Since then, Ellsworth has competed at various different meets throughout his varsity track and field career, and on March 4, he’ll add another major event to his resume when he competes in the NYSPHSAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. He qualified after he took first place at the Section VII state qualifiers in the shot put competition this past Saturday at the Plattsburgh State Field House.

But he won’t be the only Red Storm track and field athlete to head south for the state’s biggest high school indoor track and field meet.

Liam Nobles, a sophomore at Saranac Lake, will join Ellsworth at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island. For Nobles, it will be the first time he has competed at a meet of this magnitude.

Ellsworth said he remembers being in Nobles’ shoes.

“My sophomore year was when I started experiencing the bigger meets,” Ellsworth said. “It’s awesome going with him and having that experience under my belt as well.”

Nobles said it’ll be nice to have a teammate with him for his first state meet.

While Ellsworth has little more experience than Nobles in terms of competing at the highest level, the pair have one thing in common — they have dominated the competition this season and hope to do the same on March 4.

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Mitchell Ellsworth

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With the state meet a little over a week away, Ellsworth spent Tuesday afternoon not only working on his own throws but helping some of the younger students with their throws.

The younger athletes’ indoor track season is over. But they are likely training for the outdoor track and field season — and who better to learn from than the reigning three-time sectional champion in shot put?

Ellsworth said after graduating college, he hopes to return to the school to see some of the younger throwers competing at the state meet.

“He’s like another coach out there,” Saranac Lake track and field head coach Cy Ellsworth said. “I have 14 throwers and really he can lead those guys and girls. He’s such a great leader. When he leaves here next year, it’s going to be a sad day when I get back to the throwing circle and he’s not around.”

Ellsworth is nothing short of a leader at the school. He has competed in three sports at the varsity level and he’s also been the class president for his grade for four years now.

“There’s not really anything in our school that he’s not involved in,” Cy said. “So I knew going into the indoor season that there might be some times where he’s not exactly hitting his peak because he’s so busy.”

Mitchell didn’t start out the indoor track season on the best note — or at least according to his own standards. He was outthrown in two separate Section VII meets, finishing in second place for the first time in a few years.

“I haven’t exactly had competition these last two years and this year,” Mitchell said, “I had a guy to kind of compete with so it feels good. It’s more rewarding this year to overcome that and to come to the state meet.

“Ending on a good note for the regular season is definitely giving me some motivation going into the state meet,” Mitchell added.

In his final throw of the regular season, Mitchell threw the 12-pound shot put ball 50 feet, 4.75 inches. While it didn’t top his personal record of 50′ 10.5″, it was good enough to solidify himself in the state meet.

Mitchell is one of just two Saranac Lake indoor track and field athletes in the last 10 years to have thrown the shot put over 50 feet. His coach said he hasn’t even peaked yet.

“He’s really fresh right now, which last year at this time he wasn’t fresh,” Cy said. “With all the things that he’s involved in maybe it’s a good thing. Last year he was tired when he went to the state meet and this year he’s going to be fresh.”

Last season, Mitchell finished the state meet in eighth place overall with a throw of 48′ 3″. He also finished as the top junior in the state.

“This class has definitely got a lot better so I’m not quite at the top this year,” Mitchell said. “But just knowing that this is going to be my last time competing as a high school indoor track athlete. My goal is just to go there and leave it all out in the throwing ring.”

The state meet will mark Mitchell’s last high school competition on the indoor side.

“He’s been the sectional champ in shot for three years straight. He follows in the footsteps of some real good throwers in the past,” Cy said. “It’s been a long time since one of our shot putters hasn’t gone to the state meet. It’ll be a sad day when he leaves.”

With the meet a little over a week away, Cy said Mitchell has tremendous technique right now and he’s really put a lot into it.

“I’m just waiting for him to smash my school record and have that opportunity to have a good showing at the state meet,” Cy said.

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Liam Nobles

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While this will be the first time Nobles has competed at a state meet for track and field, it doesn’t shock his coach that he’s qualified for the meet as just a sophomore. Cy said he might be the best athlete at Saranac Lake high school while only a sophomore.

“He’s a tremendous athlete when you watch him in practice, just the way he runs, you watch the way that he prepares, you watch the way that he takes things real serious,” Cy said. “We’re real lucky to have a guy that young take that approach to track and field.”

Nobles will compete in two separate events — triple jump and the long jump — at the state meet.

“I’m pretty excited,” Nobles said. “Last year, for outdoor I wasn’t able to go, but now that I can go this year. I’m pretty pumped.”

Just like Mitchell, Nobles has had a dominating season and on Saturday during the Section VII State Qualifier, Nobles set personal records in both the long jump and the triple jump.

“He would’ve broken our outdoor school record on Saturday in the long jump — that’s been there since 1985,” Cy said.

In the long jump he jumped 20′ 10.75” and in the triple jump he finished with a jump of 42′ 9.25″. He outjumped his competitors by more than one foot in both competitions.

“It feels pretty good because I’ve been hitting more PRs in every meet,” Nobles said. “I think at the state meet, I’ll be able to hit 21 feet in the long jump, which I’ve been working toward all season.”

Nobles said his biggest goal is to reach that 21 feet mark in the long jump. According to last year’s results at the state meet, that would put him inside the top 10 of all competitors.

“But if I can go more than that, it would be great,” Nobles said.

While Nobles has a stellar indoor track season around a month and a half ago, his coaches decided to change his entire workout routine.

“We went for the first month and a half of the season where we were really focused on technique,” Cy said. “Then we looked around and saw the weather and realized maybe we need to focus on functional lifting, explosiveness and plyometric work. What we do in the weight room is called complex which is all functional lifting.”

Cy said he had spoken with Division I level track and field coaches and they all agreed with him. Over the last month and a half, Nobles has improved with every meet.

“We really changed our approach in how we are working out and we allowed him to be an even better athlete the way we approached it,” Cy said. “The sky is the limit for him. He’s got a lot of upside. We’re working real hard at things like flexibility for him, which sometimes can be his enemy.”

Cy said that the sky is the limit for Nobles and that he continues to work really hard to be the best that he can be.

“I think one of the greatest things about him is that he’s not always worried about comparing himself to others,” he said. “He’s worried about himself, sometimes when you’re worried about yourself in track and field you go a little bit further than when you worry about everybody else. We’re real pleased.”

Cy said that he expects Nobles to have a really good showing at the state meet in front of thousands of people.