North County Athletes of the Week: Taylar Gallup and Ben Gamache

NORTH COUNTY FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Name: Taylar Gallup

School: Hoosac Valley

Year: Senior

Sport: Cross Country

On Sept. 22, Gallup placed second in a tri-meet at Monument Mountain. She completed the 3.05-mile course in 22 minutes, 12 seconds, leading the Hurricanes to 15-50 victories over both Monument and Drury. The ’Canes enter October sitting atop the Berkshire County standings, sporting an unblemished 7-0 record.

Favorite TV show? “I like the Bachelorette when it’s on.”

Favorite book? “The Catcher in the Rye”

Favorite subject in school? “Math”

Dream job? “I want to be an occupational therapist.”

Toughest athlete you’ve ever competed against? “(Taconic’s) Chandler Ortega”

Hidden talent? “Making puppets and making videos”

Favorite band or musical artist? “Chuck Wicks”

Favorite athletic memory? “Definitely cross country practices. We have so much fun. We meditate together, we have a lot of inside jokes. We have so much fun.”

Hardest aspect of cross country? “Mentally pushing yourself and telling yourself to keep going when your body is screaming ‘Stop! It hurts!’ Sometimes it’s tough to breathe and your legs hurt so bad, but you’ve got to push yourself.”

Coach’s take: “Taylar is our leader for the amount of work she does. She’s also the glue that holds the team together. Her excellence has helped bring the rest of the team together. She never backs down, no matter what the challenge.

“During the race at Lenox [earlier this season] she was as sick as could be. Before the race, I told her just ‘keep purple (Pittsfield runners) behind you.’ She worked really hard even though she was sick. She didn’t have a great race by her standards, but she did what needed to be done – keep purple behind her – to help the team stay undefeated. All the younger kids look at that and see how hard she works. It helps build the team.” (Ron Namislo, Hoosac Valley girls’ cross country coach)

NORTH COUNTY MALE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Name: Ben Gamache

School: Drury

Year: Senior

Sport: Cross Country

On Sept. 22, Gamache won the boys’ tri-meet on Monument Mountain’s 3.05-mile course. He finished the race in 18 minutes flat. The Blue Devils are 3-5, but Gamache has placed first overall in all three meets he’s competed in this fall.

Favorite athlete? “Milan Lucic. You’ve got to go with hockey.”

Favorite TV show? “Man Versus Food (on Travel Channel)”

Favorite subject in school? “Calculus”

Favorite book? “The autobiography of Tedy Bruschi was pretty good.”

Dream job? “I would really like to be an architect. That’s my goal.”

Dream vacation spot? “Maybe somewhere like New Guinea. Somewhere different like that.”

Toughest athlete you’ve ever competed against? “There’s a few. The Harmon brothers (Ethan and Andrew from Hoosac Valley) were pretty hard to beat. (Greylock’s) Matt Cheung and (Lenox’s) Scott Carpenter are pretty crazy to run against.”

Hidden talent? “I can draw pretty well. I’m starting an art gallery.”

Favorite athletic memory? “It would probably have to be my first race (in 2009) because of the injury (broken leg) I was coming back from. It was my junior year at Lenox, and I came in third place.”

Hardest aspect of cross country? “For me, it would have to be an away meet. Just driving there and having to wait for the race. You just want to get out there and do it. We don’t have any home meets this season, so I experience it every week.”

Coach’s take: “He worked hard over the summer. He came back in shape. He ran at the Nike Cross Country Camp, and he did well in the Fourth of July race. He’s put a lot of time in, and so far he has lived up to that. He’s got a lot of things he’d like to accomplish, and he’s well on his way to a good year.” (Drury boys’ cross country coach Jim Buffoni)