The Red Storm girls dominated the state competition, officially securing the title Tuesday morning after closing out the 3×3 team relay with a victory in the NYSPHSAA Skiing Championship at the Bristol Mountain Ski Resort.

The team, which finished as the state runner-ups a year ago, crushed the past two days of racing, earning a team score of 18 points — the lowest overall score wins the event. Honeoye Falls-Lima recorded 37 points, which gave them second place, while Adirondack was third with 53.

“This is a special group of young ladies. They are awesome athletes, but they are also excellent teammates and all-around awesome people,” Saranac Lake Nordic ski head coach Keith Kogut said in a statement.

The Red Storm’s boys also put forth a solid outing, earning second overall with a two-day score of 35 points. Queensbury was the only team ahead of them, posting 19 points. Honeoye Falls-Lima was third with 37.

The Saranac Lake boys Nordic ski team poses with the NYSPHSAA state runner-up plaque on Tuesday. Pictured from left are Emmett VanBuskirk, Ben Ziemann, Mason Stoddard, Ebin Meissner, Keaton Daley and Liam Stoddard. (Provided photo)

“Our boys also had an amazing season, not losing a race all year until today’s runner-up finish,” Kogut said.

On Tuesday, the Red Storm girls trio of Tyler Burth, Pepper Laxson and Kaylee Holmes placed first in the state team relay event by more than 20 seconds, earning a combined time of 32 minutes, 2.4 seconds. Burth finished her leg of the race in 10:37.1, while Laxson posted a time of 10:41.9 and Holmes skied to a time of 10:43.4 in the last portion of the race.

When Holmes neared the finish line, a group of her Saranac Lake teammates was there cheering her on.

“We were all just yelling our heads off,” Tyler Burth said. “There were definitely some tears. It was a very special moment.”

Saranac Lake’s other relay team, competing as Section VII-A, finished fourth in the race with a total time of 34:09.2. The team included Kelsi Burth (10:53.7), Cadence Kennedy (11:08.8) and Lila Zobel (12:06.8).

Kelsi, Tyler’s twin sister, was the first to finish her leg of the race for her team. She stood by the finish line waiting for her teammates. That’s when she saw Holmes all alone … and there were no other teams in sight.

“That’s when I really started to get excited,” Kelsi said. “As soon as she crossed the finish line, we all just ran to her and tackled her to the ground. It was really exciting and fun.”

Honeoye Falls-Lima’s team of Emily Lawrence, Hazel Joki and Jenna Lawrence finished second behind the Red Storm in 32:22.0. The Section 2-A team of Anna Yarsevich, Sylvia Slingerland and Raquelle Landa was third in 33:21.2 in the race that featured 16 teams.

Lake Placid’s trio of Leila Fey (10:46.8), Norah Francis (11:53.1) and Holly Erenstone (11:34.0), which represented Section VII’s second team, placed fifth overall in 34:13.9.

Tyler Burth, a senior who had won three of the last four individual sectional titles, said winning this year’s state championship has been a long time coming.

Over the past few seasons, this Red Storm group has been elite, winning three straight Section VII titles. When it came to state racing, each year they improved. As youngsters in 2024, they took home third at the state meet. Then, just last year, they finished as the state runner-ups.

“We’ve worked really hard for a lot of years and it just kind of felt like all the hard work finally paid off,” Tyler said. “As a senior, it was kind of the perfect way to end my Nordic skiing career.”

Kelsi said everything finally came together over the past two days.

“It was a really special way to end my Nordic skiing career,” she said. “I’m really proud of the team, and happy with how the season turned out with those sectionals and states.”

On the boys side, the Red Storm’s top team of brothers Mason (9:13.6) and Liam Stoddard (9:15.4), alongside Keaton Daley (9:25.8), placed fourth overall in 27:54.9.

Queensbury won the boys team relay title in 27:24.0. Their team consisted of Josh Jenkin, Johnny Luthringer and Monday’s individual state champion Alden Guay. The boys event also featured 16 teams.

Lake Placid skiers Trey Mariano (9:29.0), Connor Mannion (9:29.9) and Will Coffin (9:56.5) competed as the Section VII-B team in the boys race. They finished sixth overall in the relay in 28:55.5.

The Section VII-A team consisted of Saranac Lake skiers Emmett VanBuskirk (9:34.6), Ebin Meissner (9:04.7) and Benjamin Ziemann (10:32.5) as they placed eighth in 29:11.9.

Honeoye Falls-Lima placed second in 27:28.0, while Section 2-A was third in 27:40.9.

The Section VII girls team, which combines both Saranac Lake and Lake Placid’s results, also won the state title with 80 points. The Section VII boys team was third with 141.

“Nordic takes a huge amount of grit and determination, and our skiers have worked so hard to get to this point,” Kogut said. “We also wouldn’t be here without the support of coach Bridget O’Leary, coach Randy Young, who goes out of his way to make sure we’re skiing on great equipment, and the awesome crew at Dewey Mountain. We’re going to keep working hard, and hopefully this won’t be the last state title we can bring home to Saranac Lake.”

But for now, the team is just soaking in the moment. They’re even more excited to return home as state champions.

“We all got shirts that we’re gonna wear tomorrow (at school) that say New York State champs on them, and I’m really excited to go back,” Kelsi said.

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Alpine skiing

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Saranac Lake’s Lukas Miemis put together a seventh-place overall finish in Tuesday’s NYSPHSAA Skiing Championship Slalom races at the Bristol Mountain Ski Resort to lead the Red Storm’s Alpine ski team.

Miemis, a senior, finished with a two-run time of 1 minute, 49.82 seconds. He kicked off the day with a first run time of 52.89 — the 10th fastest opening run. Miemis then finished his second run in 56.93.

Queenbury’s duo of Wesley Fuller (1:41.93) and Liam Meilhede (1:46.31) placed first and second overall, respectively. Glens Falls’ Alastair Sperry finished third in 1:47.63.

Saranac Lake’s Gus Earl, who finished the first run with a time of 56.06, did not finish his second run. Teammate Colden Robinson did not finish the first run.

On the girls side, Ida Schwartzberg led the Red Storm with a 30th-place finish, following a two-run time of 2:24.89. Schwartzberg was in sixth place overall after she posted a first run time of 1:01.67, but dropped down with her second run time of 1:23.22.

Glens Falls’ Piper Dock was the overall winner in the girls race, finishing with a combined time of 1:53.81. Pittsford’s Kirsten Matzky, who won Monday’s Giant Slalom title, was second in 1:53.89, while Glens Falls’ Muirenn Talbot (1:57.50) placed third.

Saranac Lake’s Lily Kramer placed 35th with a combined time of 2:32.76. Kramer opened up the day with a first run time of 1:13.98 and followed that up with a second run of 1:18.78.

Teammate Kara Kretster did not finish her second run after clocking in a time of 1:09.37 on her first trip down the hill.