Mounties Celebrate Senior Day with Wins
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – In one sense, a long journey for Mount Greylock’s cross country seniors came to a successful end on Wednesday afternoon.
In a broader sense, the Mounties have many miles to go.
Both the Mount Greylock boys and girls teams posted dominant wins on Senior Day as they welcomed Monument Mountain, Taconic and Wahconah for the penultimate week of the dual meet season.
As always for victorious winning seniors, it was a little bittersweet.
“It’s kind of weird, you know,” Patrick Holland said. “You ran here every day, and then it’s over. But a great way to end it, you know.”
Holland is one in a long line of Mount Greylock student-athletes who spent six years on the varsity at the middle-high school. On Thursday, he led a long line of Mounties to the top of the podium, taking first place in 18 minutes, 18 seconds.
That was the same time clocked by teammate Luke Irwin, and Finnegan Voisin was just a second off the leaders, the third of five Mounties in the top five.
Mount Greylock’s girls were even more dominant, taking the top 12 spots in the 52-runner field.
Brenna Lopez was well in front of the field, finishing in 20:10, 1 minute, 8 seconds ahead of runner-up Ani Koa-Maya.
Bridget Holland, Riley Mae Dickinson and Cornelia Swabey rounded out the scoring for the Mount Greylock girls. Before the race, Swabey and teammate Coralea Lash-St. John were the two seniors recognized in a short ceremony.
“The spirit was really good today,” Lash-St. John said. “Everyone was excited to race.
“I’m definitely really happy about the team culture, and I feel like everyone wants to race, wants to be here and is lifting each other up, having a good time.”
Both Mount Greylock teams have been up all season and will try to complete undefeated dual meet season next Wednesday when they run against Lee, Mount Everett and Taconic at Berkshire Community College.
There six dual meets not involving the Mounties contested on Wednesday – three boys and three girls.
Monument Mountain’s girls picked up wins over Wahconah and Taconic behind Claire Martin, who finished 13th in 24:06.
Wahconah’s girls beat Taconic with Megan Tucker leading the way at 20th in the individual standings.
On the boys side, Wahconah went 2-1 on the day behind Bryaden Ryan and Beau Sanders, who placed sixth and seventh, respectively, the fastest non-Mounties in the field. They helped their team beat Taconic and Monument Mountain.
The Thunder also topped the Spartans with Givonnie Goldsberry leading the way in 10th place, though Monument Mountain’s Peter Fields finished eighth in the 79-runner boys field.
Although some county teams will spend the next six days getting ready for next week’s regular season finales, the Mount Greylock squad is heading east this weekend to run in the Twilight Invitational on Cape Cod.
Holland said regional events like the Twilight meet and the Burnt Hills (N.Y.) Invitational a week later can be a good measuring stick heading into the post-season that gets underway on Nov. 7 with the Western Mass Championships at Westfield’s Stanley Park.
“I think it’s a great way to gauge where we’re at,” he said. “The Twilight, especially, the course is super fast. And we get to go up against Parker Charter and all the other high schools that are really good in our division.
“I think that’s the best way we can get better, just by seeing where we’re at and seeing what we need to do to beat the best.”
It also can be enjoyable.
“I think they’re just super fun,” Lash-St. John said of the invitationals. “I think it’s an opportunity to remember we love running. Racing can be fun. So we just have a good time.
“I think some people definitely like having people to run with to push themselves. For me, I think it’s: Work hard every race no matter where.”
Photos from this meet to come.
Girls Team Scores
Mount Greylock 15, Monument Mountain 50
Mount Greylock 15, Taconic 50
Mount Greylock 15, Wahconah 50
Monument Mountain 20, Wahconah 37
Monument Mountain 16, Taconic 46
Wahconah 21, Taconic 34
Girls Top 20
1. Brenna Lopez, MG, 20:10; 2. Ani KoaMaya, MG, 21:18; 3. Bridget Holland, MG, 21:247; 4. Riley Mae Dickinson, MG, 21:34 5. Cornelia Swabey, MG, 21:34; 6. Josephine Bay, MG, 21:34; 7. Grace Irwin, MG, 21:57; 8. Elly Wilkinson, MG, 22:19; 9. Maya Filson, MG, 22:24; 10. Lucy Gregg, MG, 22:27; 11. Coralea Lash-St. John, MG, 23:39; 12. Rose Hilfinger, MG, 23:47; 13. Claire Martin, MM, 24:06; 14. Evy Clairmont, MG, 24:15; 15. Avery Wied, MG, 24:17; 16. Ciara Kickery, MM, 24:29; 17. Ava Lau, MG, 24:39; 18. Noa Honig-Briggs, MM, 24:54; 19. Rachel Miller, MG, 24:55; 20. Megan Tucker, Wah, 25:14.
Boys Team Scores
Mount Greylock 15, Monument Mountain 48
Mount Greylock 15, Taconic 49
Mount Greylock 15, Wahconah 46
Wahconah 21, Monument Mountain 34
Taconic 21, Monument Mountain 34
Wahconah 24, Taconic 31
Boys Top 20
1. Patrick Holland, MG, 18:18; 2. Luke Irwin, MG, 18:18; 3. FInnegan Voisin, MG, 18:19; 4. Andrew Holland, MG, 18:26; 5. Benjamin Mandel, MG, 18:53; 6. Brayden Ryan, Wah, 18:53; 7. Beau Sanders, Wah, 18:58; 8. Peter Fields, MM, 19:25; 9. Ryder Voisin, MG, 19:29; 10. Givonnie Goldsberry, Tac, 19:30; 11. Sam Stratton, MG, 19:41; 12. Camdyn Lapointe, Wah, 19:51; 13. Jacob Schweizer, Tac, 19:55; 14. Max States, MG, 19:57; 15. Aiden Miller, MG, 20:00; 16. Ian Longhurst, MG, 20:00; 17. Bryce Olney, MG, 20:08; 18. Cameron Hoisington, Tac, 20:19; 19. Ashby Edmunds-Warby, MG, 20:31; 20. Hunter Lawson, MG, 20:32.