Tough competition within the team and against other teams helped the Fort Kent boys and girls ski teams capture state Class C titles Wednesday in Aroostook County after three days of competition.

It’s the first time both teams won state ski titles in the same season and is the first state title for the girls since 1991 and the first for the boys since 2004.

“We had a lot of competition up home and from other schools,” Fort Kent Alpine coach Greg Voisine said. “That made the kids work that much harder. We had six freshmen skiing in Alpine at the beginning of the season.”

The boys finished first with 259 points, followed by Winthrop (312), Freeport (360), Madawaska (446), Central Aroostook of Mars Hill (480), Telstar of Bethel (507), and Jay (522).

The Fort Kent girls placed first with 190 points, followed by Telstar (233), Freeport (259), and John Bapst of Bangor (501).

A positive attitude and lots of hard work helped enable the state titles, according to Mike Michaud, a junior on the boys team.

“We just kept thinking that we could do it,” Michaud said. “We kept trying very hard and did a lot of training.”

The state downhill events were held at Big Rock Ski Area in Mars Hill while the Nordic (cross country events) were held at the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle. The Fort Kent girls finished second to Telstar in the overall Alpine team scores that included slalom and giant slalom while the Fort Kent boys finished second to Central Aroostook in Alpine team totals.

In the two 5-kilometer cross country races, freestyle and classical, the Fort Kent girls finished second overall to Waynflete of Portland while the Fort Kent boys placed fourth. Waynflete placed first.

Depth was the key for the Fort Kent boys and girls in the cross country events, according to Nordic coach John Kaleta.

“We didn’t have one dominating team, but we had a very consistent team,” Kaleta said.

The Fort Kent girls were led by strong efforts from Justine Cyr and Mary Bernard, who finished second and third, respectively, in the skimeister honors, awarded to those skiers who compete in all four events.

The girls also received a strong effort from Allison Charette, who finished fourth in the slalom and 11th in the giant slalom.

In the cross country events, Bernard and Grace Boutot paced the Warriors as Bernard recorded a fifth in freestyle and a seventh in classical while Boutot placed 10th in freestyle and fifth in classical.

“Our top four girls have been strong all year and [were again in the state meet],” said Kaleta, who also praised the efforts of Jessica Caron.

In the boys Alpine events, Carter Vaillancourt and Michaud turned in pointworthy performances for Fort Kent with Vaillancourt placing third in the slalom and fourth in the giant slalom while Michaud took fifth and 13th, respectively.

Nicholas Michaud and Ian Kaleta, the coach’s son, led the Warriors in the cross country events as Michaud placed second in freestyle and fourth in classical while Kaleta placed sixth and 14th, respectively.

“Nick Michaud is just a phenomenal freshman,” John Kaleta said. “He’s one of the best freshmen I’ve ever seen break into the ski scene. He’s been pushing himself since sixth grade and it’s really starting to pay off.”

Other skiers who turned in top efforts included John Bapst’s Maren Askins, who captured the girls skimeister title with a 10th in slalom, 28th in giant slalom, 14th in freestyle, and 15th in classical.

Central Aroostook skiers Brook Smith and Nicole McQuade finished third and fourth, respectively, in skimeister.

Jay’s Joe Gagnon captured the boys skimeister title while Nate Fuller of Freeport finished second and Fort Fairfield’s Mitchell McLaughlin placed third.