Saranac Lake’s Mason Stoddard competes in the Section VII Invitational at Mount Van Hoevenberg on Jan. 10. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

SARANAC LAKE — The first day of the Section VII Nordic ski championships kicked off on Wednesday, following a weather delay on Tuesday.

Racing at Dewey Mountain in the three-person classic relay — a format that will be used at the upcoming NYSPHSAA State Championship — the Saranac Lake boys and girls Nordic teams came away with convincing wins. This gives the squads a one-point scoring bonus heading into their final sectional race, which will be held at 4 p.m. today at the competition loops at the Paul Smith’s College Visitor Interpretive Center.

The Red Storm trio of Tyler Burth, Pepper Laxson and Kaylee Holmes secured the win in the girls race with a time of 33 minutes, 59 seconds. The Lake Placid team of Leila Fey, Norah Francis and Holly Erenstone finished second in 35:38, while the Saranac Lake’s second team of Kelsi Burth, Cadence Kennedy and Lila Zobel finished only 17 seconds back in third.

On the boys side, the Red Storm skiers continued to position themselves for the state championship meet, with only 37 seconds separating their top two teams, which placed first and second.

Saranac Lake’s top team included Keaton Daley, alongside brothers Mason and Liam Stoddard. They finished in 30:42, while the Red Storm trio of Emmett VanBuskirk, Ben Ziemann and Ebin Meissner placed second in 31:19.

Lake Placid’s top team of Trey Mariano, Connor Mannion and Will Coffrin rounded out the podium, with a third-place finish in 32:10.

During the three-person classic relay format, three skiers from each team complete one lap of a 3-kilometer course.

Following the conclusion of today’s race, nine boys and nine girls will be named to the Section VII State Championship team. Those athletes will travel to Bristol Mountain for the NYSPHSAA State Championship meet on Feb. 23 and 24.