Lenox Girls, Mount Greylock Boys Win Team XC Titles

By Stephen DravisPrint Story | Email Story
 
NORTHFIELD, Mass. — The seeds for the Mount Greylock boys cross country team’s fifth straight Western Mass title were planted in the first week of the season.

 

"We got spanked," Mounties coach Scott Burdick said of his team’s first dual meet outing of the fall. "Coming into this season, we knew Lenox’s top three. We didn’t know about their fourth and fifth. So we went into the year thinking, 'OK, let’s not get hurt. Let’s just get through this [dual meet] season.' We were starting to pat ourselves on the back a little bit.

"And all of a sudden, we got spanked by Lenox by 10 points, and it was the best thing that ever happened. … Week one, we got spanked, and all of a sudden, our workouts changed."

On Saturday at Northfield Recreation Center, that training paid off in a two-point victory over the Millionaires to claim Mount Greylock’s seventh regional title in the last 10 years.

"Lenox is a great team," Burdick said. “And there’s certainly no shame in coming in second. But they made us better.”

The Mounties were good enough on Saturday to place six runners in the top 20, including three in the top six to collect 49 points and beat Lenox (51 points) for the Division 2 crown.

In the D2 girls race, there was no such drama. Lenox's girls blew away the field with 27 points, easily outpacing second place Mohawk Trail (82). Lenox took four of the five spots, led by regional champion Emily Tibbetts, who finished in 20 minutes, 29 seconds.

Lenox also had the top boy in D2 in Tucker McNinch, who continued a stellar season with a time of 16:31 to beat Berkshire County rivals Travis Ciempa of Hoosac Valley (16:40) and Ace McAlister of Monument Mountain (16:43).

The next three boys across the finish line in the D2 race wore Mount Greylock red and white: Tommy Kirby, Carter Stripp and Will Nolan. Sam and Jake Kobrin rounded out the scoring for Mount Greylock, but a key finish was turned in by non-scorer freshman Owen Brandriss, whose 20th place finish by fewer than three seconds cost Lenox a point.

"When it’s a two-point meet, everyone’s important, every place," Burdick said. "And these kids, they make me look good. I'm in the right place at the right time a lot.

"You could see it in their faces. They were focused."

The Mounties and Millionaires get to stare each other down again next Saturday at Franklin Park in the state championships, where they will be joined by the third-place team from Cathedral and individuals Travis and Trevor Ciempa and McAlister.

On the girls side, Lenox and Mohawk Trail will be joined by third-place Hampshire, which edged Mount Greylock’s girls for the third team-qualifying position, 99-103. The Mounties will send Emma Polumbo (sixth) and Niku Darafshi (20th) to the state meet.

In Division 1, no Berkshire County teams qualified for states, but Taconic’s Matt Rabasco (12th) and Pittsfield’s Lauren Farry (14th) each qualified as individuals to run in Franklin Park on Nov. 15.

In D2 girls, Lenox was so dominant that if it was not already going as a team, it would still have five girls who qualified for states as individuals. Tibbetts was followed across the line by teammates Magdalena Sorrentino (second), Emma Jourdain (fourth), Alice Namimy (fifth) and Elizabeth Jarck (15th).

Tibbetts, a junior and one of the elders on a very young Lenox squad, said that Saturday she felt as good physically as she has all year on a race course.

"My plan was to go up the hill slow and take advantage of the downhills in the second mile," she said. "Alice (Najimy) and I decided to kind of run up the hill in the beginning together and try to pick people off as we went. And I felt really good going down the hill.

"In the straightaway right before the first mile is when I think I took the lead."

 
DIVISION 1 BOYS
 
Top 10: 1. Liam Sullivan, Northampton, 16:27; 2. Connor Evans, Amherst, 16:30; 3. Aidan Gilson, Northampton, 16:46; 4. Benjamin Hill, Northampton, 16:56; 5. Ben Doiron, Westfield, 17:00; 6. Owen Wright, Amherst, 17:02; 7. Tim Foldy-Porto, Northampton, 17:14; 8. Nevin Murray, Amherst, 17:16; 9. William Hurlbut, West Springfield, 17:16; 10. Cheyenn Grabiec, Westfield, 17:21.
 
Teams: 1. Northampton 28; 2. Amherst 67; 3. Holyoke 115; 4. Westfield 148; 5. Minnechaug 154; 6. Longmeadow 160. 7. Taconic 216; 8. Wahconah 218; 9. Pittsfield, 226; 10. West Springfield 231; 11. Ludlow 289; 12. Belchertown 298; 13. East Longmeadow 304; 14. Chicopee Comp 344; 15. Springfield Central 406; 16. Agawam 412; 17. Chicopee 521; 18. South Hadley 563.
 
Taconic: 12. Matt Rabasco 17:23; 37. Andrew Chenail; 38. Nick Turner; 56. Trevor Pelkey; 73. Ryan Serre; 83. Tyler Pudlo; 102. Owen Fitzgerald.
 
Wahconah: 17. Eric Klemm 17:44; 29. Moses Greenspan; 30. Michael Wagner; 49. Ryan McMahon; 93. Daniel Brainard; 99. Quincy Heon; 100. Jaryd Massasro.
 
Pittsfield: 23.Brendan Leary, 17:51; 36. Thomas Lee; 50. Hunter Hoag; 53. Noah Casino; 64. Greg Fournier; 88. Noah Shepardson; 103. Eamon McCandless.
 
DIVISION 1 GIRLS
 
Top 10: 1. Mariel Lutz, Northampton, 19:59; 2. Megan Dustin, Agawam, 20:36; 3. Erica Dean, Northampton, 20;40; 4. Shannon McAndrew, Chicopee, 20:47; 5. Stephanie Jordan, Northampton, 20:52; 6. Margaret Mahoney, Northampton, 21:02; 7. Lydia Sawyer, Amherst, 21:09; 8. Maggie McAndrew, Holyoke, 21:21; 9. Emma Gonzalez, Amherst, 21:24; 10. Megan Dias, Ludlow, 21:29.
 
Teams: 1. Northampton 41; 2. Amherst 70; 3. Ludlow 144; 4. South Hadley 145; 5. Longmeadow 156; 6. Minnechaug 165; 7. Belchertown 211; 8. Pittsfield 226; 9. Chicopee 255; 10. Agawam 287; 11. Holyoke, 288; 12. Wahconah 308; 13.East Longmeadow 318; 14. Westfield 341; 15. Taconic 425; 16. West Springfield 429; 17. Springfield Central 472; 18. Chicopee Comp 525.
 
Pittsfield: 14. Lauren Farry, 21:40; 35. Taylor Maddalena; 53. Molly Kittler; 56. Daria Brown; 68. Lessley Columna; 70. Kim Jansen; 78. Hailey Kirchner.
 
Wahconah: 48. Corry Psutka, 23:47; 50. Katrina Bruce; 58. Lindsay Perrea; 75. Jessica Houle; 76. Erica Perrea; 79. Kathryn Wells; 92. Rebecca Cook.
 
Taconic: 66. Rachel Tynan, 24:53; 72. Carli Scolforo; 84. Nar Lin; 97. Karli Manship; 106. Meg Holm; 113. Mary Hayes; 122. Marliana Trembley.
 
DIVISION 2 BOYS
 
Top 10: 1. Tucker McNinch, Lenox, 16:31; 2. Travis Ciempa, Hoosac Valley, 16:40; 3. Ace McAlister, Monument, 16:43; 4. Tommy Kirby, Mount Greylock, 16:47; 5. Carter Stripp, Greylock, 17:05; 6. Will Nolan, Greylock, 17:40; 7. Philippe Mortelliti, Lenox, 17:40; 8. Trevor Ciempa, Hoosac, 17:43; 9. Ben Herrick, Lenox, 17:45; 10. Henry Domnarski, Palmer, 17:46.
 
Teams: 1. Mount Greylock 49; 2. Lenox 51; 3. Cathedral 124; 4. Monument Mountain 157; 5. Hampshire 198; 6. Hoosac Valley 227; 7. Monson 232; 8. Mohawk Trail 252; 9. Frontier 256; 10. Holyoke Catholic 285; 11. Franklin Tech 310; 12. Gateway 315; 13. Southwick 372; 14. Pioneer Valley 378; 15. Mount Everett 395; 16. Palmer 396; 17. Sabis 446; 18. Greenfield 450; 19. Granby 452; 20. McCann Tech 462; 21. Hampden Charter 514; 22. Rennaissance 569; 23. Putnam 665.
 
Mount Greylock: 15. Sam Kobrin; 19. Jake Kobrin; 20. Owen Brandriss; 28. John Driver.
 
Lenox: 13. Sam Darby; 21. Connor McNinch; 25. Christopher Najimy; 31. Raphael Bruno.
 
Monument Mountain: 30. Jesse Rogers; 37. Joe Grochmal, 41. Brendan Kavanaugh, 50. Jared Henry; 92. Nick Gray; 102. Scott Larocelle.
 
Hoosac Valley: 12. Jared Haley; 103. Nate Jette; 108. Kyle Morehouse; 128. Derek Koffi-Ziter; 159. Avery Raschdorf.
 
Mount Everett: 46. Malik Hogan, 19:51; 51; Trevor Turner; 88. Kenneth Edwards, 21:03; 97. Justin Makuc; 125. Matthew Spencer; 146 Matthew Kane.
 
McCann Tech: 62. Jerry McCarthy, 20:23; 83. Lucas Yelle; 101. James Dix; 111. Andrew Corsi; 118. William Galipeau; 124. Cameron Anderson; 140. William Rivard.
 
Lee: 33. Sam Harding 19:12; 45. Michael Merwin; 161. Michael Comali.
 
DIVISION 2 GIRLS
 
Top 10: 1. Emily Tibbetts, Lenox, 20:29; 2. Magdalena Sorrentino, Lenox, 20:46; 3. Kathryn Wright, Monson, 20:50;4. Emma Jourdain, Lenox, 20:57; 5. Alice Najimy, Lenox, 20:58; 6. Emma Polumbo, Mount Greylock, 21:00; 7. Sophia Prouty, Hampshire, 21:19; 8. Madison Boucias, Mohawk Trail, 21:20; 9. Natasha Olanyk, Mohawk, 21:21; 10. Taylor Blow, Hampshire, 21:21.
 
Teams: 1. Lenox 27; 2. Mohawk 82; 3. Hampshire 99; 4. Mount Greylock 103; 5. Holyoke Catholic 113; 6. Monson 227; 7. Monument Mountain 228. 8. Southwick 250; 9. Frontier 250; 10. Hoosac Valley 295; 11. Greenfield 303; 12. Cathedral 337; 13. Sabis 354; 14. Pioneer Valley 358; 15. Gateway 385; 16. Granby 396; 17. Palmer 432; 18. Lee 488; 19. McCann Tech 561.
 
Lenox: 15. Elizabeth Jarck; 44. Alice Huth; 48. Ella King.
 
Mount Greylock: 20. Niku Darafshi; 23. Margo Smith; 24. Laura Galib; 30. Bella Bote; 32. Grace Smith; 33. Anya Sheldon.
 
Monument Mountain: 27. Meryl Phair, 22:34; 42. Hannah Cohen; 47. Kayla Dillon; 54. Maeven Broderick; 58. Eleanor Stewart; 70. Jordan Begley; 80. Caroline Bissaillon.
 
Hoosac Valley: 37. Jamie Barthe, 23:02; 52. Mya Corkins; 65. Allison Racela; 67. Paige Barrow; 79. Sierra Jamros; 81. Kayla Garabedian; 103. Nora Griffin.
 
Lee: 51. Ava Martin, 23:56; 112. Siobhan Rodgers; 115. Bea Blais; 121. Meagan Kohlenberger; 126. Claudia Cahalan; 130. Siera Palardy; 134. Caitlyn Gooley.
 
McCann Tech: 83. Zoe Loughman, 26:10; 125. Laura Netti; 136. Faith King; 137. Tessa Christman; 138. Rosalyn Lincoln.
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