The Red Storm girls dominated the state competition, officially securing the title the Feb. 24 morning after closing out the 3×3 team relay with a victory in the NYSPHSAA Skiing Championship at the Bristol Mountain Ski Resort.

The team, which finished as the state runner-ups a year ago, crushed the last two days of racing, earning a team score of 18 points — the lowest overall score wins the event. Honeoye Falls-Lima recorded 37 points, which gave them second place, while Adirondack was third with 53.

The Red Storm’s boys also put forth a solid outing, earning second overall with a two-day score of 35 points. Queensbury was the only team ahead of them, posting 19 points. Honeoye Falls-Lima was third with 37.

On Feb. 24, the Red Storm girls trio of Tyler Burth, Pepper Laxson and Kaylee Holmes placed first in the state team relay event by more than 20 seconds, earning a combined time of 32 minutes, 2.4 seconds. Burth finished her leg of the race in 10:37.1, while Laxson posted a time of 10:41.9 and Holmes skied to a time of 10:43.4 in the last portion of the race.

Lake Placid’s trio of Leila Fey (10:46.8), Norah Francis (11:53.1) and Holly Erenstone (11:34.0), which represented Section VII’s second team, placed fifth overall in 34:13.9.

Saranac Lake’s other relay team, competing as Section VII-A, finished fourth in the race with a total time of 34:09.2. The team included Kelsi Burth (10:53.7), Cadence Kennedy (11:08.8) and Lila Zobel (12:06.8).

Honeoye Falls-Lima’s team of Emily Lawrence, Hazel Joki and Jenna Lawrence finished second behind the Red Storm in 32:22.0. The Section 2-A team of Anna Yarsevich, Sylvia Slingerland and Raquelle Landa was third in 33:21.2 in the race that featured 16 teams.

On the boys side, the Red Storm’s top team of brothers Mason (9:13.6) and Liam Stoddard (9:15.4), alongside Keaton Daley (9:25.8), placed fourth overall in 27:54.9.

Queensbury won the boys team relay title in 27:24.0. Their team consisted of Josh Jenkin, Johnny Luthringer and the individual state champion Alden Guay. The boys event also featured 16 teams.

Lake Placid skiers Trey Mariano (9:29.0), Connor Mannion (9:29.9) and Will Coffin (9:56.5) competed as the Section VII-B team in the boys race. They finished sixth overall in the relay in 28:55.5.

The Section VII-A team consisted of Saranac Lake skiers Emmett VanBuskirk (9:34.6), Ebin Meissner (9:04.7) and Benjamin Ziemann (10:32.5) as they placed eighth in 29:11.9.

Honeoye Falls-Lima placed second in 27:28.0, while Section 2-A was third in 27:40.9.

The Section VII girls team, which combines both Saranac Lake and Lake Placid’s results, also won the state title with 80 points. The Section VII boys team was third with 141.

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Individual 7.5K

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The Red Storm girls had five skiers place inside the top-15 of the 7.5-kilometer individual skate event on Monday, Feb. 23.

While Saranac Lake’s girls put forth a dominant team race, it was Lake Placid’s Fey who led the area skiers to the best finish. Fey, an eighth-grader, placed third overall in 23 minutes, 49.2 seconds. The Blue Bomber boys and girls competitors are racing as individuals and part of the Section VII team.

Adirondack’s Cora Hinsdill took home the girls individual state title for the third year in a row, finishing in 22:29.4. Shenendehowa’s Raquelle Landa (23:44.7) was second overall. The girls race featured 48 student-athletes.

Laxson, who won the Section VII individual title last week, led Saranac Lake with a fourth-place finish in 23:55.3.

Three other Red Storm skiers placed inside the top-10 with Holmes (25:01.7) in seventh, Kelsi Burth (25:04.8) in eighth and Kennedy (25:10.4) in 10th. Saranac Lake’s Tyler Burth finished in 13th place in 25:40.5.

Francis (26:17.5) in 17th, and Erenstone (26:31.0) in 19th closed out the day for Lake Placid’s girls. The Red Storm’s Zobel, placing 32nd in 28:54.0, capped off the day for her team.

On the boys side, Saranac Lake brothers Mason and Liam Stoddard both finished inside the top-10. Mason, a senior, placed fifth in 21:10.7, while Liam, a sophomore, was seventh in 21:27.0.

Queensbury’s Guay was the overall winner, finishing in 20:49.1. Honeoye Falls-Lima’s Linden Bellizzi (21:04.8) placed second, while Shenendehowa’s Jacob Perkins (21:07.5) was third.

The Red Storm also had strong finishes from VanBuskirk and Daley. VanBuskirk placed 11th in 22:07.0, while Daley was 14th in 22:22.9.

Ziemann (23:13.1) and Meissner (23:32.2) rounded out Saranac Lake’s squad in 24th and 26th, respectively.

Coffin paced Lake Placid with a 12th-place finish in 22:08.3. The boys race featured 48 competitors. The Blue Bombers were rounded out by Mannion (22:56.6) in 22nd and Mariano (24:18.0) in 32nd.