Maybe Thursday's weather conditions were just too nice for Mt. Blue's liking.

Maybe jitters from an uncharacteristically young team caused all of the falls.

Whatever the problems were that caused the Cougars' boys' and girls' teams to fade into third place after Day 1 of the Class A Alpine ski championships were well off the radar Friday morning.

The Mt. Blue boys, led by a 5-6 finish from Alexander Prentiss and Reid Bond, overcame a 16-point deficit by outscoring Windham 43-77 in Friday's slalom to capture the Alpine crown.

The girls, meanwhile, toppled Lake Region after trailing by 24.

"They all knew they had to ski well today, and they had to ski fast," Mt. Blue coach Mark Cyr said. "It's amazing to me the sense of team they all had, knowing that they had to put individual results aside for the better of the team."

The boys had four skiers in the top 10 following the first run, but Peter Farnum eased on his second run, and Peter Smith slid past a gate and had to hike up the hill. Both skiers still placed in the top 20, helping to secure the Cougars' title.

On the girls' side, Abby Martin atoned for a bad break in the giant slalom with a solid pair of runs in the slalom.

"She wasn't happy with her first run (Friday) either," Cyr said. "Like a good senior will, though, she pulled it together and had a solid second run to finish in the top 10."

Mt. Blue's No. 1 female skier, Kyle Cyr, also had a rough first run. But she blazed the third-fastest second run of the afternoon and rallied for a third-place finish.

Also scoring for Mt. Blue were Emily Deane (17th) and Casey Tibbetts (22nd).

The Cougars also put a firm grasp on both overall titles. Mt. Blue leads Leavitt by 38 points in the boys' race, and the Mt. Blue girls have a 52-point edge on Oxford Hills.

The Leavitt boys had a hard time standing Friday in the slalom. Kyle Youland and Ryan Fitzsimons finished 10-11 to lead the way, but after a fifth-place finish after one run, Brody Youland fell.

"We had a couple of individual results, but it was a tough day otherwise," Leavitt coach Karly Eretzian said. "We still had four in there, though. It's good that enough of them were able to stay up with the pressure we had today."

Edward Little skiers also hung on to place better in the slalom than they had in the GS, but it was too little, too late.

Christine Bussiere captured the girls' individual slalom title, while Alexander Markellos of Cheverus keyed a 1-2 Stags finish in the boys' race.

The Class A championships wrap up this morning at Black Mountain of Maine, with the Nordic and overall titles still to be decided. Leavitt leads Mt. Blue by one point in the boys' Nordic competition, and the Hornets have a more comfortable 17-point lead on the girls' side.