SARANAC LAKE – Two veteran paddlers, Pete McConville, of Paul Smiths, and Bloomingdale’s Mark Winter teamed up to claim a silver medal over the weekend at the United States Canoe Association National Championships in Northfield, Massachusetts.

The pair took second place Sunday in the C-2 Standard Masters class, turning in a time of 2 hours, 1 minute and 18 seconds on a 13-mile course on the Connecticut River. They held the lead early and were running even with the eventual winner but couldn’t hold on in the end.

“We were leading for the first 3 miles, and then went gunnel to gunnel with the team that passed us for the next 2 miles,” McConville said. “Once they beat us around a corner, they stayed in front. I thought we were going to get it, but they were just tougher.”

David Haas and Mark Kopta won the race in 1:58:43. Ray Thiel and Ted Kenyon of Connecticut were third with a time of 2:05:01.

Winter also claimed a bronze at the championship in a C-4 race Saturday and a 12th place in a solo race Friday.

The USCA competition featured hundreds of paddlers.

McConville was competing in his fourth nationals and the medal was his third. Four years ago, he teamed up with Saranac Lake’s Becky Sutter to take a silver, and he also captured a bronze medal in at the event in 2014.