Lake Placid’s Kenny Lawrence leads his teammate Alex Dawson-Ellis during a meet on Sept. 27 in Lake Placid. (News photo — Parker O’Brien)

LAKE PLACID — The Blue Bombers cross country team kicked off its first home meet on Tuesday, Sept. 27. The boys and girls teams collected a win over Northeastern Clinton but fell to Saranac Lake.

The race, which was held at Mount Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, showcased a different cross country course from previous seasons in preparation for the Champlain Valley Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships, which will be held at the venue.

“It was the first time on a new course and the times seemed pretty good,” Blue Bombers head coach Mel Frazer said. “It was Saranac Lake and they are a powerhouse and they definitely dominated, but we had some good strong finishes for boys.”

On the girls’ side, Lake Placid’s Lilly Rother was the overall winner, topping the girls’ field in 20:57. The Blue Bomber’s Kai McKinnon then finished in third place.

“Lilly Rother was way ahead of the game. That was a fun showing,” Frazer said.

Saranac Lake’s Addi Ash, left, and Lake Placid’s Kai McKinnon lead a pack of runners at the start of the cross country race on Sept. 27 at Mount Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid. (News photo — Parker O’Brien)

Despite two runners finishing in the top three, the Red Storm’s depth proved to be a difference-maker as the team had seven runners claim spots in the top 12 earning the sweep to improve to 7-1 on the season.

Saranac Lake ran past Lake Placid by a 25-34 score. The Red Storm girls also picked up wins over Northeastern Clinton and Boquet Valley/Moriah by identical 17-46 scores.

The Blue Bombers girls recorded their win over Northeastern Clinton 22-24 to move to 5-3 on the season.

Addi Ash, of Saranac Lake, was her team’s top runner finishing as the race’s runner-up in 21:27. The Red Storm’s Phoebe Peer took fourth place in 22:21, while her teammate Astacia Bruno was right behind her in fifth at 22:30.

Lake Placid’s Harley Cohen had a solid outing. Cohen took ninth place in 23:23.

The Blue Bombers’ were rounded out by Jenna Fay (25:33) in 14th place, Holly Erenstone (27:42) in 19th and Mya Marshall (27:49) in 20th.

On the boys’ side, the Red Storm took nine out of the top 12 spots on the way to a 21-39 win over Lake Placid and two identical score victories of 15-50 over Northeastern Clinton and Boquet Valley/Moriah.

Meanwhile, the Blue Bombers picked up a win over Northeastern Clinton 17-44 to improve to 5-4.

The Red Storm boys’ duo of Sam Ash and Jake Kollmer finished first and second, respectively. Ash won the race in 16 minutes, 28 seconds and Kollmer finished in 16:39. Following closely behind was Lake Placid’s top duo of Aidan Fay and Andrew Scanio. Fay took third place in 17:05, while Scanio was fourth in 17:34.

The next four runners all competed for the Red Storm, including Aiden Hessletine (17:57) in fifth place, Morgan Martin (18:46) in sixth, Sam Madden (19:01) in seventh and Paul Fogarty (19:17) in eighth.

The Blue Bombers were rounded out by Colin Francis (19:20) in ninth place, Colton Kondrat (20:50) in 16th, Kenny Lawrence (21:42) in 19th and Alex Dawson-Ellis (24:10) in 39th.

The Lake Placid cross country team will travel for their next meets on Tuesday, Oct. 4. The Blue Bombers will compete against Moriah/Boquet Valley, Peru and Seton Catholic at Camp Dudley in Westport at 4:30 p.m.

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Invitational

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The Lake Placid cross country teams ventured out to Utica on Sept. 24 for the E.J. Herrmann Invitational at Proctor Park.

Rother was the Blue Bomber girls’ top finisher, placing seventh overall in 21:09. McKinnon followed closely behind in 15th place in 22:13, while Cohen (24:27) took 46th place in the race that featured 130 girls’ runners.

Lake Placid was rounded out by Jenna Fay (26:32) in 75th place, Marshall (28:46) in 97th, Erenstone (28:52) in 101st and Erin Roth (38:11) in 126th. Adirondack Central’s Cora Hinsdill was the overall winner of the girls’ race finishing in 19:58.

Beaver River Central captured the girls’ team title with 67 points, while Adirondack Central was second with 78 points. The Blue Bombers finished in seventh place as a team with 174 points.

On the boys’ side, Fonda-Fultonville was the overall winner with 76 points, while Delaware Academy took second with 80 points. Lake Placid finished in ninth place with 247 points.

Travis Gaffney, of St. Mary’s Catholic in Ontario, Canada, won the race in 16:23, while the Blue Bombers’ Aidan Fay claimed a top 10 spot, finishing in 10th in 18:02.

Less than 30 seconds after Fay finished, Lake Placid’s Scanio crossed the finish line to earn 15th place in 18:28. Francis (20:23) was the Blue Bomber’s third runner to finish earning 53rd place out of 171 runners.

Lake Placid’s final five finishers were Lawrence (22:25) in 95th place, Kondrat (23:16) in 115th, Ethan Cash (23:36) in 126th, Sean Roth (27:12) in 151st and Nicholas O’Brien (35:39) in 167th.