Maine XC skiers win second straight Strong finish in last event enables victory

RUMFORD – After two days and four races at Black Mountain, the Volvo Eastern High School Cross Country Ski Championship came down to the final leg of the final relay.

And for the second time in as many years, the Maine team clinched an Eastern title with its finish in that event – the girls 6-kilometer freestyle pursuit.

Joanna Kinsman of Fryeburg Academy finished fifth in the decisive relay and Hannah Bogar of Mt. Blue took sixth to help the Maine contingent to a 15,574 point total. Vermont finished 171 points behind while Massachusetts was third with 10,982. New Hampshire had 10,982 and New York’s one-skier team scored 220.

In other Sunday action, Seth Hubbard of Mt. Blue paced a strong Maine effort in the boys 6K freestyle pursuit with a third-place finish. Justin Hautaneimi was sixth while Kyle Rogers took eighth and Chris Leonards was tenth.

On Saturday, the Maine team annexed a 2-3 finish in the mixed-gender 4 x 3K classic relay.

Bogar, Hautaneimi, Kinsman and Hubbard teamed up to take second in 28 minutes, 53.9 seconds, 10 seconds off the winning time posted by New Hampshire.

Megan Dumas, Lars Erik Siren, Elena Yates and Reid Doiron combined to take third in 28:54.2.

Maine’s third team (Kristina Hines, Matt Barton, Marisa Sowles and Kyle Rogers), was eighth in 30:45.6.

Volvo Eastern Ski Championships

Maine 15,574, Vermont 15,403, Massachusetts 12,654, New Hampshire 10,982, New York 220

Boys 3K pursuit

1. Bret Bedard (Mass) 15:23.9; also: Maine finishers: 3. Seth Hubbard 15:26.3, 6. Justin Hautanaimi 15:45.5, 8. Kyle Rogers 15:57.2, 10. Chris Leonards 16:01.6, 14. Matt Barton 16:10.4, 15. Reid Doiron 16:11.9, 18. Ben True 16:19.0, 19. Evan Allen 16:20.3, 23. Fred Bailey 16:26.5, 25. Wes Hines 16:28.1, 26. John Reuter 16:28.5, 27. Kyle Van Hasseln 16:28.7, 29. Lars-Erik Siren 16:33.6, 30. Jeff Alden 16:35.4, 32. Matt Dunlap 16:37.7, 38. Ted Upton 16:46.6, 45. Brian Crabtree 16:57.8, 46. Josh Plog 16:59.4, 47. Oscar Boyson 17:00.5, 52. Brian Zinchuck 17:11.5, 57. Chris Davidson 17:17.9, 58. Sean Lena 17:23.5, 69. Ezra Dore-Hart 17:51.8

Girls 6K pursuit

1. Alison Crocker (New Hampshire) 18:09; also: Maine finishers: 5. Joanna Kinsman 18:18.2, 6. Hannah Bogar 18:20.9, 12. Meghen Burns 19:14.0, 15. Kalie Dunn 19:16.7, 16. Megan Dumas 19:18.2, 18. Mandy Bowden 19:30.1, 21. Elena Yates 19:31.3, 26. Marisa Sowles 19:55.2, 27. Kristina Hines 19:55.3, 29. Katie Craig 20:01.0, 31. Hilary Easter 20:09.0, 34. Emily Poole 20:16.7, 35. Samantha Bowden 20:20.9, 47. Chelsea Jarvis 20:52.3, 51. Jocelyn Woodward 20:54.7, 52. Heather Zimmerman 20:58.2, 55. Lia Prysunka 21:01.4, 57. Sarah Gamble 21:02.1, 59. Abby Hansen 21:06.4, 63. Heidi Tripp 21:29.4, 68. Jessica Harold 21:55.0, 74. Catherine Delvecchio 22:18.1

Mixed Gender 4 x 3k Classic

1. New Hampshire (Tora Olafson, Bryce Connery, Alison Crocker, James Letson) 28:43.4; also: Maine finishers: 2. Hannah Bogar, Bryce Connery, Alison Crocker, James Letson 28:53.9; 3. Megan Dumas, Lars-Erik Siren, Elena Yates, Reid Doiron 28:54.2; 8. Kristina Hines, Matt Barton, Marisa Sowles, Kyle Rogers 30:38.9; 11. Hilary Easter, John Reuter, Katie Craig, Chris Leonards 30:56.1; 12. Meghen Burns, Ezra Dore-Hart, Mandy Bowden, Evan Allen 31:05.1; 15. Abby Hansen, Ben True, Samantha Bowden, Brian Crabtree 31:29.8; 20. 20. Chelsea Jarvis, Sean Lena, Sarah Gamble, Oscar Boyson 31:49.0; 22. Jocelyn Woodward, Josh Plog, Lia Prysunka, Ted Upton 32:11.5, 26. Catherine Delvecchio, Fred Bailey, Kalie Dunn, Brian Zinchuck 32:43.6; 28. Emily Poole, Jeff Alden, Heidi Tripp, Kyle Van Hasseln 32:52.2; 31. Heather Zimmerman, Matt Dunlap, Jessica Harold, Chris Davidson 33:08.9