Freeport skiers beat Caribou to capture Class B Nordic state title

FARMINGTON, Maine — The Freeport High School boys ski team showed off strong depth to capture the Class B Nordic state title at Titcomb Mountain on Friday.

The Falcons finished with 43 points after two 5-kilometer races, classic and skate on Thursday and Friday, to beat second-place Caribou’s 82.

Maranacook of Readfield finished third with 91 points and was followed by Yarmouth (139), Mount Abram of Salem (223), Cape Elizabeth (232), Presque Isle (263) and Spruce Mountain of Rumford/Mexico (304).

Yacob Olins paced Freeport in the classic race with a third-place finish in 14 minutes, 7.4 seconds. Teammates Bennett Hight and Kyle Dorsey followed up in fourth and fifth, respectively, while Caribou’s Riley McDuffie and Daniel Randolph captured the next two spots in sixth and seventh.

The Falcons went on to edge the Vikings in a close race 22-33.

Maranacook’s Luca DeAngelis won the individual title with a 13:19.5 clocking.

Hight and Olins turned in strong efforts the next day in the skate race with Hight placing third and Olins taking fourth. Dorsey provided valuable points with a sixth-place finish while teammate Nathan Smail captured eighth.

Lukas LaGasse sparked Caribou with a 10th-place finish with McDuffie earning 13th place while teammates Caleb Willett and Randolph took 15th and 16th, respectively.

DeAngelis recorded an 11-second winning margin over Yarmouth’s John Lane with an 11:49 finish to again claim individual honors.

In the girls competition, Yarmouth captured the team crown with 41 points and was followed by Maranacook (65), Freeport (138), Caribou (150), Gray-New Gloucester (168), Presque Isle (169), Spruce Mountain (290) and Mount Abram (302).

Sophia Laukli, Lucy Alexander and Grace Cowles finished third, fourth and fifth to spark Yarmouth in the classic race while Gray-NG’s Kaelyn Woods won the individual title in 15:23.3.

Yarmouth was led by the same trio in the skate race with Alexander finishing third, Laukli placing fourth and Cowes taking fifth while Woods turned in another dominating finish to claim individual honors with a 13:01 time.