Lake Placid senior Nina Armstrong makes her way over the course during Saturday’s NYSPHSAA cross country championship meet at SUNY Canton. Armstrong finished 11th in the Class D race. News photo — Morgan Ryan

CANTON – The Lake Placid cross country program was out in full force Saturday at the NYSPHSAA cross country meet on the campus of SUNY Canton.

Competing as a team for the first time in school history at the state meet, the Blue Bombers boys made their presence known with a fifth-place overall finish. Individually, Lake Placid’s top two runners – Nina Armstrong and Karl Schulz – each placed in the top 15 and earned spots in the Federation meet in Wappingers Falls.

“They all did what they needed to do,” said Lake Placid coach Mel Frazer. “All of them finished ahead of where they were ranked, and not a single one of them was upset with their finishes.”

Armstrong, a senior running in her fifth state cross country meet, placed 11th in the Class D race with a time of 20 minutes, 27.3 seconds. Sage Hurta of Hamilton High School won the race in 18:52.8.

“I was very surprised with how well I did,” Armstrong said. “Throughout my high school career, I’ve been hoping for top 20, then today I came in at 11th. I was like, ‘Whoa.’ I was really happy.”

Lake Placid junior Karl Schulz runs stride for stride with Norwood-Norfolk’s Connor Fulk at the start of Saturday’s Class D boys race. News photo — Morgan Ryan

Armstrong finished 31st at last year’s meet in Queensbury and was 30th the year before.

Armstrong is also an accomplished cross-country skier, and said she is looking forward to competing for the Lake Placid ski team this winter, in addition to going to Junior Nationals and Senior Nationals as a NYSEF athlete.

“Nina set some personal records this year,” Frazer said. “I’ve had her and Curtis (Rissberger) since seventh grade, so not having them is going be a lot different. They are ones you could count on when they were seventh-graders.”

Rissberger was one of seven Lake Placid runners in the boys race. He covered the course in 20:07.9, which was good for 94th place. Rissberger and Armstrong were the only two seniors on the team.

Nina Armstrong’s sister Gabby, a sophomore, was the second Lake Placid girl to cross the line. She placed 33rd with a time of 21:12.5. Teammate Sage Miller exceeded expectations with her 56th-place finish in 22:10.4.

Schulz led the way for the Lake Placid boys. Running in his third state meet in as many years, the junior covered the course in 17:00.8 and placed 13th.

Patrick Murphy of Duanesburg won the Class D race with a time of 16:07.2

“Considering the conditions, it was a fast race,” Schulz said. “It was probably one of the most physically demanding courses I’ve run this year. In places, the mud was so deep it’d go right up over your ankles.”

Schulz finished 63rd last year in Queensbury and was 74th as a freshman.

“It was definitely a lot more fun being with the whole team this year,” Schulz said. “My first year I was pretty nervous. But now coming back for this third year, I was definitely more focused. One thing I learned from skiing is to focus on the process of the race rather than focus on the result. You have to focus on the process of the race and not think about the finish. Just worry about what you are doing right now and just try to go harder.”

Schulz is another winter sports star. He recently spent time training and racing in Nordic combined events in Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

“It was an awesome experience, especially being with all the U.S. Ski Team guys,” he said. “They’re all great guys and just being around them was great.”

Schulz started running cross country as a way to stay in shape for Nordic combined, but has grown to enjoy running more and more as time goes on. He said it helps him a lot with his skate skiing.

Schulz plans to resume his Nordic combined training out west in preparation for the World Junior tryouts. He said he hopes to land one of the two spots available on the world junior team, then work his way up in the U.S. program.

“I’d love to go to the Olympics; that’s my main goal,” he said. “Since I started skiing that’s been my main goal. To be on the world stage is something I’ve just always dreamed of.”

Schulz’s younger brother Scott was the second Blue Bomber to cross the line. The freshman finished 36th in 17:50.6, just behind Kody Parrott of Ticonderoga, who clocked in at 17:50.4.

Junior Forest Ledger placed 52nd in 18:17.1, sophomore Trent White was 62nd in 18:41.4, junior Nick Saulpaugh was 76th in 19:21.6, and sophomore Davey Milhill was 118th in 23:38 to round out the Lake Placid team scoring.

Beaver River won the Class D boys team title, and Tully won the girls championship.

“A lot of the teams that beat us have a heavy list of seniors, so it’s going to be exciting to see what happens next year,” Frazer said.

Heidi Baumbach and Pat Stewart were the last two Lake Placid runners to qualify for the Federation meet in 2008.