NEWRY — Elation only needs a millisecond to flip itself upside down and become frustration. It can happen with just a little shove.

Five minutes ago, the dozens of Gould Academy students, coaches and faculty were cheering their heads off as Nathan Pare, a 20-year-old Gould alum and Mainer raised in Farmingdale and Bethel, was making his way to the front of the pack in his quarterfinal heat in the men’s Olympic snowboard cross.

Cowbells rattled, and cheers bounced around the A-frame as Pare crossed the finish line in first place, seemingly ticketed to the semifinals in his Olympic debut.

But then came a delay in announcing the results. It turns out, judges were looking at a midrace incident in which Spain’s Lucas Eguibar Breton crashed after clipping the back of Pare’s board.

Elation was becoming confusion as a replay of the crash was shown on the television. There’s Pare, making his move to pass Eguibar Breton and jump into third place. There’s Eguibar Breton, off balance, falling and out of contention.

This is taking too long.

Confusion became frustration as the judges’ decision was announced. Pare was disqualified. He wasn’t going to the semifinals after all.

Sienna McKinley is a senior at Gould and also competes in snowboard cross. She knows Pare as the senior who always supported and encouraged her when she was a freshman. Pare was patient with her when he taught McKinley how to play Palace, the card game that’s a tradition for the Gould snowboard team. He was the example of how to keep your cool on the course in high-pressure situations.

“I understand the sport. We always know if there’s contact there’s going to be a review. I don’t think any of us agreed with that call,” McKinley said. “I wanted to throw up. A massive pit in my stomach. My heart breaks. It really does. I mean, everything in his life has led up to that moment. I’ve seen only a sliver of the work he’s put in, and it’s been everything to him. I get it. You give your life for this. On the highest stage in the world, it’s a heartbreaker.”

Dustin Holzweiss, Gould’s snowboard program director, tried to explain the ruling as best he could, from his vantage thousands of miles away.

“They’re trying to say he broke his line down the course, and it interfered with another rider’s line,” Holzweiss said. “The frustrating part for me watching is, the line that Nate was running all the way through, and what he’s been running all the way through all day through time trials, is that line. He bobbled, and everyone’s been bobbling. It’s frustrating for them to make that call.”

Aidan Mahoney was two years ahead of Pare at Gould and is now a coach at the school. Like McKinley, he thought of all the hours his friend has dedicated to the sport as the result settled over the room.

“Definitely a bummer,” Mahoney said. “I’ve seen his hard work and work ethic. It is what it is. I guess it’s part of racing.”

Tao Smith is Gould’s Head of School. He was disappointed, obviously, but he’s also an educator. He looked around the room. There could be future Olympians watching this play out, right here. This is a learning moment. It has to be.

“You fail way more often than you succeed. You have to learn how to face failure on a daily basis. What do you do? How do you pick yourself up? How do you respond?” Smith said. “I used to tell kids when I was coaching (skiing), you can be as absolutely bummed out as you want. Ten minutes later, if you’re still dwelling on it, it’s too long. You’ve got to move on, because there’s another run, another opportunity.”

Disappointment doesn’t dissipate quickly. It has a long half-life. For Gould, attention turns to Friday, when alums Brianna Schnorrbusch and Hanna Percy will compete in the women’s snowboard cross.

Pare could have another chance to medal if he’s selected for the mixed snowboard cross team that will compete Sunday. McKinley reiterated Pare’s strongest attribute, nothing rattles him. Thursday’s result might test that, but at Gould they know their friend will rebound.

What else is there to do?