Mt. Blue High School Alpine Ski Team
Mark Cyr Head Coach (12 years)
“We are trying to be more competitive this year by getting to a variety of mountains to train and to race. The past few years we have become complacent with training and racing at a few selective venues (Titcomb, Black, and Mt. Abram). With our state championships at Shawnee, we definitely need to get there to train and/or race,”coach Mark Cyr said. “We absolutely race better slalom, but we are getting better each year at GS. We spend a bit more time training GS than slalom. We need to get to some larger mountains to train effective GS.”
Cyr added, “Our biggest weakness is our ability to put on the blinders and forget we are at a championship event, at a different venue. So often we race at the big events totally different than we race during the regular season. The past two championships we have skied too tentatively and our times were very slow. We need to be as aggressive as we are during the regular season.”
Top returning athletes
GIRLS
1. Ellie Pelletier- Aggressive skier, and comes through when we really need her to finish.
2. Jenna Hanrahan- Has very good technique with years of experience.
3. Ashley Wiles- Has skied on the team since freshman year, and improves every year to a very competitive level.
4. Brooke Bolduc- A sophmore who missed her fresham year due to injury, but came back last year srtong and ready to charge down the race course
BOYS
1. Sam Smith- A very gifted athlete who seems to do amazing things on skies, when it looks like he is going to crash.
2. Eli Yeaton- Incredible technique, a passion for going fast, and athletism that allows him to push the envelope when it comes to speed.
3. Jack Kearing- A sophmore who showed he is up to the task, by making the state team last year.
4. Nate Rackliff- A junior who has showed a great deal of improvement each year and I expect him to do some great things this year.
7. Newcomers:
1.Sadie Mcdonough
2. Josh Smith
3. Ashton Beaudoin
“We need to be willing to go for each and every race, including the championships, and regardless of the venue. We need to ski at the big events the same as we do all season,”Cyr said. “This team probably has more talent than any other team I have coached, but some times their minds get in the way of their ability to race fast (not ski fast). They need to have confidence they are as good as they are. I certainly am confident in their ability, but they need to know they can do it. If they ski to the ability that I know they have, I have confidence, that both the boys and girls can come away with a state championship.”
