Boothbay Region High School Nordic ski teams traveled to Sunny Croft Farm in Paris Hill on Saturday to participate in the Oxford Sprints event. Coach Nick Scott reported that the weather was extremely cold and the snow cover thin, but BRHS athletes rose to the challenge.

The day’s format consisted of two freestyle events: a 1K sprint and a 3K race. Each team’s top six skiers were eligible to participate in a 1K sprint time trial from which the top skiers could progress to a final elimination sprint. Seven of BRHS’ skiers competed in the sprint. For the boys, Liam Conlin placed 37th at 2:42, Sam Betts, 47th at 2:52, Blake Erhard, 50th at 2:56, and Duncan Drapeau, 52nd at 3:05. In the girls time trial, Summer Chamberlin finished 40th at 3:13 and Angela Machon, 59th at 3:56.

“Despite the really cold temperatures and thin snow coverage our team did a wonderful job of staying positive and performing well. We had a lot of people qualify for the sprint event, which is an impressive feat to accomplish. Summer Chamberlin, Liam Conlin, and Sam Betts all succeeded in making it past the time trial round. Blake (Erhard) was a matter of seconds away, too,” Scott wrote in an email.

In the 3K race, Meghan Oakes finished 25th, 17:43, Olivia Paolillo, 27th, 17:53, and Riley Sullivan, 35th, 19:45. For the boys, Erhard finished 5th, 10:09, Drapeau, 20th, 12:11, Gabe Purin, 26th, 12:54, Reed Beavis, 33rd, 13:40, and Bayly Gaughan-Carrasco 36th, 16:31.

“We also had a great showing in the 3K race. Blake finished an impressive fifth, while others such as Gabe Purin, Reed Beavis, and Bayly Gaughan-Carrasco participated in their first skate race of the season. Overall, I was quite impressed with how well everyone skied,” Scott wrote.

The weather this week will be decidedly warmer and there is a possibility of snow late in the week. On Saturday, Jan. 31, the team heads to Black Mountain to compete in the annual Sassi Memorial.