The Red Storm cruised to the team title Friday at Cobble Hill Golf Course in the Section VII state qualifier meet after sweeping the top four individual spots and placing all seven of its runners in the top 10. Saranac Lake finished with a team score of 17 points to beat out Plattsburgh (70), Saranac (94), Peru (104), AuSable Valley (124) and Northeastern Clinton (131).

The Saranac Lake girls team, which was crowned as the Champlain Valley Athletic Conference team champion last week at AuSable Valley, had to settle for second Friday. Saranac Central won the team competition with 37 points while the Red Storm combined for 51.

Saranac Lake junior James Catania won the Class C boys race Friday with a time of 15 minutes, 10.5 seconds. He was followed by fellow juniors Peter Fogarty (15:11.6), Andrew Fogarty (15:27.9) and Micah McCulley (15:33.8).

Tucker Jakobe, a junior, placed seventh in 16:08.5, freshman Sam Ash was eighth in 16:13.1 and Justin Duprey, another junior, took 10th in 16:29.5 to round out the Saranac Lake lineup. All seven will compete in next Saturday’s NYSPHSAA meet at SUNY Plattsburgh.

Saranac Lake junior Gwen Mader races to a fifth-place Class C finish Friday at the Section VII state qualifier meet in Elizabethtown. (Provided photo — Kris Alberga)

Northeastern Clinton’s Thomas Gilbo finished in fifth place with a time of 15:58.6, Ian Campbell, of Plattsburgh, was sixth in 16:04.5 and AuSable Valley’s Spencer Daby took ninth in 16:25 to break up Saranac Lake’s bloc of runners.

Saranac’s Rachael Woodruff was the first runner to cross the finish line in the Class C girls race. She finished in 17:35.2, outpacing Lily Pothast, of AuSable Valley, in 18:24.4, Plattsburgh’s Nora Graves (19:39.2) and Saranac Central’s Gillian Miner (19:47.2).

Gwen Mader and Katie Samperi, of Saranac Lake, each earned spots in next week’s state meet. Mader, a junior, finished fifth with a time of 19:51.7 and Samperi, a sophomore, placed eighth in 20:08.9.

Other Saranac Lake scorers were freshman Bella Wissler (10th in 20:27.6), sophomore Sara Trabakoulos (11th in 20:29), senior Sylvie Linck (17th in 20:55.5) and senior Frannie Newman (20th in 21:40.3).

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Saranac Lake sophomore Katie Samperi races to the finish line of the Section VII state qualifer meet Friday in Elizabethtown. (Provided photo — Kris Alberga)

CLASS D

The Lake Placid girls will send a team to the state meet after running past Ticonderoga in Friday’s Section VII, Class D race in Elizabethtown. Moriah-Boquet Valley and Seton Catholic didn’t have enough runners to compete in the team scoring.

Harley Cohen was the Blue Bombers’ top finisher, placing fifth overall with a time of 20:18. She was followed by teammates Anya Morgan (21:38.8) and Alexa Harper (21:50). Lake Placid’s Kelly Le (ninth in 23:27), Anisa Schmell (14th in 25:58.5) and Erin Roth (15th in 28:35.6) will also run in next week’s state meet.

Sophia McKiernan, of Moriah-Boquet Valley, won the Class D girls race with a time of 19:30.4, followed by a trio of Seton Catholic runners: Savannah DeJordy (19:42.6), Faline Yang (19:57.5) and Lea DeJordy (20:03.2).

The Lake Placid boys team placed third in a very close contest on Friday. Moriah-Boquet Valley earned the top spot, and the right to bring a complete team to the state meet, with 39 points. Seton Catholic was second with 41 and Lake Placid took third with 43 points.

Michael Skutt was the top Blue Bombers finisher with his third-place showing in 16:07.5. Jake Glicksman, of Seton Catholic, won the race in 15:32.9 and Logan VanBuren, of Moriah-Boquet Valley, was second in 15:50.2. All three are seniors.

Max Flanigan (fifth in 16:24.7), Andrew Scanio (eighth in 17:09.9), James Flanigan (13th in 17:51) and Gunnar Anthony (14th in 18:00) also collected points for Lake Placid.

Moriah-Boquet Valley earned the top spot with finishes of second, sixth, ninth, 10th and 12th.