RUMFORD – Dominating.

There isn’t another more appropriate word to describe the Mt. Blue Cougars this week at the Class A skiing championships.

Just when it appeared the Cougars couldn’t get any better after a dominating performance in the freesytle nordic competition Monday, they one-upped themselves in the finale Wednesday, placing four skiers in the top five and earning just 14 points on their way to a convincing victory in the Nordic combined competition.

“I definitely thought this was possible,” Mt. Blue coach Jeff Meserve said. “We had a team in the past that finished with a perfect score, so these boys knew they had a lot to live up to, and they did very well. They work so well together. I’ve had some great teams here in the past, and this group ranks right up there with the best.”

Leavitt finished second in both disciplines, and in the Nordic combined, posting 27 points in the freestyle and 30 in the classical for a two-day total of 57.

The only skier to score better than Mt. Blue’s top four was Leavitt’s Lauren Turner, who crossed the line in a time of 12:20.6 – nearly 13 seconds ahead of Mt. Blue’s Welley Ramsey.

“I think that’s the first time all season he beats both (Ramsey) and Adam Fissette,” Leavitt coach Dustin Williamson said. “With the conditions as fast as they are, that’s impressive.”

But while Turner went out in front, all four of Mt. Blue’s scorers came in together. Ramsey, Fissette, Derek Rowe and Kelton Cullenberg finished 2-3-4-5.

“That’s one of the best Nordic teams I’ve seen in my time around the sport,” Williamson said. “They’re just awesome.”

For good measure, the Cougars’ fifth and sixth skiers, Brody Hines and Richie Brooks, finished in 8th and 12th, respectively. Even if you’d taken two of the team’s top-four finishers out of the race, Mt. Blue still would have won the Nordic title.

The Nordic win also capped Mt. Blue’s third consecutive overall title, and 10th in the last 12 years. Leavitt broke the Cougars’ streak of six consecutive overall titles in 2006, and EL captured the 1999 combined championship.

In the boys’ skimeister competition, Andrew Baxter of Camden Hills outgunned Hampden’s Ethan Burke. Jared Foster of Mt. Blue was third in the 10-skier field, while Tyler Holmquist of Gray-New Gloucester was fifth.