Oakland’s Caden Cote, a skier with the Central Maine Ski Club, is competing in the Junior Nationals at Truckee, California this week. Submitted photo
Caden Cote was in sixth grade when he realized that cross country skiing wasn’t fun anymore. He wasn’t getting better. He didn’t see the point.
So he did what many sixth-graders would do in that spot. He quit.
“I was just so frustrated with it, that I was like ‘I don’t want to do it anymore,’ ” he said. “But going into seventh grade, I had a couple of friends on the team, and I said ‘You know what, I’m going to give it a shot again and see how it goes.’ ”
Good decision. Three years later Cote, now a sophomore at Messalonskee High School and a skier for the Central Maine Ski Club, is a rising star on the Nordic scene, a distinction proven by his qualifying for the Junior Nationals competition being held this week in Truckee, California. Cote had his first event on Monday, finishing 29th out of 73 skiers in a classic interval race.
“It’s pretty remarkable just how good he is on his skis, and he’s a really hard worker. He’s totally bought in. He loves it,” said Justin Fereshetian, his coach at CMSC. “He’s also a really tactically smart skier. He’s very good at going into a race with a gameplan and executing that strategy.”
Cote had made qualifying for nationals a goal. He just figured his senior season was the target year to qualify.
Turns out, he’s ahead of schedule.
“It was pretty unbelievable,” Cote, 15, said. “My goal was, senior year, try to make it. To make it as a sophomore and just really be achieving my goals, it felt amazing. To have my hard work pay off was very fulfilling.”
That hard work came as the result of an epiphany of sorts, when Cote recognized during his freshman year that Nordic skiing had turned from an interest of his into a passion.
“Going into this year, over the summer, I really decided I wanted to be serious about it, this is what I wanted to do,” he said. “Once I was seeing the progress I made, it was definitely motivating me to train some more.”
With his mother, Colby Nordic coach Tracey Cote, working with him, Cote ramped up his ski training in the summer, and ran cross country in the fall to work on his endurance. It took a while for the work to translate fully on the snow, however. To qualify for Junior Nationals, Cote had to finish in the top six among U-16 skiers in points through four separate Eastern Cup stops. And after a so-so start in Waterville and Craftsbury, Vermont, Cote bounced back with a strong skate race at Black Mountain, and after a good opening day at Dublin, New Hampshire, noticed he was seventh and within striking distance of qualifying.
“Once I realized it was something attainable, I kind of went for it,” he said. “I went into the next day thinking ‘I’ve got nothing to lose, I might as well go for it.’ ”
Cote needed a fourth-place finish or better in the classic race at Holderness School. He got it — even after an equipment mistake meant he had to run the all-or-nothing race with borrowed skis and poles.
“It didn’t faze him. It was pretty remarkable, that could have rattled a bunch of peoples’ cage,” Fereshetian said. “He knew the point total he needed to hit, and he hit exactly that. It was really cool.”
That secured the trip to California, where initially Cote felt awe-struck by the sight of the best young skiers in the country.
“It’s kind of surreal being in a totally new place and being able to pursue what I want to do,” he said. “We got to the venue (Monday) for my first race, and just seeing the level of the competition is crazy. Knowing that I’m against the best in the country is just one of the best feelings in the world.”
It didn’t take long, however, for the Oakland resident to shake off the pressure he initially felt.
“I’m definitely a little bit nervous, a little bit intimidated,” he said. “But I was really thinking to myself that I guess I’m here for a reason, and the main thing I was also focusing on was that I was one of the last qualifiers for the (Northeast) team. … I didn’t feel as much pressure, that I needed to be in a certain spot.”
Cote is focused more on the experience. He has a busy week coming up, with a skate race Wednesday, another skate race Friday and a classic race Saturday. He would like to finish in the top 30, but he knows that just being out in California is victory enough.
“In the past, the people that have made these teams, I’ve always viewed them as being so far ahead,” he said. “To be a part of this group, I’ve validated to myself that I have the level of ability that it takes to be skiing with the best in the country.”
His coach agrees.
“This just proves he’s one of the best skiers in the region for his age group,” Fereshetian said. “If he keeps training and working hard, he can continue to be competitive with the best skiers in New England. And if he can be competitive with the best skiers in New England, he can be competitive with the best skiers in the country.
“It’s really cool. The sky’s the limit, so long as he stays motivated and keeps working hard at it.”
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