NEWRY – The kicked-up snow had barely stopped glistening in the bright afternoon sunshine as the final girls took their giant slalom runs on the slopes of Barker Mountain at Sunday River, and the Mt. Blue ski team was back up on the hill.

The Cougars arranged in advance to train on the slalom course after Monday’s GS, to get used to the difference in the snow from their home mountain, Titcomb, and Sunday River.

They’re going to need all of the help they can get, especially in the boys’ race.

Edward Little began Monday as the prohibitive favorite to win the boys’ Class A alpine skiing title for the third time in four years, and did nothing to convince anyone otherwise. All four of the Eddies’ top skiers finished among the top 13, with three breaking the top 10, leading the team to a commanding 29-53 lead over Mt. Blue after the giant slalom.

It started early for EL. Mitch Snowe was the eighth skier down of 93 scheduled starters, and his pair of runs pushed event winner Alexander Markello of Cheverus. Snowe completed his two runs in 1:10.79, eight-tenths of a second behind Markello and good for second overall.

“Mitch skied the way he wanted to ski, I think,” Eretzian said. “It’s rock solid out there, so immediately, they get a bit nervous. He was kind of unhappy with his first run … but his second on was (great).”

Sophomore James Jackson followed in fifth, just ahead of junior Branden Lever in ninth. Clark Chamberlin rounded out EL’s scoring four in 13th place, clocking in at 1:18.42.

“We went after it,” Jackson said. “I don’t think we played it safe at all. (All day), we didn’t do any adding or anything like that, and that was probably a good thing.”

Mt. Blue, meanwhile, which had visions of challenging the Eddies for the alpine title, sits in second position, with a lot of ground to make up in Tuesday’s slalom.

“We usually run better in the slalom than in the GS, coming from Titcomb,” Mt. Blue’s Harris Roberts said. “But EL is still really good, and so is Leavitt. We’re going to have to ski well.”

But, like with any downhill ski race, anything can – and usually does – happen.

Still, with the deficit where it is, the Cougars can’t be content with just finishing the race Tuesday.

“It’s a matter of dropping the hammer and skiing fast,” Mt. Blue coach Mark Cyr said. “It’s not enough just to have to stand. We have to stand and we have to push it. We need to ski well and fast if we want to catch EL.”

Jared Foster and Alexander Witt went 10-11 for the Cougars, Roberts finished in 14th and Sam Prentiss times in at No. 18.

Leavitt is in third after the GS with 72 points.

On the girls’ side, the surprise of the day was Edward Little. Second-place finishers by a distance in the KVAC championships to Mt. Blue, the Eddies strung together four solid runs Monday, paced by Emily Blackwood in fourth position. Phoebe Chamberlin clocked in at No. 9, followed by Megan Howes in 17th and Jennifer Rioux in 32nd.

“We asked the girls to shoot for the top 15,” Eretzian said. “As long as we can get them in there, we have a chance.”

Mt. Blue’s top four all finished ahead of Rioux (Abbey Ellis was No. 4 in 27th position), but the Cougars’ best finish came from Eliza Richard at No. 8.

“It’s pretty much the same thing (as the boys’ race),” Cyr said. “They have some great skiers, and we can’t just sit back when things are this tight.”

Oxford Hills is lurking in the mix as well, posting just 70 points to claim third in the giant slalom. Kennebunk’s Johanna Bjork blazed the course in 1:16.18 to earn the individual title, and her time was better than all but nine skiers in the boys’ race, too.

Individually, Tiffany Levesque of Lewiston placed 26th in the field of 83.