Taconic's King Fourth at State Alpine Meet

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires.com Sports
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CHARLEMONT, Mass. -- Taconic's Andrew King won one of two medals for the Berkshire County contingent at Wednesday's Alpine State Championships at Berkshire East.
 
He also won the consistency award.
 
King placed fourth in the morning's giant slalom, fourth in the afternoon's slalom and fourth for combined time.
 
The first competitor to hit the course in both disciplines, King finished with a two run time of 1 minute, 29.58 seconds -- four-tenths of a second behind combined champion Baxter Jennings of Marblehead (1:29.18) and four hundredths of a second out of third place.
 
King said he felt good about both his runs.
 
"I was going first both runs, so it's a clean track, and that can be harder or easier depending on how you look at it," King said. "This morning [in the GS] the snow was definitely a little soft, but they salted it, so it got harder. It made my run a little easier, and it was a lot of fun.
 
"The first one was really quick. I was just flying down the mountain. The second one, the slalom portion, again the snow was soft, so they salted it, and it got a little harder. So I could really get on my edges. It was really turny toward the end. Those two combinations are pretty difficult. But I executed it well, so I had a good run."
 
King clocked a time of 44.36 in the GS and 45.22 in the slalom.
 
Lenox's Helena Jankovic had a pair of strong runs in the girls competition on her way to a ninth-place finish.
 
Jankovic finished just less than six seconds behind girls champion Chloe Brush of Groton-Dunstable, who placed first in the slalom (45.34) and second in the GS (47.22) for a combined time of 1:32.56.
 
Lenox placed three skiers in the top third of the 109 girls who finished both runs. Taylor Knight placed 22nd, and Madison DiGrigoli was 33rd.
 
In total, 148 girls competed in the event.
 
There were 146 boys in action, though just 93 completed both runs.
 
In the afternoon, a lot of the boys had trouble with those gate combinations that King mentioned.
 
"The way they set, it's really quick," King said of the layout at the bottom of the hill. "You really have to be on your feet."
 
Lenox's Max DiGrigoli stayed upright and finished 19th overall with a combined time of 1:34.50. Monument Mountain's Keegan Leach was 29th in 1:38.11.
 
Although Wednesday marked the end of MIAA  competition, King and other top skiers will continue for the next few weeks, starting this weekend in New Hampshire at the Eastern High School Championships at Cannon Mountain in Franconia, N.H.
 
"That's a really fun race because in Massachusetts, we have a bunch of really good skiers here, and we're all going to be competing together," King said. "So it's going to be fun."
 
 
Girls Top 10
1. Chloe Brush, Groton-Dunstable, 1:32.56; 2. Julia Waal, Hingham, 1:34.11; 3. Maggie Carluccio, Bedford, 1:34.64; 4. Karen Oh, Lexington, 1:35.44; 5. Katie Bateman, Nashoba, 1:36.57; 6. Elyse Donaghue, East Longmeadow, 1:36.72; 7. Courtney Pingree, Marblehead, 1:36.84; 8. Kallah Greenberg, Acton-Boxborough, 1:36.95; 9. Helena Jankovic, Lenox, 1:38.38; 10. Kate Rogers, Hingham, 1:39.00.
 
Berkshire County finishers
22. Taylor Knight, Lenox, 1:43.58; 33. Madison DiGrigoli, Lenox, 1:46.83; 1:46.83; 79. Olivia Ruggiero, Monument Mountain, 1:58.57; 92. Amy Alderton, Lenox, 2:03.87; 98. Lena Ungewitter, Pittsfield, 2:05.56; 102. Cecilia Dunham, Wahconah, 2:08.19; 103. Alice Pajeski, Monument Mountain, 2:09.69.
Not finishing GS (place and time from slalom run): 22. Molly Knight, Lenox, 50.86; 84. Emma Soule, Monument Mountain, 58.91. 
 
Boys Top 10
1. Baxter Jennings, Marblehead, 1:29.18; 2. Travis Reardson, Lunenberg, 1:29.30; 3. Robbie McKersie, Masconomet, 1:29.54; 4. Andrew King, Taconic, 1:29.58; 5. James Davis, Weston, 1:30.10; 6. Owen Murray, Hingham, 1:30.12; 7. Raymond Dennehy, Saint John, 1:31.16; 8. Max Vignears, Belmont, 1:31.57; 9. Cam Tullie, Xaverian, 1:31.98; 10. Will Thompson, Groton-Dunstable, 1:32.33.
 
Berkshire County finishers
19. Max DiGrigoli, Lenox, 1:34.50; 29. Keegan Leach, Monument Mountain, 1:38.11; 41. Charlie Heimann, Pittsfield, 1:40.76; 42. Andrew Churchill, Monument Mountain, 1:40.87; 76. Owen Gutzmer, Pittsfield, 1:51.67; 87. Shamus Gaherty, Taconic, 1:57.48.
Not finishing slalom run (place and time from  the GS): 52. Rocco Piretti, Lenox, 51.07; 55. Alex Sternerup, Wahconah, 51.24; 95. Isaac Tabakin, Lenox, 52.22.
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