It’s rare that a freshman can make an impact on a high school varsity team, regardless of the sport.

But Erin Guilmet made an impact as a freshman for the Maranacook girls Alpine team.

Guilmet had a seventh place finish in the slalom at the Class B championship meet. But her success was sustained through the entire season.

“She certainly did not dissappoint,” Maranacook Alpine coach Ronn Gifford said. “In all but three races, she (finished) top 15, with five top 10s. As a freshman, that’s outstanding.”

For her performance throughout the season, Guilmet is the Kennebec Journal Girls Alpine Skier of the Year. Teammate Deanna Morris and Monmouth Academy’s Becki Bryant were also considered.

While Guilmet was expecting a good season, even she was surprised by her success.

Advertisement

“I was expecting to do pretty well for a freshman I guess,” Guilmet said. “But I wasn’t expecting to get top 10 and top 15 at the race. I just sort of don’t get that stressed out that much about doing well, I guess.”

Guilmet has the family background in skiing. Her dad Eric is the head coach for the Winthrop/St. Dominic’s Alpine skiing team, and was Erin’s coach in middle school.

Between her coaches at Maranacook and having Eric at home, Erin Guilmet has a wealth of information at her disposal.

“We do talk about (skiing) a lot,” Guilmet said. “I had him as my middle school coach, so we talk a lot and he’s still like my coach in a way. He helps me if I need it, but I’ve certainly had a lot of help from my high school coaches. They really helped me with how I did this year.”

Guilmet said the biggest key in her skiing is not stressing out before taking the hill.

“I feel like if I get stressed out, then I fall,” Guilmet said.

Advertisement

Aside from her talent, Gifford stressed that Guilmet is also an excellent teammate.

“She’s always supporting the girls and the boys,” Gifford said. “She’s the first kid out to help set up training courses and help take down training courses. She loves to ski and loves to race and her results show.”

Guilmet did joke that there is a fun rivalry between the girls and boys Alpine teams, led by the tandem of Matt Delmar and Alec Daigle.

“It’s a good challenge with having all those boys on the team,” Guilmet said. “I remember some of the guys on the team telling me if I ever beat them in a race I wasn’t allowed to talk to them the rest of that day. It’s definitely fun. We all support each other and have fun.”

While Guilmet had a successful season, three more years await her in her high school career, a fact not lost on Gifford.

“The fun part is for me, as good as she was this year, she has huge potential to be a lot better,” Gifford said. “She’s got a couple little things she’s been  working on, and as she gets those things nailed down over the next two or three years, who knows where she’s going to end up.”

And while Guilmet is happy with her season, she understands that she still has work to do.

“It’s great, I’m so excited,” Guilmet said. “I’m definitely going to set bigger goals each year for me to achieve. It’s good to know I’ve done this well as a freshman and I still have three more years to go.”

Dave Dyer — 621-5639
ddyer@centralmaine.com


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.