Led by the high level skiing of sophomore Allison Acritelli, the Phoenix slipped, slid and powered their way to a second-place team finish behind perennial powerhouse Fort Kent on Day 1 of the state championship competition.

“I’m thrilled,” Spruce Mountain Alpine coach Bill Acritelli said. “We skied in 13 events this year to get ready for this. Our kids have put a lot of time and effort into this and they are all beaming as a team.”

Fort Kent owns a 25-47 lead over Spruce Mountain, with Maranacook not far behind with 51 points.

“If we can stay in the top two, that would be fantastic,” Acritelli said. “The most important thing will be for us to get two good runs down.”

Alisha Guimond of Fort Kent crushed her competitors, putting together a two-run time of 1:41.08 to finish first on an icy, hard packed and slow course. Coach Acritelli’s daughter, Allison, followed with a 1:45.56 to take second place, while Phoenix teammate Julia Pomeroy crossed the finish line in 7th.

“Everyone thought it was going to be all ice after yesterday’s rain,” Allison said. “I was cautious on my first run, then on my second run you could get a grip in the snow, it was more comfortable and firm, so I let it go. This sets us up for more confidence tomorrow in the giant slalom.”

Monmouth Academy senior Rebekah Bryant agreed with Allison’s assessment of the course and strategy, fashioning an outstanding pair of runs to finish 8th in 1:54.89.

“I tried to stay steady and focused on my first run. The course looked, so icy, but it was slow, so you couldn’t get going that fast,” Bryant said. “It really is nice to have a good finish to my senior year.”

*****

It was a rough day for Mountain Valley in the boys’ slalom, where the Falcons are chasing Fort Kent, which owns a 15-36 advantage after the slalom race. Yarmouth is in third with 78 points.

Falcons leader Nick Newman went down once in each run but somehow managed to get back up, sprinting across the finish line, to earn an overall second place finish in 1:33.58. The Warriors’ Joey Guimond was first in 1:30.77.

“It’s been a tough day for all of us,” Newman said, “My first run I needed to have a round line, then my second run I was trying for a decent time.”

Paced by Guimond, Fort Kent placed four scoring skiers in the top six to claim the lead. Warrior teammates Austin Plourde, David Roy and Jonathon Haley finished third, fifth and sixth, respectively, setting up an exciting matchup for Thursday’s giant slalom race.

“Giant slalom is a good event for us,” Newman said. “It will be a race.”

One of the more exciting finishes of the day came from Forest Hills skier Ian McKendry, who was in third place after the first run. As McKendry approached the finish line on his second run, he went down, losing a ski.

McKendry scrambled to his feet and with the large crowd cheering him on crawled across the finish line to place fourth overall.

Spruce Mountain’s Lucas Alley finished seventh, Zach LaCasse, of Maranacook, eighth; Mountain Valley’s Jacob Beauchesne, ninth and Winthrop’s Maguire Anaszewski, tenth.

Day 2 of the Class B Alpine ski championships will continue on Thursday at Black Mountain with the giant slalom, beginning at 9 a.m.