JAY and RUMFORD — The Camden Snow Bowl middle school race team won the Class A state championship in Alpine combined for the girls, while the boys Alpine combined team snagged second place in its respective state championship series. 

“In an extremely challenging year for the team, the kids have shown incredible poise and remarkable fortitude,” said Coach Weber Roberts. “The team moved from Class B this year to the more competitive Class A, which comprises teams from the western mountains. The team also started competing in the Nordic races for the first time in many years. Eight members of the team competed in Nordic and Alpine combined in pursuit of the coveted Skimeister award.”

Jen Conover, manager of the racing program for Camden Snow Bowl, was very proud and excited.

“This is the best,” she exclaimed. “The whole community is really happy about this team. The sportsmanship, the enthusiasm, the parent participation, the kids’ dedication and ongoing striving for excellence are all amazing to me. I am so grateful to Mike Bridges and Weber [Roberts] for their unbelievable attention and care and creative ways to make training possible and fun. These two are volunteers, which I think most people don’t know. All of our coaches are amazing actually and we are extremely lucky to have each and every one of them involved”.

Parent Todd Williams agreed.

“I think the success of this team comes directly from the coaching styles of Coach Webber Roberts and Coach Mike Bridges,” Williams stated. “These two coaches create a supportive environment even when these athletes are engaged in some really challenging and aggressive competition and practices.”

The Maine Junior Ski League Class A Championships meet was broken into two days.

Wednesday, Feb. 11 saw the Alpine slalom race followed by the Nordic freestyle race at Spruce Mountain in Jay. Saturday, Feb. 14 saw the Giant Slalom race followed by the Classic Nordic race at Black Mountain in Rumford. There was plenty of snow for all of the races although the temperature barely made it into single digits during the day.

The teams also had to work hard at training. Since the lift at the Camden Snow Bowl was not operational until the last day of January, the teams had to hike Ragged Mountain, which they did on several occasions, or drive to other mountains in order to train gates.

“(Assistant coach) Mike Bridges and I spent a lot of time on the phone trying to find hills that first of all had snow, and second of all, would let us come set gates,” explained Coach Roberts. “The Camden Snow Bowl is the team that is farthest from big mountain training and we often have to beg borrow and steal to get on those mountains. We are appreciative of the help that Sunday River and Kent’s Hill provided this year to get us on snow.”

“When we could, we hiked,” continued Roberts. “Imagine, school gets out at 2:30. It gets dark at 4:30 in January — these kids booted up, hiked the hill and got three or four training runs on limited snow—then went to race all over the state and beat kids who were getting consistent training. It is all about the team — they pushed each other, helped each other and gained confidence as a team. It is hard to measure teamwork in such an individual sport — but there is no doubt that this team is so successful because they supported each other. The thing I like most about this league is that it gets kids outside in the dead of winter in adverse conditions — tests them physically and mentally and requires a lot of technical skill acquisition.”

After day one at the State meet, the girls were in third place with an excellent showing in slalom.

Vika Santoro earned a bronze metal and Jesi Mann finished 10th followed closely by Courtney King (12th) and Sydney White (14th) all in the top 15 — undoubtedly their best showing this year.

On Saturday, they stepped up again. Vika crushed the course, winning the race and Jesi Mann followed up with an amazing fifth place finish.

“Without the [Camden] Snow Bowl lift we have had very little GS [Giant Slalom] training this year because it is difficult to hike and train GS — you need a lot more hill space — and I cannot explain how well all of the girls skied this giant slalom course,” said Roberts. “It was incredible. They won the Giant Slalom event by 17 points to more than make up the deficit in Slalom”.

The boys skied extremely well in Slalom on Day one and earned first place by nearly six points and put three boys in the top ten in Michael Frampton (third), Caellen Roberts (sixth), Cedar Andrus (10th). Ethan Andrus rounded out the scoring in 14th place. Noah LaChance and Devon Smith also had stellar performances moving up the scoreboard.

The second day of the Giant Slalom was challenging for the boys because three skiers were unable to come to the meet due to previous plans. Yet, they still took second place in combined Alpine.

This year also marked the return of Nordic skiing to the middle school after a long hiatus. Michael Frampton, Simon Fedarko, Emerson Brott, Caellen Roberts, Ethan Andrus, Oscar Horowitz, Rhys White and Isabelle Manahan competed not only in the Alpine events, but also as skimeisters in the Nordic Freestyle and Classic disciplines.

Michael Frampton finished fifth in the competition earning a ribbon, while Caellen Roberts finished 14th, Simon Fedarko 15th, Rhys White 17th and Emerson Brott 19th. Isabelle Manahan was in 16th place.

“I am so excited about the Nordic component of skiing,” said Roberts. “It is a really healthy, active scene and the kids go out there and challenge themselves and their bodies — these kids are athletes in every sense of the word. Look for great things to come from [them] in the near future.”

These racers and many more will have the opportunity to ski in the Camden Snow Bowl’s Sally Deaver Memorial Super G for racers ages 12 and up to be held at Camden Snow Bowl on March 1.

For further information on Camden Snow Bowl’s racing program, or to register for the Annual Sally Deaver Race, click here. 

For complete Maine Junior Ski League Class A Race Results, click here. 

Jan. 31 Results

The Camden Snow Bowl Middle School race team was back in action Saturday, Jan. 31. The team returned to Kents Hill for the Maranacook Invitational slalom race. The boys took first place and the girls third on a cold and blustery snowy day.

Some of our team were stuck at home due to all of the snow and drifting, unable to get plowed out in time for the race and despite this the team rallied to a very strong result.

Most of the team were able to be on hand for the ribbon cutting ceremony at the Camden Snow Bowl before braving icy roads to Readfield for the race.

By the time the race started, the skies cleared and visibility had improved a lot.

Simon Fedarko, Cedar Andrus and brother Ethan Andrus went seven, eight, nine (in terms of places) with Micheal Frampton coming in second. Devon Smith improved dramatically in this race moving into the top 20 with a second run that was nearly a second faster than the first.

Coach Weber Roberts commented that, “The boys team has a lot of depth, on any given day every single team member contributes to the win and if we lose the top or second seed to a fall, the rest of the team does their part to keep Camden on top. The new sixth graders have really started to come on strong and give the older kids a healthy challenge, keeping the whole team competitive.”

Boys team scores included Camden (26), Maranacook (30), Farmington (38), Sugarloaf (54).

On the girls side: Stellar performances from Sydney White who placed in the top ten and Vika Santoro who finished third pushed the girls within striking distance of the very talented Maranacook and Farmington squads.

“I wouldn’t be surprised seeing this team challenge Maranacook for the championship if every single girl has two solid runs at states,” said Coach Roberts. Missing three of our team members and we still came within six points of winning the meet. Courtney King continues her forward push into the top five, improving her position with each meet. In the race, the top four scorers for Maranacook and Farmington combined for an even result meaning that the meet was decided by the fifth girl, and that meant Maranook took the win.

Girls team scores inlcuded Maranook (28), Farmington (28), Camden (34) and Sugarloaf (48). 

In the boys races, Michael Frampton came in second at 1:04.78, Cedar Andrus seventh at 1:08.64, Simon Fedarko eighth at 1:11.18, Ethan Andrus ninth at 1:12.31, Oscar Horovitz 13th at 1:14.22. Emerson Brott 14th at 1:16.60, Rhys White 16th at 1:18.06, Devon Smith 17th at 1:18.14, Tanner Robinson 23rd at 1:26.26 and Noah LaChance 26th at 1:32.00. 

In the girls race, Vika Santoro came in third at 1:08.15, Courtney King ninth at 1:15.39, Sydney White 10th at 1:16.31, Isabelle Manahan 12th at 1:17.05 and Annabelle Williams 18th at 1:23.57

Suzanne Lufkin Weiss is the Marketing Manager at the Camden Snow Bowl. 

Reach the sports department at: sports@penbaypilot.com.