RUMFORD – Perhaps it’s fitting.

All season, the Mt. Blue and Leavitt’s girls’ Nordic teams battled back and forth. One week, the Cougars would be the better team. In another, the Hornets claimed the top spot.

Wednesday, with the Class A state nordic championship on the line, it turns out nobody had to finish second, after all.

Mt. Blue edged Leavitt by a single point in the classical race Wednesday, two days after the Hornets had eked out a one-point victory in the freestyle event, leading to a draw and a shared state Nordic title.

“We set the goal this week of becoming state champions, and we’ve done that,” Leavitt coach Dustin Williamson said. “The girls skied very well all week.”

“When it was all over, the girls worked hard all week,” Mt. Blue coach Jeff Meserve said.

The onus on Wednesday was on Mt. Blue to make up the one point it needed to at least earn the deadlock. Shelby Aseltine did her part for the Cougars, finishing in 14:47.2 on a very slick track at Black Mountain of Maine. Teammate Hannah Allen crossed the line in second, a full 40.5 seconds behind Aseltine.

Leavitt grabbed the next three positions, though, to make things interesting. Melissa Kelson and Natasha and Samantha Varney went 3-4-5 respectively. The Hornets’ fourth skier made all the difference.

“We talked all week how we didn’t know who was going to finish in fourth, so we all needed to go out and ski as fast we could,” Williamson said.

Mt. Blue’s next two finishers – Meredith Allen and Caitlin Douglass – placed 11th and 13th, giving the Cougars 27 points for the second consecutive day.

Leavitt’s fourth skier turned out to be Taren McGray, who crossed in 17:36.7. Oxford Hills’ Lindsay Strout was just ahead of McGray – seven-tenths of a second faster at 17:36.0.

“It’s amazing, and it happened in our favor on Monday,” Williamson said. “That’s what makes this such a great team sport.”

Leavitt added 28 Wednesday to its Monday total of 26, giving the two schools 54 points each and a share of the Class A nordic title. Oxford Hills placed third in the nordic competition with 132 points, followed by Edward Little in fourth with 176.

Mt. Blue earned the overall Class A title for the fifth consecutive year, and for the 15th time in 17 seasons. Last year, the win came by just two points over Greely. This year, the margin was a much more comfortable 121 points.

“A lot of the alpine kids came to support us today, too,” Meserve said. “It’s a source of pride for our school, and our community.”