Mt. Abram Alpine coach Bob Luce didn’t know what to expect when his girls team competed in a giant slalom race Friday at Black Mountain. So when his Roadrunners tied Oxford Hills for the team win, Luce was surprised.

“I didn’t know where we stacked up,” Luce said. “You don’t have any idea how other teams will do. You know which teams have a lot of kids back, but you don’t know who has strong freshmen.”

Luce’s daughter, Elise Luce, placed second with a two-run time of 1 minute, 10.17 seconds. Anna Pelegay and Emily Listowich finished in 16th and 17th place for the Roadrunners, while freshman Bailey Debiase was 23rd. Sixty-six girls completed both runs.

“Her (Debiase) finish helped our girls,” Luce said.

Luce said it’s too soon to know if giant slalom will be a strength of his team this season. The Roadrunners will compete in a slalom race at Titcomb Mountain on Wednesday.

“We’ll know a lot more after Wednesday night,” Luce said. “There’s a few races before we get to states and there’s a lot of things to work on.”

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The Mt. Blue boys Alpine team started the season with a strong showing at the Black Mountain giant slalom race Friday, earning a one-point win over Camden Hills, 312-311.

Freshman Kyle Farrington took sixth place for the Cougars with a two-run time of 1:08.39. Max Kay was seventh (1:09.24) for Mt. Blue. Felix Bonnevie placed ninth (1:09.36) and Anthony Franchetti (1:11.00) was 14th for the Cougars.

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At Maranacook, Nordic coach Steve DeAngelis has 46 skiers out for the team this winter. With more than 30 athletes on the Alpine team, DeAngelis estimated that one quarter of Maranacook’s enrollment is skiing competitively for the school this winter.

“We’re really young,” DeAngleis said of the Nordic team, “but we have some talent.”

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On Saturday, the Black Bears competed in the Telstar Relays in Bethel. Because of a lack of snow in recent years, it was the first time the event had been held since 2010. The race features a boy-girl-boy-girl format with each racer skiing three kilometers. In the “A” division heat, Maranacook’s top team of Ethan Harriman, Hannah Despres, Sam Nielson and Caroline Colan placed 10th.

“It went pretty well for our first skate race,” DeAngelis said.

Colan completed her heat in 10:22, the third-fastest time for a girl for the day.

“We have a lot of depth, but not a big gun, other than Caroline,” DeAngelis said. “She was one of the best girls there.”

DeAngelis said his boys team has a strong pack that could see mass improvement this season.

“My hope is to move that pack up in the next few weeks,” DeAngelis said.

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The Black Bears will race Wednesday at Titcomb Mountain in Farmington.

“That course is a real test. There’s a tremendous amount of uphill,” DeAngelis said. “There’s a lot of climbing. You really have to know how to ski.”

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Kents Hill held the eighth annual Marlee’s Race on Saturday at the O’Connor Alpine Training Center. The race is in memory of Marlee Johnston, who was 14 when she was killed in November 2005.

The race had a middle school division and one for high school skiers. Abi Bowie of Kents Hill was the winner in the high school division with a combined time of 1:04.64.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com


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