PRESQUE ISLE - A little extra effort went a long way for the Winthrop boys' ski team.

One year after a dominating alpine team helped the Ramblers to a second-place finish in the Class C State Championships, the nordic team flexed its burgeoning muscles.

But it was a climb up the hill by a member of the alpine team that ultimately made all the difference.

Ryan Babb slipped at the top of his run in the slalom, and missed a gate near the bottom, but he hiked up, knowing that his team had just four skiers, and finished his run.

"That's all we're talking about today," Winthrop coach Scott Walker said. "That took guts. We had talked about that earlier in the week, and he finished it off for us."

Nordic coach Ed Van Tassell also talking about Babb's run.

"He's the one who made it possible for us to finish where we did," Van Tassell said of Babb.

Van Tassell's nordic group also finished second in their discipline, overtaking a favored Madawaska team for the silver.

Dan Soltan led the way with a pair of fifth-place finishes, while Justin Carpenter took eighth in the freestyle and 10th in the classical.

Telstar, meanwhile, came from out of nowhere to capture the girls' overall alpine title, thanks in large part to double winner Sam Largess. The Rebels were one place away from perfect in the giant slalom, taking just 11 points thanks to solid runs from Tara Cowin, Julia Stambolis and Marion Thurston in addition to Largess' first-place run.

"I don't think we even expected to win like that," Telstar coach Bob Remington said. "We knew we might be the favorite, but the girls all skied really well."

On the boys' side, Frankie Deluca took a first-place finish in the slalom, edging Winthrop's Joel Walker (Scott's son). Walker won the giant slalom by more than a second.