FARMINGTON -- As skiers lined up for the start of Tuesday's 5-kilometer classical wave race at Titcomb Mountain, thoughts of how to best run the race was going through competitors' minds.

Strategy often plays a key role in the outcome of a Nordic race. For Mt. Blue's Rebecca Schoen and Welly Ramsey this was a day to set a fast pace.

In the girls race, Schoen set a torrid pace that put distance between her and second-place skier Jenny Monsulick, of Maranacook, who both started in the first wave of skiers. Messalonskee's Lindsay Mathes started in the second wave and eventually finished just .9 seconds behind Monsulick.

All three skiers raced ahead of their respective packs with Schoen crossing the finish line in 17:12.8 and Monsulick finishing in 18:39.2.

"I like to get out in front right from the start," said Schoen. "It's hard playing catch-up, if you get behind. This way I don't have to worry about a lot of skiers because it makes me nervous."

"She (Schoen) is a good person to watch because she skis so well," said Monsulick. "I was just trying to keep her in sight and have the pack stay behind me."

Schoen's effort was solid but it was the Mt. Abram girls who pulled off the win, jamming four skiers into the first 12 finishers. Sisters Emma and Hannah James were fifth and seventh, respectively, followed by teammates Maria Parent in eighth and Georgia Dixon 12th. When Mathes, who was racing as an independent, was removed from the team scoring totals, the Roadrunners defeated Maranacook 28-34. Mt. Blue was third with 38 points.

Maranacook's Emma Prysunka squeezed in an excellent run for fourth place, seven seconds behind Mathes.

In the boys event, Ramsey opted to get a feel for the race before increasing the pace. At the midpoint, he trailed Maranacook's Kyle Marvinney but turned up the speed, passing his opponent on the fourth hill of the course to cruise to a 14:04 finish, 10 seconds ahead of Marvinney.

"I was trying to see what he (Ramsey) would do," said Marvinney. "I led through the first half of the race but he set a faster pace. It felt good we were both at a similar pace throughout the race."

"I was able to pass him on a gradual uphill," said Ramsey, who never relinquished the lead. "We were skiing at the same pace and I decided to speed up."

Ramsey, along with teammate Adam Fissette, who claimed a third place in a strong field, helped the Cougars to a 21-26 decision over the Black Bears.

Derek Rowe's fifth and Kelton Cullenberg's 12th helped the Cougars outdistance Maranacook's finishers of Craig Maffei (sixth), Casey Spencer (seventh) and Sam Whittemore (11th).

Shem Dixon of Mt. Abram and Winthrop's Danny Soltan skied strong individual races to finish in the top 10.

Dixon claimed the eighth spot in 15:20 while Soltan was ninth in 15:37.5.