It looks like Ellsworth, his student-athletes and the rest of the Red Storm coaching staff reached their objective.

On Tuesday, Saranac Lake’s boys put a halt to the 69-meet Champlain Valley Athletic Conference winning streak owned by Saranac Central. Competing at home, the Red Storm edged the Chiefs 67-65 in a back-and-forth meet where second- and third-place finishes were huge factors in the victory.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Ellsworth said. “This meet was up and down right from the start. We were looking for those seconds, those thirds and we got them. At the end of the day, there were so many individual performances that helped us win this meet.

“I’ve always looked up to what coach (Chris) Verkey has done in Saranac,” Ellsworth added. “They are the standard in the North Country for high school track and field. They have it going. I’m awfully proud of the hard (work) our kids and coaches have put in and what they have been able to accomplish. This was a great win.”

James Catania, center, Micah McCulley, left, and Anderson Gray head toward the finish line while sweeping the top three spots in the 1,600 meters against Saranac Central on Tuesday. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

Heading into the meet, the Chiefs were the team with the advantage in the sprints and hurdles, while Saranac Lake held the decided edge in the distance and throwing events. The results in those disciplines held true, which meant the middle-distance races and the field events were where this meet was going to be won, and the Red Storm came through.

Ellsworth credited junior captain Patrick Wamsganz with a remarkable effort in helping lift Saranac Lake to victory. Wamsganz posted victories in the 400 and the triple jump and was runner-up finish in the long jump to capture 13 points for the Red Storm. His winning triple jump effort was 40 feet, 9.5 inches, a result that was just a sliver longer that Saranac Central’s Luke Maye, who has been a top jumper in the CVAC for the past three seasons. Maye took first in the long jump with a 20-7 result.

Wamsganz won the 400 also by less than a second, finishing in 52.5.

Each team won eight events. Wamsganz was the only Saranac Lake competitor to post two individual wins. Single individual winners for the Red Storm were James Catania in the 1,600, Peter Fogarty in the 800, Anderson Gray in the 3,200, Patrick Alberga in the shot put and Jonathan Hewitt in the discus.

Cameron Duffield, the Chiefs state-ranked hurdler, won three individual events, sweeping both the 110 and 400 hurdles and taking first in the high jump.

Jonathan Hewitt heaves the discus on Tuesday. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

Saranac Lake kicked off the meet with a victory as Micah McCulley, Peter Fogarty, Andrew Fogarty and Catania won the 3,200 relay in 9:24.

Saranac Central took first place in the 400 and 1,600 relays.

Ellsworth said Alberga had a strong showing for Saranac Lake. After finishing third in the 110 hurdles behind Duffield and Maye, Alberga won the shot put with a personal best heave of 49-9.5, and then finished second in the high jump. Alberga’s efforts earned Saranac Lake nine points.

Other performances of note for Saranac Lake included a sweep of the top three spots in the 1,600 with McCulley and Gray finishing second and third behind Catania, and a second-place finish in the 400 hurdles by senior Brooks Fletcher.

A year ago, Saranac Lake came up well short of defeating Saranac in a much-anticipated meet, but this time around was a different story.

Grace Clark clears a hurdle during her winning performance in the 100 hurdles for Saranac Lake in Tuesday’s meet against Saranac Central. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

“Today just shows me the growth we’ve experienced,” Ellsworth said. “I think last year we could have done a little better, and really, I think we that’s when we started looking ahead to seeing Saranac again this year. Beating them today should make for a really interesting sectionals. They have some awfully good athletes on that team, and we have some pretty good athletes, too.”

Saranac Lake’s boys improved to 3-0 with the win, and will now face their next-toughest test of the season on Thursday when they visit Plattsburgh High.

In the girls meet, Saranac Central topped Saranac Lake 78-49.

The Chiefs, who went unbeaten in the CVAC a year ago and returned nearly 30 athletes from that team, were led by Mackenzie Converse and Rachael Woodruff, who combined for five individual wins. Woodruff took first place in the 1,500 and the 800, and Converse won the 400 and 200 meters and the triple jump.

Individual winners for Saranac Lake were Grace Clark in the 100 hurdles, Edina Cecunjanin in the 100, Lydia Wamsganz in the long jump and Mecalyn Sousa in the shot put.

Despite the loss, Saranac Lake head girls coach Jason Wamsganz was pleased with his team’s effort against a powerful opponent.

“We knew we did not match up with them on paper, and we approached this meet as a nice opportunity for us,” he said. “One thing we did was meet with our really young athletes. Saranac has has some really tough talented athletes. We told our girls that this is a great team to go up against and have them pull us through to get some high seedings for the sectionals.

“They beat us by a lot last year,” Wamsganz added. “Much closer this time. Our girls really turned in some solid performances.”

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Tuesday’s Results

Boys

Saranac Lake 67, Saranac Central 65

3,200 relay – SL, (McCulley, P. Fogarty, A. Fogarty, Catania), 9:24; 110 hurdles – SC, Duffield, 14.7; 100 – SC, Montville, 11.1; 1,600 – SL, Catania, 4:49; 400 relay – SC, (Bernardi, Abrams, Adolfo, Montville), 47.3; 400 – SL, Wamsganz, 52.5; 400 hurdles – SC, Duffield, 58.4; 800 – SL, P. Fogarty 2:12.3; 200 – SC, Montville, 23.2; 3,200 – SL, Gray, 10:41; 1,600 relay – SC, Duffield, May, Adolfo, Bernardi), 3:33.3; High jump – SC, Duffield, 5-8; Long jump – SC, Maye, 20-7; Triple jump – SL, Wamsganz 40-6.5; Shot put – SL, Alberga 49-9.5; Discus – SL, Hewitt, 129-5.

Girls

Saranac Central 78, Saranac Lake 49

3,200 relay – SC, (Woodruff, Dutko, Fay, Ubl), 11:04.4; 100 hurdles – SL, Clark, 16.8; 100 – SL, Cecunjanin, 13.1; 1,500 – SC, Woodruff, 5:34.3; 400 relay – SL, (Cecunjanin, Cornell, Clark, Wamsganz); 400 – SC, Converse 1:04.3; 400 hurdles – SC, LePage 1:10.6; 800 – SC, Woodruff, 2:25.5; 200 – SC, Converse 29.3; 3,000 – SC, Mulverhill, 12:52.8; High jump – SC, LePage 4-6; Long jump – SL, Wamsganz, 14-3; Triple jump – SC, Converse, 32-11.5; Shot put – SL, Sousa, 30-9; Discus – SC, Hoeth, 101-8.5