical race and slalom event on Saturday.

Mt. Abram girls will be looking to defend their MVC title with a strong returning team in both Nordic and Alpine, while Carrabec and Winthrop will be hoping for high individual finishes.

"I find it kind of hard to picture how the MVC's will be," said Mt. Abram Alpine coach Bob Luce. "We have really only seen some of the schools once and a couple of them twice."

On the Alpine side, the Roadrunners have strength from their top four skiers, Erica Luce, Emily Luce, Noelle Lake and Jillian Withee, while the Nordic skiers will receive plenty of power from Hannah James, Emma James, Maria Parrett, Georgia Dixon and Nola Dixon.

"The girls combined Alpine and Nordic teams have been working hard to defend their MVC championship," Coach Luce said. "The boys team continues to grow toward their goal of winning an MVC championship."

Erica Luce, the girls defending MVC Skimeister, has been training in both disciplines for a shot at a second consecutive title. Winthrop's Joel Walker is a top contender in the Alpine races while Nordic teammate Danny Soltan could challenge for a top five spot. Carrabec's Brandon Lane has also been hitting the gates well in his last couple of races and should be near the top.