NEWRY — It was good to see red on Saturday for World Pro Ski Tour racers at Sunday River.

The red course proved to be the faster of the two when it mattered most, and Nolan Kasper and Alexa Dlouhy used that advantage to earn wins in the Visit Maine Pro Ski Championship.

Alexa Dlouhy of Canada carves her way around a gate Saturday during the World Pro Ski Tour event at Sunday River. Dlouhy defeated Dartmouth College teammate Foreste Peterson in the women's final. Sun Journal photo by Brewster Burns

Kasper had time to make up on the red course for the second of his two runs in both the semifinals and finals of the dual slalom format. He trailed Michael Ankeny by .159 seconds in the semifinals, then faced a .298 deficit against Adam Zampa in the final.

“I think you always have to fight,” Kasper said. “These courses, they break down, they don’t break down evenly. Sometimes you’ll have a better track, and it seemed like the red course was holding up a little better. Honestly it was great to have the … faster course the second run, because I knew I had to charge, and even though I was down a little bit, it just comes down to really having to go and really having to … risk it and see where it ends up.”

Kasper, who had a one-point lead over Ankeny going into the third and final event of the series, wrapped up the crown and its $10,000 prize with his comeback victory in the semifinals. He then edged Zampa by .325 seconds in the finals to win another $5,000 for his Maine win.

“It’s amazing,” Kasper said. “Obviously, it was high-stress.”

While Kasper had a great finish in the final, Zampa had a forgettable start to his second run.

“I was leading, but then the second run I missed the start a little bit. I was sleeping, I don’t know why. And then I pushed, but in the end it’s three-hundredths that he won at the end on,” Zampa said.

“He’s a good racer. I’m very happy to finish second. It’s better than to go out in the first round. The better (skier) won today, and it’s good motivation for me to come back, and I think that I’ll be back.”

Kasper and Zampa participated in the recent Winter Olympics, Kasper for the U.S., Zampa for Slovakia. Kasper made the team after coming back from four knee surgeries since 2015.

“It’s been an amazing year,” Kasper said.

Ankeny settled for third place for the fourth straight event, thanks to a consolation-round win over former Middlebury College skier Jack Schibli.

“I wouldn’t say it’s disappointing because I’m on an elite podium with some of my best friends that I get to ski with year round,” Ankeny said. “I would like to see a little more progression in my skiing. I’d like to see myself be able to handle the pressure of (the) semifinals a little bit better. So in that regard, it might be a little disappointing, but to lose to two Olympians … I can’t be too mad.”

In the women’s final, Dlouhy trailed Dartmouth College teammate Foreste Peterson by .396 seconds after the first run, but she beat Peterson by .692 in the second run to win the tour’s inaugural women’s event.

“Coming into it, I was thinking I really had to use ruts, kind of play the grooves. … I really wanted to use the conditions to my advantage,” said Dlouhy, who is from Montreal. “Midway through, we were pretty neck and neck, so I knew I was behind and had time to make up, so that’s when I started really hard, and it worked out.”

Peterson said the blue course seemed to be “a little bumpier in spots.”

Former University of New Hampshire racer Morgan Klein beat former Colby skier Makayla Brown for third place.

Sam Morse, who grew up skiing at Sugarloaf, lost to Kasper in the quarterfinals after beating Phillippe Rivet of Canada and Carter Robertson of York in the first two elimination rounds.

“I was kind of on the competitive side of the bracket, it was pretty stiff competition down there, so right from Round 1 I had to go at it,” Morse said. “Being my first (Pro Tour event), (I was) kind of just learning the game, learning the tricks of the trade, so I was super happy with how far I went.”

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