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By DAVID McLAUGHLIN
Correspondent 02/04/2008

Correspondent

The Maranacook girls and Mt. Blue boys will attempt to defend their overall ski titles at the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championships this week, while the Mt. Abram girls will attempt to do the same thing at the Mountain Valley Conference championships. With a strong Nordic team, the Winthrop boys could take over as champions in the MVC as well.

Here is a look at local teams in the conference matchups and skiers to keep an eye on this week:

KVAC: Defending overall girls champion Maranacook and defending boys champion Mt. Blue both have a chance to repeat when the KVAC championships get underway Wednesday at Black Mountain in Rumford with the giant slalom and freestyle. The event will end Saturday with slalom and classical races at Titcomb Mountain in Farmington.

Maranacook has the ability to repeat as the overall champion but lacks the depth from last season. Emily Harriman and Jen Monsulick will be strong in Nordic while Kayla Brown and Katy Dutile are excellent in Alpine.

Mt. Blue challenged last season finishing as girls runner-up and return a number of quality skiers from that team. Kyle Cyr will head the effort in Alpine while Shelby Aseltine and Hannah Allen lead the Nordic team.

"Mt. Blue has done well when we have raced against other KVAC schools this year," Mt. Blue Alpine coach Mark Cyr said. "I feel very confident in both the GS and slalom this year for both teams."

On the boys side, Mt. Blue has a strong Nordic team led by Welly Ramsey. The Cougars Nordic team, led by Peter Smith, will go against a very good Maranacook team, led by defending giant slalom champ Sean Vallant. The Maranacook Nordic team is led by Sam Whittemore.

"We started the year wondering whether we were going to have enough girls on the Alpine team to score as a team and we have been pleasantly surprised with the addition of seven new girls skiing with us," Maranacook coach Ronn Gifford said. "The boys are really starting to come into their own at the right time, particularly in slalom."

In the overall team competition, Leavitt could provide a strong pursuit in both girls and boys events, along with Oxford Hills.

Waterville and Skowhegan will provide plenty of competition in the Alpine events but lack a Nordic team, thus eliminating the Purple Panthers and Indians from the overall title races.

Tory Quinn and Matt Nale have shown consistency for Waterville this season and could challenge for top spots. Skowhegan is led by Andy Calder in the boys races.

Calder has made tremendous strides this season and will be a contender in both the giant slalom and slalom events.

"Andy has made a strong showing this season, and he is looking forward to the challenge of the conference races," Skowhegan coach Bill Varney said. "Our boys have more depth this year than in recent years, while the girls team is not deep, but has individuals placing very well and racing consistently as a team."

Independently, Mt. View's Tucker Andrews, Messalonskee's Ben Roy, Maine Central Institute's Rebekah Kallgren and Winlsow's Emma Walters will compete for individual recognition in Alpine races while Messalonskee's Lindsay Mathes is primed to challenge for an individual title in the Nordic competition.

MVC: The Winthrop boys could contend this season based on the strenght of its Nordic team, while the Mt. Abram girls will try to defend their title when the MVC championships take place at Black Mountain. The giant slalom and freestyle races will take place Thursday, followed by the slalom and classic events on Saturday.

"I am hoping the girls team will be very competitive at the MVCs," Mt. Abram Alpine coach Bob Luce said. "I would like to see our girls Alpine/Nordic team repeat as the overall champions and the Alpine team move up from second to first."

Mt. Abram has a very strong girls Alpine and Nordic team with sisters Emily (defending champion in the GS and slalom) and Erica Luce, along with Noelle Lake paving the way for the Alpine skiers and Emma James and Nola Dixon featured in the Nordic races.

It will be difficult preventing Winthrop from capturing the Nordic title, especially after Saturday's effort by Danny Soltan and Justin Carpenter in the Sassi Memorial 5K classical race at Black Mountain.

Soltan and Carpenter finished one and two, respectively, outdistancing a field of 220 competitors from every classification. Soltan is the defending MVC freestyle champion, while Carpenter is the defending champ in classical.

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