State Champion Spotlight - Beckett Cote

We are now starting our annual end of season posts where we interview the state champions from Nordic and Alpine for each class and for each discipline.  We start with senior Beckett Cote of Messalonskee who was the 2025 Class A Classical, Freestyle, and Pursuit state champion.  We asked him about his thoughts at the start and his plans for next year.

1. What were your preparations leading up to the state meet?
   I focused on staying healthy and consistent with my training while making sure I was recovering properly from the Eastern Cup races just a few days before States.

2. How did you deal with the pressure and emotions that come along with competing in a state meet?
   I was definitely feeling the fatigue from racing over the weekend, but I reminded myself that if I skied my own race and pushed as hard as I could, I wouldn’t have any regrets about the result—no matter what it was.

3. What was going through your mind at the start?

   
   In the classic race, I was thinking about strategy and how to attack the course. In the pursuit race, with only a 9-second head start, my focus was on skiing my own race and sticking to my plan.

4. What do you contribute your success to?
   Great teammates, great coaching, staying healthy, good training, and Taco Bell.

5. What are your goals/plans for next year?
   I’ll be attending Bowdoin College to ski, and I’m super excited to be part of a new team and compete in the NCAA circuit.

6. What surprised you the most about this season?
   Having a high school team! Before this year, we only had the option to compete as a club team and couldn’t race at States. I never expected to have the opportunity to compete at States, but thanks to the efforts of many, I’m incredibly grateful to have had the chance in my senior year. It’s also exciting that Messalonskee will have a team for years to come. 

7. What moment/event will you remember the most from the season?
   The Quarry Road sprints stand out because they were a lot of fun, but I’ll also never forget my epic crash on the last corner into the finish during the team sprint. Also, making the Junior National team. That was a huge, though ambitious, goal for me this season, so qualifying was an awesome and unexpected moment.

8. What do you like most about Nordic skiing?
   I love how multifaceted the sport is; training combines so many different activities like roller skiing, hiking, running, strength, cycling, and swimming. I also love the feeling of going all-out, pushing as hard as possible, and moving fast on skis.