Mount Greylock's Emily Kaegi was the county's top finisher at Saturday's Division 2 championships with a fifth-place finish.

GARDNER, Mass. — Mount Greylock Regional High School senior Emily Kaegi was the county's top finisher in the state Division 2 Cross Country Championships on Saturday at the Gardner Municipal Golf Course.

Kaegi covered the 2.9-mile course in 17 minutes, 21 seconds to lead the Mounties to a 10th-place finish in the team competition.

That Kaegi led the Berkshire County contingent was no surprise. That she broke 18 minutes was a surprise even to her.

 

"I crossed the line and saw that it was 17-something, and I was just shocked," Kaegi said. "I was hoping for somewhere in the 18-minute range, something similar to my Burnt Hills (N.Y.) time, just because the course is flat and has good footing.

 

"It's rolling, but it's nothing like Northfield."

 

In the boys' Division 2 race, the top county finisher was Lenox junior Tucker McNinch, who finished eighth overall in 14:59 in a race won by Newburyport's Nick Carleo in 14:14. Hoosac Valley's Travis Ciempa finished 10th in 15:02.

 

Mount Greylock's Carter Stripp and Tommy Kirby were 32nd (15:40) and 42nd (15:48), respectively, to lead the Mountie boys to a 10th-place finish.

 

Mount Greylock's boys finished with 286 points. The boys D2 race was won by Pembroke in a runaway with 49 points, less than half the 104 scored by second-place Hopedale. 

 

The girls team competition was won by Hamilton Wenham with 56 points, beating out Manchester Essex (115).

Olivia Lantz of Manchester Essex was the fastest girls finisher with a time of 16:55. Danvers' Catalina Dominick was second in 16:58.

 

Kaegi said the fast pace at the state meet helped her exceed her own expectations.

 

"I definitely was pulled by girls," she said. "I was in the front pack the whole time. We all were trading positions. And I kind of got worked into fifth and tried to keep up with the girls in front and have them pull me.

 

"Probably at the 2-mile mark, I knew that I could keep the pace I was going. They were far ahead of me, and I felt like I had to hold."

 

Amanda Leamon, Niku Darafshi, Laura Galib and Emma Polumbo scored for Mount Greylock.

 

Lenox's girls finished 12th with 294 points, behind the Mounties. Eighth-grader Najimy placed 71st overall in 19:11 to lead a Millionaire contingent that included Kate McNinch, Ella King, Magdalena Sorrentino and Grace Ellrodt.

 

Monument Mountain's girls were 15th out of 19 girls teams competing. The Spartans were led by senior Heather Hassett, who placed 41st overall with a time of 18:36.

 

In the Division 1 girls' race, Pittsfield junior Lauren Farry finished 95th out of 179 with a time of 19:09. Lowell's Kaley Richards was first in D1 in 16:54, but Needham, with two girls in the top five, won the D1 team race.

 

Mansfield won a Division 1 boys' race that saw Gabe Montague of Newton North come in first in a time of 14:27. In the day's first race, Hoosac's Ciempa used a strong closing kick to pick up four spots and finish in the top 10 out of 180 finishers.

 

Berkshire County placed in the Division 2 boys' race with Lenox junior Tucker McNinch,above, in 8th and Hoosac's Travis Ciempa, right, in 10th.

"I think I started 20th and worked my way up, picking up people one at a time," Ciempa said. "I was 14th about 800 meters from the finish and kind of kicked it up.

 

"I felt strong the whole time. There was only one part after going up a hill, on the flat I felt a little tired, but then I put everything back together."

 

Ciempa's coach said he was not surprised the junior harrier was able to finish strong.

 

"He can hold his pace longer than a lot of kids, but then he also has a good kick," Ron Namislo said. "He always seems to have a little more to go get, and then he does it. We're real proud of him.

 

"My honest goal coming in was, hopefully top 20. That would have been a good place, respectable, something to be proud of. But we didn't talk about that at all this week. I just left it alone. You come here, and there's already enough pressure and pace work that's going on around you. You automatically run faster.

 

"I knew that would happen for him, so we didn't talk about it at all."

 

Perhaps as important as the overall place for Ciempa was his place in the race within the race. Last week at Northfield Mountain, Mount Greylock's Stripp was nine seconds faster than Ciempa. On Saturday, Ciempa turned the tables.

 

"I was standing at the [results] board when the boys were looking at it," Namislo said. "All the boys from Berkshire County were there, and they were all looking at what they did against other Berkshire County runners. That's kind of a measuring stick for us.

 

"So Travis being three seconds to Tucker [McNinch] shows what kind of race he had."

 

That is what allows Hoosac to count Sydney Gallup's 99th place finish and time of 19:46 as a good day on the course.

 

"Timewise, she did pretty good," Namislo said. "Against Berkshire County kids, she ran about where she usually does. So we're looking at it as a successful day.

 

"When you look at her place, you say, 'Is 99th place successful?' Yeah, it is."

 

GIRLS DIVISION 2 RACE

Top 10: 1. Olivia Lantz, Manchester Essex, 16 minutes, 55 seconds; 2. Catalina Dominick, Danvers, 16:58; 3. Jesse Cardin, Sutton, 17:09; 4. Erin Dietz, Bedford, 17:14; 5. Emily Kaegi, Mount Greylock, 17:21; 6. Makenzie Cyr, Douglas, 17:30; 7. Jeanine Zheng, Hamilton-Wenham, 17:38; 8. Coralea Geraniotis, Nauset, 17:47; 9. Nicole Maclellan, Bedford, 17:49; 10. Lily Roberts, Marblehead, 17:51.

Team scores: 1. Hamilton-Wenham, 56 points; 2. Manchester Essex, 115; 3. Tyngsborough, 135; 4. Marblehead, 147; 5. Dover-Sherborn, 189; 6. Weston, 224; 7. Ursiline Academy, 234; 8. Wakefield, 239; 9. Parker Charter Essential, 256; 10. Mount Greylock, 287; 11. Milton, 289; 12. Lenox, 294; 13. Notre Dame-Worcester, 294; 14. Arlington Catholic, 299; 15. Monument Mountain, 334; 16. Amesbury, 335; 17. Holliston, 376; 18. Norwell, 376; 19. Tewksbury, 379.

Mount Greylock, 100: Amalia Leamon, 19:50; 113 Niku Darafshi, 20:07; 132. Laura Galib, 20:26; 133. Emma Polumbo, 20:29; 155. Grace Smith, 21:00; 164. Mollyann Haskins, 21:21.

Lenox, 71: Alice Najimy, 19:11; 94. Kate McNinch, 19:38; 96. Ella King, 19:41; 106. Magdalena Sorrentino, 19:55; 142. Grace Ellrodt, 20:43; 143. Alice Huth, 20:43; 161. Emily Tibbetts, 21:12.

Monument Mountain, 41: Heather Hassett, 18:36; 119. Allyson Berger, 20:12; 127. Kayla Dillon, 20:21; 158. Hannah Cohen, 21:08; 173. Aanisah Taylor, 22:00; 177. Maeven Broderick, 23:23.

Lee, 85: Hayley Bowers, 19:24.

Hoosac, 99: Sydnee Gallup, 19:46.

 

Mount Greylock's Carter Stripp came in 32nd.

BOYS DIVISION 2 RACE

Top 10: 1. Nick Carleo, Newburyport, 14 minutes, 14 seconds; 2. Paul Hogan, Burlington, 14:20; 3. Christian Stafford, Pembroke, 14:31; 4. Ty Enos, Dighton-Rehoboth, 14:35; 5. Michael Wyman, Old Rochester, 14:41; 6. John Valeri, Pembroke, 14:42; 7. Matthew Mahoney, Swampscott, 14:50; 8. Tucker McNinch, Lenox, 14:59; 9. Sam Bradford, Bedford, 15:00; 10. Travis Ciempa, Hoosac, 15:02.

Team scores: 1. Pembroke, 49 points; 2. Hopedale, 104; 3. Medfield, 138; 4. Marblehead, 152; 5. Tewksbury, 168; 6. Hamilton-Wenham, 184; 7. Newburyport, 214; 8. Coyle & Cassidy, 265; 9. Manchester Essex, 276; 10. Mount Greylock, 286; 11. Whittinsville Christian, 288; 12. Parker Charter Essential, 290; 13. Seekonk, 308; 14. Lenox, 351; 15. Monument, 365; 16. Norton, 369; 17. Dover-Sherborn, 387; 18. Melrose, 398; 19. Amesbury, 467.

Mount Greylock, 32: Carter Stripp, 15:39; 42. Tommy Kirby, 15:48; 103. Will Nolan, 16:22; 108. Sam Kobrin, 16:27; 133. Jake Kobrin, 16:46; 155. John Driver, 17:11; 161. Caleb Raymond, 17:19.

Lenox, 8: Tucker McNinch, 14:59; 81. Ben Herrick, 16:10; 84. Sam Darbey, 16:11; 159. Philippe Mortelliti, 17:16; 167. Christopher Najimy, 17:27; 176. Connor McNinch, 17:46.

Monument Mountain, 45: Dominic Roy, 15:50; 72. Mike Kotleski, 16:07; 115. Jesse Arevalo, 16:34; 138. Jordan Piepho, 16:48; 156. Jesse Rogers, 17:11; 164. Ben Joutras, 17:23; 166. Chase Wojtkowski, 17:25.

Hoosac Valley, 10: Travis Ciempa, 15:02; 61. Trevor Ciempa, 15:59; 143. Jared Haley, 16:53.