Lake Placid's Holly Ernstone crosses the finish line during a race at Dewey Mountain on Jan. 12. (News photo — Parker O’Brien)

SARANAC LAKE — With the night lights on, it was a great evening of racing for the Saranac Lake boys and the Lake Placid girls varsity Nordic ski teams. The two teams both recorded wins in a Section VII race at the Dewey Mountain Recreation Center on Jan. 12.

The Red Storm boys had six skiers place in the top seven spots to win the 5K skate by a score of 8-22 over the Blue Bombers.

The Lake Placid girls prevailed once again with their third team win of the season. The team had a team score of nine, which beat out Saranac Lake with 14 and Keene with 39.

On the boy’s side, Saranac Lake’s Owen Keal edged out Lake Placid’s Andrew Scanio by just a second to earn the individual win. Keal finished the race with a time of 14 minutes and 11 seconds, while Scanio finished at 14:12.

Keal’s finish marked his first individual win this season, with Scanio winning the two races prior.

In third place was the Red Storm’s Sam Ash, who recorded a time of 15:21. Ash was followed by four of his teammates.

In the girl’s contest, Lake Placid’s eighth-grade standout Sam Damico dominated. Damico finished with a time of 17:20, which was more than 30 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher Tyler Burth from Saranac Lake.

The Blue Bombers’ Maya Garrison claimed the third-place spot at 18:02 to round out the top three.

With the race up for grabs, the Red Storm’s Jordanna Samburgh finished at 18:42, but after Lake Placid’s Holly Ernstone (18:47) and Nora Galvin (18:48) finished shortly after, it was clear the win belonged to Blue Bombers.

Keene’s Pia Morelli had the fastest time for her team. Morelli finished in seventh place at 19:20.

The Saranac Lake and Lake Placid Nordic ski teams were slated to race at the Queensbury Invitational at Gore Mountain on Saturday, but the event was canceled due to extreme wind chills forecasted on Saturday.

–

RESULTS

BOYS

Individual

1. Keal (SL) 14:11, 2. A. Scanio (LP) 14:12, 3. Ash (SL) 15:21, 4. Stoddard (SL) 16:21, 5. Hesseltine (SL) 16:30, 6. Martin (SL) 16:38, 7. Weich (SL) 16:46, 8. Fay (LP) 17:04, 9. Hall (SL) 17:26, 10. Evans (SL) 17:33, 11. Burke (SL) 17:33, 12. P. Scanio (LP) 19:31, 13. Kamperschroer (SL) 20:46, 14. Wubbs (K) 45:50.

–

GIRLS

Individual

1. Damico (LP) 17:20, 2. T. Burth (SL) 17:56, 3. Garrison (LP) 18:02, 4. Samburgh (SL) 18:42, 5. Ernstone (LP) 18:47, 6. Galvin (LP) 18:48, 7. Morrelli (K) 19:20, 8. K. Burth (SL) 19:30, 9. Smith (SL) 19:58, 10. Cohen (LP) 20:27, 11. Wood (SL) 23:54, 12. Mader (SL) 24:17, 13. Crowley (SL) 25:15, 14. Pickard (SL) 25:35, 15. McCreidie (SL) 30:34, T-16. Gulli (K) 34:54, T-16. Whitney (K) 34:54.