Mike Miller made sure his senior season skiing for Skowhegan Area High School was as fun as possible. To that end, when he competed in the Eastern slalom championships at Attitash, New Hampshire, Miller made his second run a tribute to Maine.

“I ran my second run in flannel and cutoffs to represent Maine,” Miller said.

“And actually,” added Bill Finley, Miller’s coach at Skowhegan, “that was his best run of the weekend.”

One of the top high school skiers in the state for the last few seasons, Miller had another strong season, placing fourth in the Class A state championship slalom competition. For his efforts, Mike Miller is the Morning Sentinel Boys Alpine Skier of the Year. Ian McKendry of Forest Hills also was considered.

“One of the things I wanted every kid to do, as thanks for coming out and skiing, was have a good time,” Finley said.

The slalom was Miller’s strong race throughout the season. At the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championships, Miller placed second in the slalom, less than a second behind Ryland Vandecker of Oxford Hills.

“I always enjoy slalom. It’s very technical,” Miller said. “At states I put together a couple solid runs. It was a good way to end. I had a lot of fun.”

Miller’s run of 33.48 seconds at states had him in third place going into the second run. With a two-run time of 1:09.6, Miller was 3.19 seconds off the pace of state champion Maxx Bell of Edward Little.

That fourth-place finish at the slalom state championship was Miller’s fifth consecutive top 10 finish at states. As a junior, Miller placed third in the giant slalom and ninth in slalom. As a sophomore, Miller placed seventh in the giant slalom and fourth in the slalom. A little bad luck affected Miller’s finish in the giant slalom at the state meet. Miller completed his first GS run in 48.71 seconds and was among the leaders, but when he lost a ski on his second run, it ended his chances for another top 10 finish.

“His slalom was a little better this year than last,” Finley said. “He was trying a new pair of GS skis and he wasn’t familiar with them… He was playing around with giant slalom skiing a little this year.”

Miller has narrowed his college choices to either the University of Maine at Farmington or Plymouth State University in New Hampshire. Whichever school he chooses, Miller hopes to join the ski team. Until then, Miller will look back at his high school skiing career with fondness.

“I just wanted to have a good time and go out with a bang,” Miller said.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM

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