PSC Snowshoe Team Earns 33 Empire State Games medals with strong team performances

Paul Smith's College Snowshoe Team won 33 Medals

Empire State Winter Games Snowshoeing –

Paul Smiths, NY

Sixteen members of the Paul Smith's College Snowshoe Team shared the fine snowshoe conditions in four separate race distances in the Empire State Winter Games on Saturday.  Despite the near zero temperatures that reigned through the day, the racers enjoyed some solid course conditions which resulted in fast times despite the cold. 

800 Meters Snowshoe Race – 2025 Empire State Games

Paul Smith's College runners Brooklynn Shumway, Wesley Burkit and Carson Wohlers paced the respective fields in the 800 meter event to start the day.  Brooklynn's time of 3:30 for the women and a tie in the men's event with Wesley Burkit and Carson Wohlers finishing together in 3:13 was a fine start to the day.  Nat Ross won the women's 20 – 29 age class in 3:53 to win gold. 

100 Meter Snowshoe Race – 2025 Empire State Games

In the 100 meters, Caz Couble had the fastest men's time of the day, finishing in 15.5 to win the 15 – 19 age class, followed closely behind by Carson Wohlers in 15.6 to win gold in the 20 – 29 category.  For the women, Brooklynn Shumway and fellow PSC runner Olivia Bobbie crossed the tape in 18.0 in separate heats to record the fastest 100-meter women's times.  Bobbie won gold in the 20 – 29 class, while Shumway won her second gold medal of the day in the 15 – 19 category for the 100 meters. 

400 Meter Snowshoe Race – 2025 Empire State Games

Brooklynn Shumway again topped the women's field in the 400 meters for a three event sweep on Saturday taking the gold medal in a time of 1:40. Teammate Chloe Freund had the second fastest 400 meter time of the day with a time of 1:47 to earn her third silver medal in the 15 – 19 age category.  

Wes Burkit won gold in 1:25 in the 400 meters for the men in the 20 – 29 category to top the field in this tough event.  Given the extremely cold temperatures and below zero windchill, we conducted the three sprint distances in rapid succession at the soccer field.  Although this doesn't allow much time for recovery from the previous events, it does get the morning events done so the athletes can get indoors and back into warm dry clothing. 

5,000 Meter Cross Country Snowshoe Race – 2025 Empire State Games

Eliot Soderholm continued his undefeated snowshoe racing season with a superior performance over the ESG 5K course on the FIS caliber Paul Smith's College Biathlon and Nordic Ski Center with a winning time of 19:20. The extremely hilly terrain was groomed to perfection, and although the temperatures had not risen through the day, the runners overcame the challenges of the rolling steep hill climbs with strong performances.  Soderholm won the men's 15 – 19 age class, while Wes Burkit won the 20 – 29 age class in 23:39 to place second overall for the men.

Ellie Bryant (12-years old) from Mexico, NY had a blistering time of 27:39 to top the women's field in the 5K.  Ellie is a strong runner for Mexico Academy and will be a force on the trails for years to come.  Ellen Haas of Paul Smith's was the second woman to cross the finish line in 29:18 to win the women's 20 – 29 age class. 

There is very little rest for Paul Smith's College snowshoe team as they are preparing for the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival 2 Km event held at Dewey Mountain Recreation Center in Saranac Lake, NY on February 3^rd at 6 PM.  This will also be a hilly course, but the temperature is expected to be about 30 degrees warmer than Saturday's for Empire State Games.