Freeport’s Maine Coast Waldorf, the former Merriconeag, picked up both female and male Nordic ski Class C championship titles last week. The small school that focuses on outdoor aerobic sports solely continues to be a Class C powerhouse in both cross country running and skiing.

Meanwhile, Boothbay Region High School, consistently one of Class C’s highest ranking running squads and a relative newcomer to Nordic, has made slow and consistent progress in the winter aerobic sport. At the state meet, the Boothbay boys placed seventh overall and the girls team 11th.

“We suffered through a really horrible winter,” Nordic Coach Nick Scott writes in an email. “It is interesting to think that we compete against schools from "The County" that have wonderful snow coverage for the duration of the season. When I was talking with the coach from Madawaska he mentioned that they only had one week of dryland season and were able to ski for the remainder of the time.”

”We have the athleticism to be very competitive, but unfortunately, we simply lacked the practice time on snow to refine our fundamental ski skills as well as ski endurance. Nevertheless, I am very proud of our accomplishments, both as a team and as individuals.”

Among the state meet highlights for BRHS were Joey Paolillo’s 13th place finish in the classic race in a time of 20:05 and freshmen Blake Erhard’s and Summer Chamberlin’s performances in both races.

“Joey was only 11 seconds away from cracking the top ten. Joey's classic finish is the best classic finish by a BRHS male athlete at the Class C state championships.  The previous best was achieved by Robert Campbell, who finished 25th,” Scott said.

“Blake capitalized on a wonderful freshman season with two strong performances, placing 31st in each race. His efforts at the state meet garnered him the best results of any male freshman in BRHS history. Summer Chamberlin had an outstanding couple of days as well, placing 31st and 35th in the classic and skate races, respectively. The only two female skiers to turn in better results were Sophia Thayer and Nell Anthony.”

Scott said senior Liam Conlin’s triumph over adversity was also impressive.

“Liam Conlin missed the skate race due to being really sick, then turned around the very next day and placed 28th in the classic race. Only three other male Seahawk skiers have ever placed better than that in the classic race at states: Joey Paolillo (13th), Robert Campbell (25th), and Kyler Carty (26th).”

Despite the poor snow conditions this year, Scott said the team made tremendous progress.

“I can't emphasize enough how impressed I was with each athlete and the gains that we made this season despite our lack of practice time on snow,” Scott said.