Lenox Girls, Mount Greylock Boys Win Berkshire County Titles
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. -- Lenox’s Ellen Huth and Mount Greylock’s Jesse Seid Saturday did what they’ve been doing all season long: running ahead of the field and leading their teams to victory.
Huth was well ahead of the pack in the girls varsity race at the Berkshire County Championships, covering the Monument Mountain course in 19 minutes, 4 seconds to finish 32 seconds ahead of runner-up Jasmin Johannsdottir of the host Spartans.
In the team race, Huth’s Millionaire teammates edged Mount Greylock by a much more narrow margin, amassing 40 points to the Mounties’ 42.
In the boys race, Seid crossed the finish line with a solid seven-second lead over runner-up Jacob Paris of Taconic. Seid clocked a time of 16:18 to Paris’ 16:25.
Seid’s Mounties finished with a 15-point margin over runner-up Pittsfield.
Afterward, to the surprise of no one, Seid and Huth were named the Berkshire County MVPs for their efforts all season.
The seven-time Western Mass champion boys from Mount Greylock are a familiar presence atop the podium. Paul Phelps’ Taconic squad is looking to follow in the Mounties’ footsteps behind sophomore Paris.
Saturday’s performance was a step in the right direction.
“They ran really well,” Phelps said. “We’re running well at the right time. We try to make it so they run their best races now. It worked out so far. We have one more, but they ran well.”
Phelps said he is not putting any pressure on his young squad going into the Division 1 sectional in two weeks at the Northfield Recreation Center.
“This year, I just want to get there and run and see what happens,” he said. “I have everybody back next year, so I’m not putting any expectations on them this year as far as place wise. I just want them to have the experience. It hasn’t been at Northfield in a couple of years, so they haven’t seen the course.
“We’ll go down and preview it before hand. But really, I want them to go and run and see where we’re at and have it be a stepping stone for next year.”
Pittsfield’s boys edged Taconic for second place behind a pair of top five finishes. Seniors Amin Purry (16:33) and Paul Wales finished third and fifth, respectively, for the Generals.
Mount Greylock put four runners in the top 10. After Seid came fourth-place Sam Culver, seventh-place Jacob Fink and eighth-place Ryan Silverstein.
On the girls side, Huth ran away with the top spot, but there was a good battle down the line for fourth place with Mountie Josephine Smith holding off Lenox’s Maggie Sorrentino and Tate Morrison. Eighth-grader Smith was clocked in 19:53.06; Sorrentino finished in 19:53.94, and Morrison was right behind in 19:54.19.
The Millionaires had the last laugh on the scoreboard.
Despite putting five runners in the top 12, Mount Greylock finished second because of Lenox eighth-grader Chloe Doyle, who finished 19th to give the Millionaires the points they needed to claim the title.
As the results were being tallied and even as spectators were errantly congratulating the Mounties on what appeared to be a win, Mount Greylock coach Larry Bell downplayed the significance of the point race on a day when both Lenox and Mount Greylock were resting people.
“It’s been a couple of months of racing every week, and lots of nicks and dings out there,” Bell said. “With post-season looming, you don’t want to put a kid on the course that might turn something little into something big.”
Bell was as excited about his team’s performance in the junior varsity race, where seventh-grader Ainsley Abel (21:16) was the victor, leading a pack of five Mounties in the top five positions.
“The JV race today, I said, ‘This isn’t a race today, ladies. This is a celebration. You made our varsity really deep and good. Go out and have fun and enjoy it.’ “ Bell said. “And they had a ball, and I was really happy with how they ran.
“That’s kind of where our team is. We don’t have that superstar, blazing track speed kid out there, but we’ve got a lot of girls who all have to be at 100 percent for us to be a threat.
“And the cool thing is if we are, everybody had a part in it.”
Times and team scoring provided by Berkshire Running Center.
Girls team scores
1. Lenox 40 points; 2. Mount Greylock 42; 3. Monument Mountain 75; 4. Wahconah 92; 5. Pittsfield 110; 6. Hoosac Valley 158; 7. Taconic 171.
Girls top 20
1. Ellen Huth, Lenox, 19 minutes, 4 seconds; 2. Jasmin Johannsdottir, Monument Mountain, 19:36; 3. Grace Phair, MM, 19:44; 4. Josephine Smith, Mount Greylock, 19:53; 5. Maggie Sorrentino, Lenox, 19:54; 6. Tate Morrison, Lenox, 19:54; 7. Lilliana Wells, MG, 20:14; 8. Hazel Scullin, 20:23; 9. Alice Najimy, Lenox, 20:38; 10. Danielle Orlando, Wahconah, 20:46; 11. Helen Greenfield, MG, 20:54; 12. Miriam Bakija, MG, 20:55; 13. Haley Crosier, Wahconah, 21:03; 14. Cameron Diehl, Pittsfield, 21:04; 15. Gabrielle Orlando, Wahconah, 21:06; 16. Margo Smith, MG, 21:09; 17. Mackenzie Sheehy, MG, 21:20; 18. Hannah Flynn, MM, 21:59; 19. Chloie Doyle, Lenox, 22:07; 20. Ellie Clark, Wahconah, 22:11.
Boys team scores
1. Mount Greylock 42 points; 2. Pittsfield 57; 3. Taconic 68; 4. Lenox 82; 5. Monument Mountain 146; 6. Wahconah 158; 7. Mount Everett 176; 8. Lee 211.
Boys top 20
1. Jesse Seid, Mount Greylock, 16:18; 2. Jacob Paris, Taconic, 16:25; 3. Amin Purry, Pittsfield, 16:33; 4. Sam Culver, MG, 16:58; 5. Paul Wales, PHS, 16:59; 6. Ted Yee, Lenox, 17:00; 7. Josh Cheung, MG, 17:10; 8. Jacob Fink, MG, 17:33; 9. Ryan Silverstein, Lenox, 17:34; 10. Peter LaRochelle, MM, 17:35; 11. P.J. Pharmer, Wahconah, 17:44; 12. Mike LaFreniere, Taconic, 17:48; 13. Adam Shepardson, PHS, 17:51; 14. Cole Duval, Mount Everett, 17:53; 15. Steve Taglieri, PHS, 17:54; 16. Grayson Duval, Mount Everett, 17:59; 17. Steve Cicchetti, Taconic, 18:05; 18. Chris Adams, Taconic, 18:13; 19. Brandon Pelkey, Taconic, 18:14; 20. Maxime Leger, Lenox, 18:14.