The Empire State Winter Games torch will pass through Saugerties on Monday, January 27, passing through the hands of each of the over 50 athletes who will attend the sporting event in Lake Placid on Jan. 30. The torch will remain lit throughout its journey from Battery Park in Manhattan to the site of the games. At approximately 4:45 pm, a parade of participating youth and adult athletes, local police and local fire outfits will leave from Court Drive in Cantine Field and march through the village before torch lighting ceremony at the torch’s next stop in Albany.
That day, the torch will pass through Waterloo, Cazenovia, Rome, Clinton and Windham before reaching Saugerties. The route contains a total of 60 stops before the games begin — over 2500 total athletes will compete.
In last year’s Empire State Winter Games, the Saugerties Youth Hockey Mustangs won three of four games, and won the Bronze Medal Game against the Tri-County Eagles with a score of 3-1.
The girls’ hockey team, The Fillies, also earned a bronze medal at the 2019 ESG. The Saugerties Nightmares adult women’s skating team earned three silver medals in speed skating, and a slew of young Saugertiesian figure skaters placed in the competition. Gillian Lopez, Aurora Freeman, Ava Schmadel and Addie Kotsol won gold medals for their performances; Meagan Gleason and Gaia Franklin-Ross earned bronze medals. Rebecca Nace held the honor of torch bearer. The Peewee, Squirt and Mite teams also attended.
“It was a lot of fun…they do the opening ceremonies and get to have the torch and this year they actually had the torch make it from NYC to Lake Placid,” said girls figure skating coach Amber Crispell. “They make it really nice, they had a lot going on up there. I think all the girls had fun.”