Beckett Cote of Messalonskee climbs High School Hill during the Sassi Memorial 5K race at Black Mountain in Rumford in January. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Beckett Cote’s senior season was powered by Taco Bell’s black bean crunch wrap, cheesy bean and rice burrito, chips and cheese and a Baja Blast.

That might sound like an unconventional meal for a high-level Nordic skier, but it’s become a sort of tradition for Cote and his Messalonskee teammates.

“I think a lot of people assume endurance athletes have pretty good diets, but I think most of my food at this point is coming from Taco Bell,” Cote said. “Postrace, a lot of our post training sessions in the summer, we were going to Taco Bell every day.”

Cote’s season of fast food also featured fast times, and included Class A titles in both the classical and freestyle races. His championship sweep was possible because this was Messalonskee’s first winter of Maine Principals’ Association competition.

“When we heard we had a high school team this year, we were pretty excited to be able to do states and other high school competitions and feel like a part of Maine high school skiing,” said Cote, the Varsity Maine Boys Skier of the Year.

Cote, who plans to race for Bowdoin College next winter, was new to MPA competition but not to the state’s Nordic skiing scene. Competing in previous years for the Quarry Road Ski Club, he has won events such as the 2024 Sassi Memorial in Rumford.

His success at this year’s state championships wasn’t surprising.

“Heading into it, I think the expectation was he would be right up there, at or near the top,” Messalonskee and Quarry Road coach Jeff Tucker said. “On a good day, definitely, I think the expectation was that if he put in a good effort, he could absolutely have the potential to win. There’s definitely some other very capable racers who are coming into good fitness that he was going up against from southern Maine.”

Cote’s biggest competition was one of his good friends and a future Bowdoin teammate, Mt. Blue’s Henri McCourt, the two-time defending state champion in both races and a four-time Varsity Maine All-State selection. Cote also had to overcome fatigue at the state meet.

“I was racing the weekend before state, so I was still a little tired,” Cote said. “I was feeling kind of tired, and then there was also wonky weather, so I think it was delayed a day. I was just going out there and trying my best, and knew, I wasn’t going to feel good, but whatever result came, I couldn’t take it too seriously.”

Cote was especially satisfied with his performance in freestyle because he has spent lot of time working on skating.

“I’ve been more of a classic skier, all-around, and then this summer, most of my roller skiing was skating, and I was just working a lot on leg strength, because usually that’s where I’m lacking,” Cote said. “This year, my skate results were probably actually better than my classic, which is very unusual for me.”

Cote comes from a ski family and began skiing at a young age. His mom, Tracey Cote, is the head ski coach at Colby College. With a laugh, Beckett said he’s excited about the thought of racing against his mom’s team when he’s at Bowdoin.

“I think I was first on skis at about 2 years old, just like on an old pair that my parents found,” Cote said. “My parents have been skiing for quite some time, they’re both collegiate skiers.”

He said he started skiing competitively when he was 5 or 6. Now, much of his offseason is dedicated to training for the Nordic season. He spends a lot of time roller skiing, but he also enjoys running, strength training, biking and swimming, and he attends ski camps during the summer. He runs cross country in the fall and track in the spring.

Tucker said Cote took authority over his own training regimen. Along with improved skate technique, Cote also reached a new level of anaerobic fitness, according to Tucker, leading to more energy and consistency.

“When you combine that work effort with the improved technique, that’s how you ski away from your competitors,” Tucker said. “It was great to see him make those jumps, and it wasn’t a switch that got flipped one day. It’s been a long build up, and he’s put in a ton of work on the snow (and) off the snow to line that all up.”

Cote helped set the tone for the first-year MPA program, which also included his younger brother, Lex.

“It’s kind of nice as a senior to be a leader for the whole team, and I think having your brother on the team makes that even more powerful,” Cote said. “You just feel like you have some purpose to lead your brother to also (earn) good results.”