McDermott, Mounties Repeat at State Meet

WOODFORD, Vt. -- Tuesday was a day for the color red: the hearts, the flowers and the dominating performance by the Mount Greylock boys cross country ski team.

 

Quinn McDermott defended his individual state crown from a year ago and led the Mounties to their third straight team state championship at Prospect Mountain.

 

The Mounties placed three finishers in the top eight in the state. Of the eight waves of boys who headed out on the 7.2-kilometer course, Mount Greylock's racers finished first in seven of the eight groups. And the lone exception, Jude Bakija in the fourth wave, was second in his wave and 12th overall in a 127-racer field.

 

McDermott, racing in the first wave, was the first racer across the finish line in 18 minutes, 24 seconds — 27 seconds ahead of runner-up Xander Scopinich-Burgel of Concord-Carlisle. Mounties Ollie Swabey and Foster Savitsky placed fourth and eighth, respectively.

 

"The league season has been going pretty well for our team," Savitsky said. "We've been getting a lot of our varsity skiers in the top 10. … Our coaches have been really good this season. They've spent a lot of time with us, focusing on the things we need to work on this season as a team.

 

"There always is [some added pressure] for any team that comes in after winning the prior year."

 

The Mounties finished seven points ahead of runner-up Newton South in the team standings. Wahconah, led by Fritz Sanders' 11th-place finish, grabbed fifth place out of 16 schools posting a team score.

 

Lenox's boys finished 10th with Finn Jolly leading the way with a 35th place finish. Hoosac Valley entered one boy in the competition, and David Scholz ended up a solid 26th in the field.

 

In the girls race, Mount Greylock led the county's contingent with a third-place team finish. The Mounties ended up well back of team champ Concord-Carlisle, but just three points behind runner-up Newton North.

 

As they have all season, the trio of Annie Miller, Nellie Swabey and Lauren Miller led the way for Mount Greylock's girls, finishing in a pack on Tuesday in seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively.

 

Mount Greylock coach Hilary Greene said she was happy with her young squad's performance.

 

"I saw them all ski very smart — totally executed the plan we talked about," Greene said. "I think each of them had very good races and feel good about it.

 

"Five of our eight are middle-schoolers. So it's the ones that aren't scoring that I'm really proud of."

 

Miller is the lone junior on the Mounties' state team; Effie Skinner, who finished 47th, is the lone senior of the group.

 

"[The younger skiers] never thought they'd be skiing in a varsity state championship this year," Greene said. "They totally stepped it up, and they looked like they know what they're doing out there and figuring out some of the technique stuff."

 

Lenox's girls finished sixth in the team standings on Tuesday with Alice Culver finishing 12th as an individual. Wahconah's Vienna Mahar placed 16th to lead her team to an eighth-place showing. Hoosac Valley's Kim Mach represented the Hurricanes, finishing 81st.

 

Tuesday marked the third straight year (not counting the COVID season of 2021 when there was no meet) that the Massachusetts state championship was contested at Prospect. In that span, the Berkshire County schools have brought home four state titles: Lenox's girls and Mount Greylock's boys in 2020, the Mount Greylock boys last year and the Mounties for a third time on Tuesday.

 

"We've got a lot of experience skiing up here," Savitsky said. "It's super close to our school. So we've certainly had training days up here, tons of races in the past here. So it's really nice to get a course that we're super familiar with and have had a lot of time on."

 

Photos from this event here.

 

Boys Top 10

1. Quinn McDermott, MG, 18 minutes, 24 seconds; 2. Xander Scopinich-Burgel, Concord Carlisle, 18:51; 3. Ian Brenner, Newton South, 18:52; 4. Ollie Swabey, MG, 18:53; 5. Oliver Frenandez-Tai, Newton North, 19:09; 6. Liam Sakakeeny, Newton South, 19:25; 7. Tyler Merrit, Wayland, 19:27; 8. Foster Savitsky, Mount Greylock, 19:35; 9. Dashiell Martin, Newton South, 19:43; 10. Andrew Krieger, Acton-Boxboro, 20:01.

 

Boys Team Scores

1. Mount Greylock, 25 points; 2. Newton South, 32; 3. Concord Carlisle, 62; 4. Wellesley, 83; 5. Wahconah, 96; 6. Newton North, 136; 7. Weston, 139; 8. Acton-Boxboro, 149; 9. Wayland, 153; 10. Lenox, 154; 11. Westford, 172; 12. Mohawk Trail, 194; 13. Amherst-Pelham, 235; 14. Winchester, 311; 15. Nashoba, 337; 16. Lincoln-Sudbury, 370.

 

Boys Local Finishers

(with place, bib number and time)

Hoosac Valley: David Scholz, 26, 172, 21:50.

Lenox: Finn Jolly, 35, 81, 22:25; Ben Ames, 38, 82, 22:40; Sean Cestone, 40, 83, 22:1; Ben Harwood, 41, 86, 22.48; Jackson Carhart, 45, 85; 22:57; Nick Moore, 59, 84, 23:45.

Mount Greylock: Quinn McDermott, 1, 151, 18:24; Ollie Swabey, 4, 152, 18:53; 3. Foster Savitsky, 8, 153, 19:35; Jude Bakija, 12, 154; 20:14; Declan Rogers, 15, 155, 20:30; Knowl Stroud, 27, 156, 21:52.

Wahconah: Fritz Sanders, 11, 71, 20:13; Aiden Garcia, 19, 72, 21:06; Nathan Miller, 25, 73, 21:43; Cadighan Gladu, 41, 75, 22:48; Colby Robb, 51, 74, 23:10; Jack Curtiss, 53, 77, 23:16.

 

Girls Top 10

1. Clara Lake, Newton North, 21:30; 2. Finn Feist, Concord-Carlisl, 21:33; t-3. Emily Appleby, Lincoln-Sudbury, 22:28; t-3. Hannah Peterson, Brookline, 22:28; 5. Lillie Salgaco, Newton North, 22:55; 6. Sarah Kirincich, Concord-Carlisle, 22:58; 7. Annie Miller, MG, 23:18; 8. Nellie Swabey, MG, 24:26; 9. Lauren Miller, MG, 24:28; 10. Polina Kontrovich, Newton South, 24:52.

 

Girls Team Scores

1. Concord-Carlisle, 32 points; 2. Newton North, 64; 3. Mount Greylock, 67; 4. Acton-Boxboro, 92; 5. Wellesley, 120; 6. Lenox, 122; 7. Newton South, 135; 8. Wahconah, 142; 9. Westford, 160; 10. Winchester, 160; 11. Amherst-Pelham, 184; 12. Wayland, 184; 13. Weston, 284; 14. Dover-Sherborn, 286; 15. Lincoln-Sudbury, 290; 16. Mohawk Trail, 302; 17. Nashoba, 369.

 

Girls Local Finishers

(with place, bib number and time)

Hoosac Valley: Kim Mach, 81, 173, 31:52.

Lenox: Alice Culver, 12, 82, 25:24; Medeja Rudzinskaite, 20, 81; 26:53; Jane Elliot, 28, 83, 27:52; Fiona Ward, 62, 85, 30:25; Hannah Alsdorf, 68, 84, 30:46; Lyla Kush, 73, 87, 31:03.

Mount Greylock: Annie Miller, 7, 151, 23;18; Nellie Swabey, 8, 153, 24:26; Lauren Miller, 9, 152, 24:28; Mia Holmgren, 43, 155, 28:53; Effie Skinner, 47, 154, 29:02; Lillian Howe, 50, 156, 32:10.

Wahconah: Vienna Mahar, 16, 71, 25:57; Mars Rabuse, 26, 73, 27:38; Olivia Langenheim, 32, 72, 28:06; Julia Langenheim, 68, 76, 30:46; Skylar Rosier, 70, 74, 30:52; Paige Trager, 75, 75, 31:07.