The Boothbay Region High School Nordic ski team had its first taste of competition last Saturday at the annual Telstar Relays held at Black Mountain in Rumford.

Winter has been ambivalent here on the coast, with cold days slipping back into moderate temperatures and rain. So far, the Boothbay team has had no appreciable local snow for training. Luckily, conditions at Black Mountain were decidedly better on Saturday, with the mountain reporting a solid 25-inch base of packed powder.

Boothbay was up against stiff competition on Saturday, with many of the state’s top ski schools in the lineup. 

In the first wave of the competition, the BRHS relay team of Joey Paolillo, Blake Erhard, Summer Chamberlin and Olivia Paolillo placed 29th overall.  Joey Paolillo completed the course in 8:49, Erhard at 9:42, Chamberlin at 11:14 and Olivia Paolillo at 15:05. 

Competing for BRHS in the second wave relays were Duncan Drapeau, Sam Betts, Riley Sullivan and Hali Goodwin, who finished 27th overall. Drapeau finished the race in 10:04, Betts in 10:46, Sullivan in 17:09 and Goodwin in 14:56.

The Nordic team will head back to ski country this Saturday to compete in the annual Leavitt Hornet Classic race.