RUMFORD -- Team depth helped the Maranacook Community School boys Nordic team overcome nagging injuries and illness Wednesday morning to win the Class B state Nordic title on the 5-kilometer course at Black Mountain.

Joining the Black Bear boys Nordic team on the podium was Maranacook senior Emma Prysunka, who claimed the Class B girls Skimeister title with a stunning effort in the Nordic classical race, holding off defending champion Julianna Lord of Yarmouth.

"It was the boys' goal from the start of the season," said Maranacook Nordic coach Steve DeAngelis. "I'm thrilled with what they did."

Maranacook battled Cape Elizabeth for the Nordic team title. The Black Bears won Monday's freestyle race, 21-36. The Capers squeezed out a 34-35 win in the classical race, Wednesday. Those two results gave Maranacook the overall Nordic win, 55-71.

Casey Spencer toured the course in 15:02.6 to pace the Black Bear boys effort with a fifth-place finish in the classical race. Teammate Kyle Marvinney was seventh. Putting Maranacook over the top were Steve Bates and Craig Maffei, who placed 11th and tied for 12th, respectively. Cape Elizabeth's Graham Egan won the race in 14:26.5.

"We had some sickness and Craig's knee was bothering him, so it was really a team effort," DeAngelis said. "Anytime you win you need to have people step up and that's what we had in our race."

Yarmouth boys and girls won the overall four-event Class B state titles with Maranacook finishing a solid second. The Mt. Abram girls were third.

In the girls Skimeister four-event competition, Prysunka was able to maintain the advantage she had built up over the first three events (giant slalom, slalom and Nordic freestyle) with one of her strongest classical performances of the season.

A year ago, Lord captured the title on the final day in the classical race finishing 15th with Prysunka falling to 30th for a final 66-76 margin of victory. This season Prysunka worked on the technical aspects of classical racing to finish eighth. With Lord moving up to third, Prysunka claimed the title, 32-48.

"I really started to understand the technical fundamentals of classical skiing," said Prysunka, a senior. "It was a bittersweet win because I'm happy about winning, but sad that the season is all over."

Maranacook girls made a strong bid, but were unable to catch a talented Yarmouth team in the Nordic classical race. Yarmouth won the event 32-42. Jen Monsulick (18:36.1) topped Maranacook's finishers with a sixth-place effort. Prysunka was eighth, Jillian Blouin 10th and Emily Perkins 18th for the Bears. Molly Hallweaver, of Yarmouth, won the race in 17:36.2.

"We worked really hard as a team this year and did the best we could," Prysunka said. "It was fun skiing against Yarmouth because they are really nice and if we couldn't win it, they were a good team to come in second to."

Maria Parrett and Hannah James led a formidable effort for Mt. Abram finishing 14th and 15th, respectively, helping to pull the Roadrunner girls into third place overall.

CLASS C

Winthrop found the right combination of wax and a rolling, hilly 5-kilometer Nordic classical course to take second place at the Class C state meet in the boys overall and Nordic competition at the Heritage Center in Presque Isle, Wednesday morning on the final day of racing.

Fort Kent won the boys combined overall title scoring 259 points, Winthrop followed with 312 and Freeport with 360. In the Nordic events, the Ramblers scored 102 points to finish ahead of Madawaska's 129. Waynflete won the Nordic title scoring just 47 points.

"We had a really good classical day," said Winthrop Nordic coach Ed Van Tassel. "Our goal was to stay ahead of Madawaska, so we went out fast and were able to handle the tight turns the course offered."

Danny Soltan was the first Rambler to cross the finish line, finishing fifth in 17:22.20. Justin Carpenter was 10th, followed by Alex Cottrell in 11th and Tor O'Brien 19th. Waynflete's Lucas Milliken won the individual title in 16:20.97.

"There were a couple of flat spots at the beginning and at the end, but in the middle there were a lot of hills," Soltan said. "We had to ski hard as a team to finish second ahead of Madawaska."

NOTE: Class A state ski championships begin today with giant slalom races at Sunday River in Bethel and a Nordic freestyle 5K race at Black Mountain in Rumford.