The defending team champions are all back and ready to defend their titles, but the race for individual titles is wide open as the state skiing championships take place this week at Sunday River in Bethel and Black Mountain in Rumford.

The Class A events will all be held at Black Mountain, starting with the giant slalom at 9 a.m. Tuesday. The Class B championships start Thursday at Sunday River and the Class C championships start today at Sunday River with the giant slalom.

After claiming both overall titles in last week's Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championship meets, Mt. Blue has the confidence to take on all comers, while defending their Class A titles.

The Cougar girls are led by Kyle Cyr, who captured two KVAC Alpine titles, and Shelby Aseltine and Hannah Allen in Nordic. Mt. Blue has won 14 of the last 16 combined Class A state titles, including the last three in a row.

The Mt. Blue boys have shown similar success with nine combined state championships in the last 13 years. Defending freestyle champion Derek Rowe and Welly Ramsey lead the boys team, along with Alpine racer Peter Smith. Yarmouth is the favorite to repeat in Class B. Last year, Maranacook finished second to the Clippers, but suffered heavy graduation losses, while the Mt. Abram girls could make a run at the top spot.

The Yarmouth and Maranacook girls have combined to win the last five Class B state championships with the Clippers claiming three of those titles.

After winning the Nordic combined KVAC title, Maranacook's Emily Harriman will contend in the state competition. Sam Whittemore, Tyler DeAngleis and Sean Vallant are capable of finishing in the top five for the Maranacook boys.

Fort Kent returns as the defending state champs in Class C, continuing Aroostook County's dominance.

The Winthrop boys Nordic team has the depth and experience to earn a team title in the event but lack the combined Alpine power to dethrone Fort Kent. Danny Soltan and Justin Carpenter will vie for the top spot this week.

"We will need to have the best race of the season to win the Class C Nordic title," said Soltan, who along with his teammates dominated the Mountain Valley Conference Nordic races. "Our team has come a long way and we will be ready for the states."