FARMINGTON, Maine — If you spend just a few minutes at Mt. Blue High School's campus in Farmington, you'll understand why a lot of students there enjoy the outdoors and why the Cougars have a good ski program.
Titcomb Mountain is fewer than 4 miles away from the school and provides a great opportunity for students like Abigail "Abbey" Goodspeed to get involved in the sport.
The high school senior remembers wanting to "go fast" down the mountain when she and her brother were younger. Luckily, there were several programs for kids to join, including a race team.
"[My mom] was like, 'This seems like a good compromise,'" Goodspeed said. "And we just fell in love ever since."
Through the ski racing program and days spent at Titcomb, Goodspeed formed friendships with classmates years before they joined the high school alpine ski team.
"It’s like one big family, almost," she said.
Goodspeed ended her high school ski career on a high note, after finishing 10th in the Girls Class A Alpine State Championship.
Even while she focused on her own skiing or soccer skills in the fall, Goodspeed always helped welcome underclassmen on the two teams. So, it wasn't shocking to learn she's a volunteer assistant coach for one of the local youth soccer teams.
"I've never really been the best person on the soccer field. I just wanted to have an impact on the other girls coming up into the program," she said.
It appears she has.
Looking ahead to the spring, Goodspeed said she wants to perform well as a thrower on the track-and-field team. But she said she understands it's her last high school sports season, so she wants to enjoy it.
That doesn't mean she can't get a little restless for the season to start.
"I had my dad snow blow a little spot in the yard to be able to throw the javelin," she said.
Besides mentoring the next generation of Cougars down the slopes or on the field, Goodspeed is advocating for them as the student representative on the school board.
While sometimes running from soccer practice directly to a meeting, she learned how to represent students' perspectives during group discussions while gaining valuable leadership experience.
When she has formal meetings with fellow students, it's about planning annual fundraisers as part of the school's rotary club.
Goodspeed said she just wants to do what she can to help around her school and community.
"[This community has] given me so many opportunities," she said. "There’s no reason the community doesn't deserve it."
Goodspeed will travel east in the fall, when she begins classes at the University of Maine studying marine biology and wildlife ecology. There's no rush to lock down career plans before high school graduation, but she is interested in working outdoors, potentially in park service or a conservation effort.
If you would like to nominate your favorite student-athlete to be considered for Varsity Club, click here.