Saranac Lake’s best runners ever enter Hall of Fame
John Raymond, Craig Amell also honoredBy LOU REUTER, Enterprise Senior Sports Writer
Article Photos
SARANAC LAKE - The Saranac Lake boys cross country team made history 13 years ago as the first group of athletes to claim a state title in any sport at the high school.
Those runners made sports history again Saturday, when they were inducted into the Saranac Lake Sports Hall of Fame in a new team category. Eight of the 12 athletes who were on the then-Redskins 1995 New York State Class C championship team were able to reunite for the induction ceremony, which was held during halftime at the annual Mayor's Cup football game.
Along with the cross country squad, coaching legend John Raymond and three-letter athlete Craig Amell of Bloomingdale were also inducted on a sunny day in front of a homecoming crowd.
Team members at the induction ceremony were Sean Burke, Matt Cook, Bill Demong, Matt Daugherty, Dan Fahl, Zach Handler, Luke Meissner and Chris Moore. Tim Burke, Joe Charneski, Mike Stemp and John Leavitt were unable to attend.
Under coach Tom Kilroy, Saranac Lake's boys cross country runners turned in a remarkable season on their way to winning at the state meet, and today, as men, those same athletes can still be considered remarkable.
Kilroy noted that from that team came two Olympians, a doctor, an airline pilot and three coaches who work with college and national team level athletes.
"These guys remain the greatest athletic achievement at Saranac Lake High School, and they are still the best team ever in Section VII," Kilroy said. "There is no argument or debate about it. The facts speak for themselves."
Handler, a doctor in Minneapolis, Minn., traveled the greatest distance to attend the ceremony, which was followed later in the day by a reception hosted at Morgan's 11. Handler was the top finisher for the Redskins at the 1995 state meet, placing third. Overall, Saranac Lake had five runners finish in the top 20 en route to the state crown.
"This is the first time since high school that we have all been together, and chances are it won't happen again," Handler said. "It's only natural that when the Hall of Fame opened a team category, they thought of us. I think the reason that we were so successful was we had been together as a team for six years."
"Working with coach Kilroy for six years turned us into a great team," said Daugherty, who now coaches cross country and track at Houghton College in western New York. "We also all grew up together in a strong community of families who taught us to love the outdoors. For me, getting in the Hall of Fame is a big reminder of the supportive community we all grew up in."
John Raymond
Coach Raymond was one of the leaders of one of the most successful football programs in the North Country during his three tenures heading up the team. A 1960 graduate of Tupper Lake High School, Raymond was hired as a teacher in the Saranac Lake school district in 1964.
In addition to football, Raymond was also a baseball and ski coach at Saranac Lake. He had three runs heading the football program - from 1970-84, 1986-91 and 1995-98 - and during all three decades, he coached both undefeated and championship teams.
During his 24 years of coaching football, Raymond led Saranac Lake to 13 championship seasons. He took the then-Redskins football team all the way to the state Class C title game at the Carrier Dome in 1995 and also helped guide two more teams to the state semifinals in Kingston.
"I graduated from a great school district in Tupper Lake and went on to teach and coach the best kids in the country," Raymond said Saturday. "It was a great run.
"I have so many good memories," he added. "There have always been athletes at Saranac Lake who had star power. But the ones who stuck out the most in my mind were the kids you didn't expect a lot from who worked so hard and produced."
In addition to coaching and teaching at Saranac Lake, Raymond also served at times as the district superintendent.
"I owe this community a lot. They treated me great," he said.
Craig Amell
Amell graduated from Saranac Lake High School in 1995 and played baseball, football and his favorite sport of hockey for the then-Redskins.
As a junior backup quarterback, Amell was on the Saranac Lake football team that played for a state championship. In hockey, he played center and led his team to a pair of Champlain Valley Athletic Conference championships under coach Mark Gilligan.
During his senior season, Amell was in the top two in the league for scoring. After graduation, he went on to play hockey at the collegiate level, where he helped SUNY Canton capture two straight national NJCAA titles. He then attended the Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, where he played at the NCAA's Division III level.
"It's an honor being named to the Hall of Fame," Amell said. "I think the biggest thing for me is receiving recognition from the coaches. It's also great being from Bloomingdale and getting into the Hall of Fame. It's a small community, and it's a great community."
Amell has returned to his hometown of Bloomingdale, a community that he said he loves. He is currently a construction project manager for Luck Brothers, Inc., headquartered in Plattsburgh. Two of the jobs he headed up were the building of the new, artificial turf multi-use athletic complexes at Plattsburgh and AuSable Valley high schools.
|
NeilFortier
|
|
|---|---|
|
10-23-08 3:47 PM
|
Wish I had known about the inductees; I would've made the trip to honor some great accomplishments A huge congratulations to some of my fellow "96" classmates; Zach, Sean, Matt! To John Raymond! Thanks for the amazing memories! 1995 State Championship was a memory for the ages! How about those Redskins (not Red Storm) in 95. A State Champion in cross country and a State Champion runner up in football! No doubt why you all deserve to be in the Hall of Fame!
|
|
NeilFortier
|
|
|
10-23-08 3:45 PM
|
Wish I had none about the inductees; I would've made the trip to honor some great accomplishments A huge congratulations to some of my fellow "96" classmates; Zach, Sean, Matt! To John Raymond! Thanks for the amazing memories! 1995 State Championship was a memory for the ages! How about those Redskins (not Red Storm) in 95. A State Champion in cross country and a State Champion runner up in football! No doubt why you all deserve to be in the Hall of Fame!
|