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Juniors lead Red Storm into states

SARANAC LAKE — The Saranac Lake indoor track team will represent Section VII at the NYSPHSAA championships in Staten Island next weekend, and coach Cy Ellsworth thinks his kids are in a good position to bring home some hardware.

Leading the way for the girls are two juniors. Ellsworth said in an email that Grace Clark, based on her performances this season, could “be an elite hurdler in the future.

“She is extremely athletic, but her greatest strength is that she does not like to lose,” Ellsworth said. “She did not lose a single race this year in the 55-meter hurdles.”

Clark was the section champion with a time of 9.44 seconds in the 55-meter hurdles, and Ellsworth said she has also helped with the development of younger girls on the team.

Edina Cecunjanin has also shown herself to be a leader, with Ellsworth calling her “the heart and soul of our girls’ team.

“She brings a superior work ethic to our practices and, on paper, Edina was seeded second all season in the 55-meter and the 300-meter (sprints), but she outworked the rest of the league and won the 55-meter and 300-meter to earn her spot as the top girl sprinter in Section VII.”

Saranac Lake will also send five boys, grades nine through 12, specializing in distance races. Senior Tyler Martin, with an eye on running in college, led the section in the 600, going undefeated all season.

“Tyler has been a warrior for us all year,” Ellsworth said. “He provides senior leadership to our distance group and kids look up to him as a person who has ‘been there done that’ because he represented Saranac Lake last year at the state meet.”

Ninth grader Micah McCulley will be the youngest member of the Red Storm at the state meet, running the 1,00-meter and, along with Martin, the 4×800 relay.

“He qualified with a very respectable time if 2:52:04,” Ellsworth said. “Micah works really hard and has a different body type then his ninth-grade peers. He has made a commitment to the weight room and the sky is the limit for him.

“It will be great to see Micah experience how good New York state track and field is. New York is one of the top track states in the country.”

Junior Anderson Gray, who had a stellar fall season running cross-country, will be tackling the 1,600 and will also be on the 4×800 team.

“Anderson started the indoor season out slowly,” Ellsworth wrote. “He was sick coming in to the season after an outstanding cross-country season. As he has gotten healthier, he has also gotten stronger.

“If he puts in a good few weeks, we believe he is much better than that. It has been nice to see a different Anderson the last few weeks. He’s healthy, he’s more confident and he’s stronger.”

The 4×800 team could also include 10th grader Adam Hesseltine and senior Ben Goff. Ellsworth said any of the five boys could be put together for the relay, and is looking forward to them taking on other teams from around the state.

“We have the ability to run any of these guys in the 4×800,” Ellsworth said. “They did not lose a single meet this year with a best time of 8 minutes, 59.81 seconds. I will be curious to see how they compete in front of thousands of people and against the top dogs from the state.

“I believe they will run well below an 8:59.”

The NYSPHSAA indoor track championships will take place on Saturday, March 3 at Ocean Breeze Track and Field Facility on Staten Island.

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