FARMINGTON — When the call came and a teammate too ill to ski handed over her race bib, Yarmouth High senior Lydia Sullivan was ready.

For the third straight year, Sullivan was pressed into service as an alternate for the Class B state championship Nordic freestyle race Friday.

“I’m used to that,” said Sullivan. “I was feeling good. It’s my senior year so I knew that I wanted to leave it all out there.”

Despite being seventh on the Yarmouth freestyle depth chart, Sullivan raced to ninth overall at Titcomb Mountain to complete a dominant team effort that clinched the two-day Nordic state title for the Clippers.

Senior Lucy Alexander, sophomore Sophie Laukli and junior Grace Cowles placed third, fourth and fifth as Yarmouth ran away from runner-up Maranacook, 41-65.

Also crowned as Nordic team champions Friday were the Freeport boys in Class B, and Mt. Blue girls and boys in Class A.

Individually, Gray-New Gloucester senior Kaelyn Woods toasted a field of 106 by winning her sixth individual Nordic Class B state title in 13 minutes, 1 second. No girl from either A or B finished within 45 seconds of Woods, whose time was surpassed by only 11 of the 105 boys who raced the same 5-kilometer course.

“I was just looking for a good result,” said Woods, who won Thursday’s Class B classical race by 25 seconds over Freeport senior Lily Johnston, who was runner-up again Friday. “It’s fun to see how you stack up against schools that you don’t necessarily get to race against that often.”

Friday’s field grew when organizers moved the Class B race, originally scheduled for Sugarloaf, to Titcomb because of icy conditions. All of which led to a scene hard to imagine in any other high school sport.

As Falmouth senior Gabby Farrell reached the finish line to win the Class A title, she was embraced with squealing delight by Woods, Johnston and Alexander, the top three skiers from the Class B race.

“I’ve known these girls forever,” said Farrell, whose time of 14:27 was half a minute faster than that of Class A runner-up Jennifer Wilbraham of Morse. “They’re some of my best friends. Even though we’re on different teams, they’re some of the best teammates I’ve ever had.”

Farrell missed the beginning of the season because of illness, part of the reason her friends were happy for her strong finish.

“Skiing is such a community,” said Johnston. “The nature of the sport is so physically challenging. It’s an individual sport but the team aspect is so important, and that extends beyond just the immediate teams.”

For the boys, Luca DeAngelis of Maranacook won Class B in 11:49 and Brad Ravenelle of Portland won Class A in 12:05. Both are seniors.

Yarmouth junior John Lane (12:00) led Class B through two waves of finishers before DeAngelis, who started 61st, powered across the finish. Hearing Lane’s splits throughout the course helped spur DeAngelis on, he said.

“He was the defending skate champion, so I knew it would be tough,” DeAngelis said. “It’s kind of a gamble because sometimes you get more people in the way. But I always react well to splits. I like knowing where I am and going out later in the order.”

Freeport’s boys held off runner-up Caribou for the B team title by claiming half of the top eight slots, with juniors Bennett High (third), Yacob Olins (fourth), Kyle Dorsey (sixth) and senior Nathan Smail (eighth). The final score was 43-82 for Freeport with Maranacook third at 91.

“It’s been a great group,” said Falcons Coach Joel Hinshaw. “Just a bunch of guys who have grown up together that motivate each other to ski and do their best.”

Although the MPA did away with skimeister competition this year, that didn’t stop Gray-New Gloucester senior Keaton McEvoy from competing in both slalom (sixth) and giant slalom (eighth) at Black Mountain on Wednesday and Thursday, and classical and freestyle – 14th in each – at Titcomb on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning.

“It’s something that I love,” she said. “So I wanted to keep doing it.”

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