Out of 132 total racers, 54 skiers did not finish on either the first or second run, inlcuding three Section VII Alpine skiers. Section VII competitors at the championships included three boys and four girls from Saranac Lake and one Lake Placid girls skier.

“The warm temperatures and the soft snow, it was really challenging conditions,” Saranac Lake Alpine coach Tyler Chase said. “But these are conditions that we prepare for and we ski in all conditions at Pisgah — we are lucky to have Pisgah training. It was just a little unlucky.”

Among those taken out early included Saranac Lake’s top two girls skiers, Lauryn Caldwell and Zoe Carpenter. Both Caldwell and Carpenter fell on the first run and did not finish.

“They are both very talented skiers and very capable,” Chase said. “The race was certainly not over their abilities, but it was just a tough course. It’s tough to be a part of so many girls blowing out in the race.”

Lake Placid’s Isabella Morganson competes in Tuesday’s NYSPHSAA Skiing Championship slalom event at Whiteface Mountain. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

The lone Lake Placid skier, Isabella Morganson, was the section’s top girls skier, placing 31st in two-run time of 2 minutes, 17.81 seconds.

The Red Storm’s Kasey Clark (2:42.34) and Jovie Schenk (3:11.00), who both started racing this year, placed 37th and 38th, respectively. Chase said the duo has made such tremendous progress this year.

Glens Falls’ Piper Dock was the girls slalom overall winner with a two-run time of 1:38.98. Sodus/North Rose-Wolcott’s Vivian Bishop was second in 1:42.29 and South Glens Falls’ Shayla Byrne placed third in 1:44.71.

Saranac Lake’s Lukas Miemis nearly recorded a fifth place finish in the boys slalom race based on his two-run time. However, it was later determined that the sophomore had been disqualified on his second run.

“When I was going, my foot went inside one of the gates instead of going around it and that disqualified me,” Miemis said.

Saranac Lake’s Gus Earl competes in Tuesday’s NYSPHSAA Skiing Championship slalom event at Whiteface Mountain. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

In the first boys slalom run, Miemis and his teammate Gus Earl landed in sixth and ninth place, respectively. Miemis had a first run time of 54.19 while Earl was clocked in at 55.93.

“A lot of people didn’t finish in the first run and we were pushing hard,” Miemis said. “We were trying to lay down as best of a run as possible to see how we could do. I ended up sixth after the first run. I took that consideration and I knew people would be slipping up so I played it a little safer in the second run and I just tried to finish. Unfortunately that didn’t happen, but I tried my hardest.”

After holding the ninth-place position, Earl was unable to finish his second run. The Red Storm’s Ian Munson was the lone local boys racer to complete both runs. He placed 29th in 2:34.42.

“We’ve got a couple of real talented skiers,” Chase said. “They like to go all out. It was just a matter of they went into the second run in really good shape and anything can happen in a ski race.

“They went into the second race in real good standing,” he added. “They knew that and you have to hang on to that. It’s an unlucky situation. We’d like to get back to it next year.”

Saranac Lake’s Jovie Schenk competes in Tuesday’s NYSPHSAA Skiing Championship slalom event at Whiteface Mountain. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

Queensbury’s Hudson Montgomery won the boys slalom with a two-run time of 1:37.35. McQuaid’s Hudson Proia placed second in 1:44.20 and Saratoga’s Will Fraser was third in 1:44.57.

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Nordic

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The Section VII Nordic ski teams competed in the 3×2.5-kilometer classic relay race on Tuesday at Mount Van Hoevenberg in the second day of the NYSPHSAA Skiing Championships.

Saranac Lake’s Ian Munson competes in Tuesday’s NYSPHSAA Skiing Championship slalom event at Whiteface Mountain. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

The top local squad in the boys race was the Section VII-A team, which consisted of Lake Placid’s Aidan Fay and Colin Francis, alongside Saranac Lake’s Max Hall. They placed fifth in 25:06.3. Both the boys and girls relay events consisted of 16 teams.

Saranac Lake’s boys relay squad of Owen Keal, Ebin Meissner and Mason Stoddard placed sixth in 25:23.7. The Section VII-B team of Saranac Lake’s Alex Evans, Liam Stoddard and Keaton Daley was 12th in 28:20.5.

The Queensbury team of Ben Jenkin, Alden Guay and Patrick Cirillo won the boys 3×2.5K Classic relay in 22:47.4 The Section 2-A team of Forrest Slingerland, John Bednarek and Landon Kinal was second in 23:44.6. The Section V-A team of Andrew Cole, Riley Cushman and Dillion Frank was third in 24:20.7.

On the girls side, the Red Storm team of Tyler Burth, Cadence Kennedy and Kaylee Holmes was fourth in 27:43.9. Section VII-A, which consisted of the Lake Placid trio of Maya Garrison, Holly Erenstone and Harley Cohen was fifth in 27:50.0.

The Section VII-B team of Keene’s Pia Morrelli and Zarela Gulli, alongside Saranac Lake’s Pepper Laxson, was 11th in 31:03.0.

Saranac Lake’s Kasey Clark competes in Tuesday’s NYSPHSAA Skiing Championship slalom event at Whiteface Mountain. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

The Sutherland team of Marianne Spyra, Gabrielle Spyra and Reid Smith won the girls relay in 27:02.6. Shenendehowa’s relay team of Courtney Krawiecki, Raquelle Landa and Fiona Klingbeil was second in 27:06.7. The Section 2-A team of Sophia Murray, Sylvia Slingerland and Emma Murray was third in 27:28.0.

Saranac Lake’s boys and girls finished third in the team competitions. Queensbury won the boys team title with 89 points and Honeoye Falls-Lima was second with 72. The Red Storm boys had 60 points. The girls team title went to Sutherland with 92 points, while Shenendehowa was second with 71. Saranac Lake finished with 58 points.

Section VII placed third in the girls and boys sectional team competitions. Section 2 was the girls champion and Section V took the boys title. Lake Placid’s Harley Cohen and Saranac Lake’s Jake Kollmer won the sportsmanship awards.