With even skinnier skis and a ski style more akin to ice skating than the classic Nordic diagonal stride, freestyle cross country skiers virtually fly by classic skiers on the trails. But it takes excellent technique, conditioning and aerobic capacity to excel at this sport.

On Saturday, Feb. 1, the Boothbay Region High School Nordic team traveled to Paris, Maine to compete in the Oxford Hills freestyle races at Sunny Croft Farm. With 20 teams competing, Boothbay skiers did well overall and seniors Sophia Thayer and Robert Campbell excelled.

Saturday’s event consisted of two separate classes: 1k sprints and a traditional 3k race.

In the 1k sprints, qualifying races winnow the pack until the top six male and female sprinters are left to compete. Coach Emily Higgins reports that both Campbell and Thayer made it through three qualifying rounds before elimination.

“In the first set of the 1k sprints, Sophia finished 13th (out of 58 competitors) and Robert finished 18th (out of 63) — fabulous finishes,” Higgins said. Thayer posted a 2:54 finish and Campbell 2:27 in the first qualifying round.

Also, competing in the 1k for Boothbay, were Angela Machon (56th, 4:07) and Maya Schwehm (57th, 4:10) for the girls and Benn Scully (39th, 2:42), Kyler Carty (44th, 2:46), Zach Vise (50th, 2:51), Dave Machon (59th, 3:08), and Ray Perry (60th, 3:16). Saturday was Schwehm’s first time on skis this year, having spent the fall semester at Chewonki.

The Oxford Hills sprint winners were Dustin Staples, Mount Blue, at 2:08 and Leela Hornback, Gould Academy, at 2:32.

In the 3k, Angela Machon placed 32nd at 16:57 and Schwehm placed 33rd at 17:14. For the boys, Vise finished (31st, 11:50), Joey Paolillo (36th, 12:22), Kyle Alamo (41st, 13:10),  Zach Xue (44th, 14:06), Trystan Mercier (47th,14:48), Liam Conlin (48th, 15:07), Philip Owen (49th, 15:23), and Sam Betts (55th, 17:39).

Tucker Barber, Mount Blue, won top boys honors, finishing the 3K in 9:05 and Isabel Charland, Kent’s Hill, won the girls’ race at 11:13.

Assistant Coach Kelly Campbell said she was impressed with the team’s races on Saturday. “It seems like a lifetime since they have had snow to ski on,” Campbell said. “Saturday was a great opportunity to take advantage of the snow and to be able to have a lot of ski time. I'm extremely proud of our Nordic Ski Team. This has been a challenging season. But they have been training hard and it showed in their performance on Saturday.”

Maine’s high school skiing championship season kicks off this week. The KVAC/MVC championship Nordic races will be held at Black Mountain (freestyle) in Rumford on Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 2 p.m. and at Titcomb Mountain (classic) in Farmington on Saturday Feb. 8 at 10 a.m.

Weather permitting, the Seahawks will compete at both meets.