Leslie Bancroft

Leslie Bancroft made her name in cross country competition, but she started out skiing alpine with her family. She started cross country skiing when the Ricker family moved to town and decided to recruit a few girls so Oxford Hills could have a girl’s ski team. They recruited alpine skiers who also ran track and Leslie was one. She modified her technique after watching Bill Koch on TV and beat her teammates in the first race which got her excited about becoming good at the sport.

When Bancroft won the state XC meet race in her sophomore year, Gary Worthing the boys coach noted her potential and suggested she should pursue Eastern XC racing, which she did the following season. Once she was able to switch from wood to fiberglass skis, she wound up making the Junior National team and raced in Deadwood, North Dakota.

While pursuing Eastern racing she also continued her high school racing, winning ski meister honors in her freshman, sophomore and senior years. She won state XC titles her last three years in high school and placed high enough in alpine to win the ski meister awards.

At the end of her senior year she was discovered by Marty Hall at USST races in Quebec. Hall wondered who this kid was that was beating all of his skiers. He recruited her to join his Baby Blue team, one of the US Team’s first development efforts. In 1979 Leslie made her first trip to Europe with the team and skied to a 15th place finish in a 5K race in Germany. That and other strong performances led to a place on the 1980 Olympic team and the 1982 World Championship team. At the University of Vermont she also competed as a cross country runner placing second at the Eastern Intercollegiate championships in 1981.

During the 1981-82 season she had a series of high finishes in FIS competition, performed well in World cup and grabbed silver medals in 5K, 10K and 20K at the US Nationals. In 1983 Bancroft retired, got married and moved West and finished school in Portland, Oregon.

Coming out of retirement in 1986 Leslie won the 20K at the US Nationals and finished second in the 10K and 5K. That was followed a year later by a win in 10K, 3rd in 5K and 4th in 25K, skiing her way onto the 1988 Olympic Team.

Leslie continued in competition skiing in the 1998 World Master’s Championships in Lake Placid and the 2001 National Masters at Sugarloaf and jumping into other races when she could get to them while pursuing a career in real estate.

From high school through junior racing, college, international and Olympic skiing Leslie Bancroft has excelled at every level through hard work and dedication to the sport, earning a place in the Maine Ski Hall of Fame.