FORT KENT, Maine — The Fort Kent boys basketball players aren’t the only state champions in town.
In the midst of celebrations for the Warriors’ first-ever state basketball victory, the high school ski team also made history. They not only earned their fourth consecutive Class B Nordic state championship, but for the fourth year in a row, skier Alden Reardon won top individual performance honors.
Fort Kent ski coach Carl Theriault said this is the first time he has ever seen a skier win the individual state victory every year of high school.
“We’ve had some two or three year winners, but never four,” Theriault said. “That’s unprecedented.”
Reardon was the fastest skier at the meet out of all classes. Out of 164 boys participating in the championship, Rearden was faster by roughly one minute, he said.
Theriault said he’s never dealt with an athlete who is as talented and as humble as Reardon is. The skier has had a “fantastic” career, though he is not a competitive person at all until he is actually racing.
“Some kids are all about, ‘I gotta beat this guy,’ but he just gets in there and does it,” Theriault said. “It’s so natural.”
Theriault has worked with Reardon since he was in sixth grade and participated in biathlon. The teen also helps with odd jobs at the outdoor center in the summer, such as mowing the lawns.
Reardon has been skiing since he was about 4 years old, the coach said. Skiing is something his family does to spend time together.
“I’ll ask him what he did on his day off, and he’ll say he went out to check on his game cameras — he loves to hunt, too — and that he put in four or five miles on skis,” Theriault said. “That’s on his day off. That’s the way he is.”
Reardon said he’s excited about the victories, but is especially glad that he could win with his team for four years in a row.
He first got into skiing because his cousins did it quite a bit, and he would practice with them in middle school, he said.
“I just like skiing itself, going fast down the hill, and finding the hard work that’s involved in it,” Reardon said. “And also spending time with friends and teammates for an hour after school every day is super fun.”
The Fort Kent Community High School senior does not have any major aspirations for skiing beyond participating in the high school team.
“Maybe I might do a little biathlon, but I’m going to Maine Maritime Academy, and they don’t have a Nordic program,” he said.
The championship took place at the Fort Kent Outdoor Center. Fort Kent alternates every three years with Titcomb Mountain in Farmington and Black Mountain in Rumford.
The Fort Kent Nordic team came in second in 2022 and won state championships the next three years. The girls team were state champions from 2022 through 2025, and this year placed second overall.
“They were within two points of winning,” Theriault said of the girls team. “They were winning after the first event, and then they fell back a little bit.”
The team included mostly new skiers, so he didn’t have expectations when they entered the championship, he said. He was pleasantly surprised to see them come within two points of getting what would have been their fifth consecutive state win.
Looking at these victories overall, the Fort Kent Outdoor Center plays a major role in giving young winter athletes an opportunity to practice, Theriault said.
“We don’t have the biggest mountain here, but it’s great for training the kids. I think a big part of it is having consistent facilities and consistent coaching close to where they’re at,” he said. “That’s my take on it after being involved for 25 years.”
