Posted March 09, 2015, at 2:19 p.m.
by Sam Bonsey
Special to the BDN
ORONO, Maine — The Nordic ski team at Orono High School has gone through several changes since it started back in 2010.
After starting with just eight members, the cross country ski team has transformed into a program that has nearly tripled in size and now competes for state championships.
Orono started a club ski team for students who were interested in competing, but after receiving encouragement and funding from parents around the community, it reached out to John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor to share resources. In three years the Red Riots saw numbers in participation grow incrementally while participation for John Bapst started to decline.
John Bapst was facing a decision whether to cut the sport from their budget, but the remaining skiers on the team wanted the chance to compete. Noticing this problem, Orono Athletic Director Mike Archer decided to apply to the Maine Principals’ Association and request that the two schools share resources. They are not a co-op team, but they share a practice site and transportation costs.
This lets the Bapst cross country skiers compete as individuals at the meets and the same arrangement has been made with Hampden Academy cross country skiers.
“We thought we could become the lead school,” said Archer. “We decided that we could flip-flop responsibilities and they can come with us to allow them to continue to ski.”
Between the schools, Orono was the one that featured ski trails which run behind the buildings. This allowed the skiers on the team, who were from other schools, the chance to practice.
“It is a little harder for the other schools to get here, but I think it works out OK,” said Orono senior Lily Koffman. “We share buses.”
Koffman, who started skiing when she was 8, was in eighth grade when the ski team started. Since joining the team, she has become one of the top skiers in Class C and hopes to continue to compete when she attends Harvard this fall.
Despite the growing success of the program, funding has been a work in progress. Each year Archer tries to implement more into the budget for the ski program in an attempt to make it a fully funded team.
The program just finished its fourth season and has been aided through parents’ fund-raising efforts, but Orono has added a coaching stipend, transportation costs and MPA dues.
“It’s a great group of kids and a great group of parents,” Archer said.
At the recent state meet, high school skiers competed at the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle. The two-day event had four Nordic races — boys and girls classical and boys and girls skate technique.
Temperatures were well below zero, and the Alpine races were postponed a day because the chairlifts couldn’t run. The meet combined Classes B and C for the first time. By the time the race went off, temperatures were dipping even lower. Officials considered postponing the meet, but there weren’t enough hotel rooms for teams to stay.
“It was brutal,” Koffman said. “But we prepared ourselves physically by taping our faces and wearing as many layers as we could.”
Archer added, “No one had any worse conditions in a state championship than they had. There was no relief in sight.”
Orono competed admirably as the Red Riots placed both the boys and girls teams third in Class C, combining the classical and skate results. It was Orono’s first opportunity to race against teams in Class B which proved to be very successful.
“It was cool because it was really competitive,” Koffman said. “You got to see how you stacked up against everyone in the state.”
Orono High School’s Lily Koffman competes in the cross country classical race during the Class C state meet in Presque Isle recently. She placed second in the event. (David Koffman photo)
In the 5-kilometer classic race, Koffman placed third overall, skiing to a time of 19 minutes, one second. The Red Riots also had strong performances from Liza and Annika Gallandt, who placed 15th and 16th, respectively. Koffman then came back in the skate race to place second in Class C, covering the 4-kilometer course in 17:19.
