By Justin Pelletier,Staff Writer

FARMINGTON – A quick glance at the slopes at Titcomb Mountain was an easy indicator as to which team had the greatest depth in the KVAC.

Midway through the first run of Saturday’s slalom race, one by one, skiers clad in yellow jackets appeared from between buildings, assimilating themselves into the gathered crowd and nearly doubling its size.

Meet the Maranacook Black Bears, the new KVAC boys’ and girls’ champions.

“That’s really a big plus for us,” said assistant coach John Whitney, whose daughter Mariah skied for Mt. Blue and won several state titles with the Cougars. “We have 49 kids on the nordic team alone, which is more than most of the rest of the teams have total between alpine and nordic.”

With all of the competition in practices every day, there was little surprise that the best of those skiers rose to the top in the nordic competition during the two-day event.

In the combined nordic competition, which included a freestyle race at Black Mountain on Wednesday and Saturday’s classical race, the Maranacook girls scored 55 points, winning the freestyle by 30 over Leavitt but losing to the Hornets by just eight points in the classical race.

On the boys’ side, it was the alpine team pulling the upset on the hill as the Black Bears edged Mt. Blue by one point in the combined alpine final standings, 69-70.

“The boys all had great runs,” said Maranacook alpine coach Ronn Gifford. “The two captains had two steady runs up at the top in both disciplines.”

Needing to better the Mt. Blue boys by two points to retake the lead after Wednesday’s giant slalom, the Black Bears did exactly that when the Cougars’ Nos. 3 and 4 skiers clipped gates and had to hike back up the trail. Those precious seconds eventually made the difference.

“I know those boys feel so bad,” said Mt. Blue coach Rick Hardy. “Really, though, they skied well, made up the time on their second runs and almost pulled us back into it. It’s tough to lose your third a fourth skier, but it just goes to show how important those fifth and sixth skiers can be.”

After learning of their team’s win, three members of the Maranacook team celebrated with hugs, one so strong that it knocked another teammate into the fresh, deep snow.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever beaten Mt. Blue,” one skier shouted.

“You’re not kidding, right?” asked another, nearly choking on the words.

“They are the benchmark,” Whitney said of Mt. Blue. “They still are a great team.”

The Mt. Blue girls, meanwhile, demolished the competition in the alpine events, combining to score 31 points over two events. Keelin Cyr won her final KVAC race at her home course, leading the field in the slalom by almost three full seconds. Teammate Tory Gray was second.

“The girls, what can I say,” said Hardy. “They did exactly what we knew they were capable of doing. Any time you can get under 20 points in an alpine event (a feat the Cougars accomplished twice this week), any coach will take that.”

The top four Mt. Blue skiers, Cyr, Gray, Lexie Drechsel and Heidi Judkins, all finished in the top eight in the slalom Saturday, and all four finished in the top seven in the giant slalom Wednesday.

The Edward Little boys rounded out the list of categorical winners Saturday, edging Maranacook by one point in the overall nordic standings.

Originally, the scores added up to give Maranacook the title by two points, but EL coach Dan Campbell noticed that three skiers had actually been clocked in the same exact time, meaning the two EL skiers would be awarded one and two less points respectively, giving the Red Eddies the title.

“They raced hard,” said Campbell. “Maranacook gave us a good race.”

“It was a coaching error in the girls’ race,” said Maranacook Steve DeAngelis. “I changed my mind at the last second about their wax, and it showed that I added too much. I left the boys’ skis alone and changed my thinking. We almost pulled that out.”

Overall, though, thanks to its improbable win in the alpine combined, Maranacook bested the rest of the field easily in the overall standings, surpassing second-place Mt. Blue by 36 points.

Leavitt finished third overall in the boys’ standings, while on the girls’ side, Oxford Hills claimed third spot behind Maranacook and Mt. Blue. Edward Little finished fourth overall in both boys and girls.

Mandy Ivey of Oxford Hills won both individual nordic events this week, winning each by more than a minute.

Cyr won the slalom while teammate Judkins took the giant slalom title.

For the boys, individual winners included Jordan Stevens of Mt. Blue, who won both alpine events, Nils Koons of Messalonskee who took the classical nordic title, and Sam Mathes of Messalonskee who took the freestyle nordic title Wednesday.

Two Lewiston alpine skiers, Jillian Bolduc and Nicole Bussiere, finished 14th and 15th respectively in the slalom race Saturday.

In a dwindling skimeister field, Trevey Davis and Becca Twaddel of Camden Hills swept the titles.

Maranacook and Camden Hills will move on to the Class B state championships in two weeks, while the rest of the schools competing this week in the KVAC championships will compete at the Class A state meet.