Saranac Lake junior Peter Fogarty picks up speed running down a hill at Saturday’s Nike Cross Country New York Regional Championships at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls. Fogarty placed ninth overall out of 203 runners and qualified for the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon on Saturday, Dec. 7. (Provided photo — Griffin Smith)

WAPPINGERS FALLS — Peter Fogarty became the first Saranac Lake runner to qualify for the Nike Cross Nationals on Saturday after the junior placed ninth at the Nike Cross New York Regional Championships at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls.

Fogarty will fly to Portland, Oregon on Thursday for the national invitational race that takes place on Saturday and includes the top high school runners from around the country.

Fogarty covered the 5,000-meter course in Bowdoin Park in 16 minutes, 24.2 seconds. Peyton Geehrer, of the Manlius XC team, won the race in 15:47.1.

The Saranac Lake runners competed as a club team in the meet because the NYSPHSAA season concluded with the Federation meet on Nov. 23. Called the Red Storm Runners, the Saranac Lake team placed fifth out of 26 teams, with an average finish time of 17:08. Manlius (16:26.5 average as a team) won the team championship with 74 points, while the Red Storm runners compiled 194 points. Deluge, a team of Burnt Hills runners, placed second with 106 points and the Outliers, from Shenendehowa, were third with 145 points.

James Catania was the next Saranac Laker to cross the finish line, placing 18th with a time of 16:39.3. He was followed by Andrew Fogarty, who was 35th in 17:02.1.

The Red Storm Runners team poses for a photo following Saturday’s Nike Cross Country New York Regional Championships at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls. The Red Storm placed fifth out of 26 teams. Pictured, from left, are coach Bill Peer, Justin Duprey, Sam Ash, Peter Fogarty, Andrew Fogarty, James Catania, Micah McCulley, Tucker Jakobe and coach Joe Garso. (Provided photo — Griffin Smith)

Other Saranac Lake finishers were Micah McCulley (81st in 17:37.9), Tucker Jakobe (103rd in 17:56.2), Justin Duprey (123rd in 18:10.7) and Sam Ash, who placed 130th in 18:16.7.

All the Saranac Lake runners are juniors, except for Ash who is a freshman.

Saranac Lake repeated as Class C state champions on Nov. 16 then took third in the New York Federation meet Nov. 23 in Bowdoin Park. Fogarty finished fourth in the Federation meet with a time of 16:23.4 and was third overall in the NYSPHSAA meet with a time of 14:50.7.