Mt. Blue’s Nora McCourt (120) and Maya Kellett (121) ski to first- and second-place finishes in the KVAC freestyle championship race at Black Mountain in Rumford on Feb. 7. McCourt finished first and Kellett second in both KVAC championships races and both Class A title races last winter. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

The storyline of the 2024-25 central Maine Nordic skiing season doesn’t necessarily begin on the course, but instead with new faces leading the programs.

Mt. Blue High School has a new head coach, after Emmy Held stepped down in the spring to take a nursing job in Alaska. Held, a former Colby College racer, had a successful five-year run in Farmington, leading the girls’ team to a Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference title each season, as well as four Class A championships. She also led the boys to two KVAC titles, as well as the Class A title for the past three years.

Mt. Blue found a steady hand to replace Held in Ben Geissinger, who will also continue in his role as Spruce Mountain’s Nordic coach.

“I’m super excited,” said Geissinger, who also coaches the Spruce Mountain cross country team in the fall. “It’s been pretty awesome this season to have this early snow, it’s made a huge difference (in practice). We haven’t had to start any dryland training at all. We’ve been on snow all of last week and – fingers crossed, with this rain that’s coming, it won’t keep us from the snow for too long.”

Indeed, lack of snow has been an issue for area teams for the past few years, so having snow this early provides better preparation for the racing season, which begins in January.

“It’s huge,” Geissinger said. “You can train for some stuff, for sure, on dry land. But there just isn’t a substitute for seeing what it’s like to be on those slippery skis again. We have athletes that are roller skating through the summer and fall, but every one of them says it feels different when you get on the snow. We’re used to things feeling a little slow and not feeling momentum the same way on roller skis. It still takes a while to get the cobwebs out and get the feeling back in your body for being on snow.”

From a team perspective, Geissinger couldn’t ask for a better situation to enter. The Cougars have been the dominant Nordic program for nearly the past decade, with strong leadership from Claire Polfus, to Held and now to Geissinger, who now leads a veteran squad ready to take yet another shot at KVAC and Class A titles.

“They’re really solid,” Geissinger said. “Some of the top skiers from last year are back. Most of them are seniors now, but there’s some really talented sophomores and juniors as well. … The kids that tend to race at the top, they’re self-motivated, anyway. They’re looking for some direction and some structure, but they are a very self-motivated type of kid. The seniors, especially, are just a really solid group of skiers, skiing in the high school circuit but the New England races as well.”

The girls team returns a powerful duo in seniors Nora McCourt and Maya Kellett. McCourt swept the KVAC and Class A titles in freestyle and classical last season. Kellett was runner-up to McCourt in both events and will no doubt give her teammate good competition once again. Elizabeth Strickland, a junior, also is back after top-20 finishes in the state classical and freestyle races.

Mt. Blue’s Henri McCourt tucks down the final downhill of the KVAC freestyle championships at Black Mountain in Rumford on Feb. 7. McCourt swept the classical and freestyle titles at the KVAC and Class A championships last winter. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

Senior Henri McCourt returns to lead the boys squad. Like his sister, McCourt  swept the KVAC and Class A classical and freestyle titles and will be a favorite to do so again. He’s joined by fellow senior Elias Bartlett, who was runner-up to McCourt at the KVAC championships and third at the Class A meet.

In Class B, Maranacook has a new head coach in Casey Spencer, who was an assistant under longtime head coach Steve DeAngelis. The pair has swapped roles, as DeAngelis, who retired from his teaching position at the Readfield school two years ago, will help out as an assistant.

“We’ve had a great start to the season so far,” Spencer said. “I’m excited, and I know the kids are excited.”

The Black Bears are strong in numbers, carrying a roster of 25 skiers. A large number of contributors from both the boys and girls team graduated, but this year’s team should have skiers in the mix for individual state titles.

“We have a few returning seniors,” Spencer said. “It’s a mix. We definitely have a majority of freshmen and sophomores. … It’s an exciting team, and they’re just so eager to get better, and excited about getting faster and getting excited about the sport.”

For the boys, senior Cooper Tarbuck returns as the Black Bears’ top skier. He finished seventh in the classical race at the Mountain Valley Conference championships last winter.

“He’s definitely a leader on the boys’ side,” Spencer said.

Sophomore Hannah Olmstead returns as the top skier for the Maranacook girls. She finished fifth in freestyle and seventh in classical at the MVC championships.

Now in his third season, Mt. Abram’s Lucas Milliken is the area’s longest-tenured head coach. The Roadrunners found some success last season with their boys team, which finished sixth at the Class C championships. The team has graduated Carter Butterfield, its top skier, who finished 13th in classical and 19th in freestyle at the state meet.

“We have between 15 to 17 (skiers), that’s great for us,” Milliken said. “We’ve got new kids in every grade. It’s just nice to have kids interested and wanting to do it. That’s exciting.”

“In terms of results, we still have a long way to go to compete at the top of the state,” Milliken continued. “But we have some good skiers and a good group of seniors this year that have been here since their freshman or sophomore year. The team dynamic is good, and hopefully, the results will follow this year and, hopefully, in years to come.”

Senior Olivia Tozier will be Mt. Abram’s top returning girls skier. On the boys’ side, Milliken is looking for strong seasons from Robert Butterfield and Aspen Mitchell.