Cross Country Season Kicks Off at Mount Greylock
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- The top Western Mass high school cross country programs from the 2015 season opened their 2016 campaigns with a run at Mount Greylock Regional School on Saturday morning.
Division 1 Western Massachusetts champion Holyoke joined 2015 runner-up Amherst and D2 champ Mount Greylock on the boys side.
In the girls race, Lenox, which finished second in the state in Division 2, began its Western Mass title defense along with five top 10 finishers from a year ago: Hampshire, Mount Greylock, Monument Mountain, Mohawk Trail and Greenfield.
In the girls varsity race, contested over 4.1 kilometers, Mohawk's Meghan Davis placed first with a time of 16 minutes, 24 seconds. Mount Greylock's Margo Smith finished second in 16:48, followed by Sarah Umphlett of Mount Anthony Union in Bennington, Vt. (16:53). Monument Mountain's Grace Phair was seventh with a time of 17:40.
Amherst's Jack Yanko won the boys varsity race in 13:45. Mount Greylock's Evan Arthur was second (14:07), and Drury's Connor Meehan was fifth (14:38).
The event also featured a junior varsity 3K, where Holyoke's Donovan Kro was the winner in 10:58. On the girls side, Mount Anthony's Liara Foley finished first in 12:15, placing ahead of a pair of Mounites in second and third: Josephine Smith (13:38) and Brandi Gill (13:44).