Currier claims ski title in Jr. Olympics

Stockholm native Russell Currier finished first in a 10-kilometer cross country ski race Friday, claiming a national championship at the 2006 Junior Olympics in Houghton, Mich.

Currier toured the freestyle race course in 27 minutes, 15.7 seconds. He finished 15.2 seconds ahead of runner-up Justin Singleton of Alaska. There were 49 finishers in the race.

Currier competed in the OJ age group, which is made up of skiers born 1986-89. J1 skiers are also the same age. H2 skiers must have been born in 1990 or 1991.

Currier was one of four Maine Winter Sports Center athletes in Michigan. Nils Koons of Sidney skied on a first-place J1 3-by-5K relay team.

Newt Rogers of Fort Kent was 23rd overall in Friday’s 10K. Joey Bard of Woodland took 44th in the 5K J2 boys freestyle, while Fort Fairfield’s Hilary McNamee took 21st in the J2 girls freestyle, which was also a 5K. Nils was 24th in the 10K J1 race.

McNamee was third in the J2 girls sprint, while Bard finished 10th in the J2 boys sprint. Koons was 13th in the J1 sprint. Rogers was 23rd and Currier was 24th in the OJ sprint.

In the classic event, Bard took 33rd in the 5K J2 boys race and Koons was 23rd in a 15K J1 boys race, while Currier took 11th and Rogers was 19th in the 15K OJ boys. McNamee wound up 12th in the 5K J2 girls.

In the relays, Bard skied on a 3-by-3K J2 relay that was the second New England team to finish and was fifth overall. McNamee’s J2 girls relay was ninth. Currier skied the anchor leg of a second-place 3-by-5K OJ relay, while Rogers’ relay finished sixth.

The four MWSC skiers helped the New England division rack up 1,036 points and capture the Alaska Cup for a third straight year. The Alaska Cup is given to the geographic division which scores the most points. Alaska finished second with 650.