Mount Greylock Girls, Boys Repeat as State Champions
WOODFORD, Vt. – Patrick Holland gave Berkshire County a second straight boys individual title and led his Mount Greylock boys to their second straight team championship at Tuesday’s Nordic State Championships at Prospect Mountain.
And the Mount Greylock girls made it a three-peat with three Top 10 finishes led by Lauren Miller, who took third in the season-ending meet.
Holland covered the 7.2-kilometer course in 19 minutes, 49.9 seconds, about five seconds ahead of runner-up Beau Sanders, who led Wahconah’s boys to a second-place finish in the team standings.
It was a great day overall for the Berkshire County League boys, as Mount Greylock, Wahconah, Amherst and Mohawk Trail each finished in the top five, and Lenox placed seventh in an 18-team boys field.
In the girls race, no individual was catching Brookline’s Leigh Niedeck. The transfer from the Stratton Mountain School ski academy sailed to a first-place finish in 22:51.6 – about a minute and a half ahead of the field.
The only margin bigger was the Mountie girls’ margin in the team race, despite a 1-2 finish by Niedeck and teammate Rachael Strock.
Miller was closely followed by teammate Josephine Bay in fifth, and the Mounties got a ninth-place showing from Bridget Holland and a 16th-place performance from Rachel Miller to round out their scoring.
Despite Niedeck and Strock going 1-2 as individuals, Mount Greylock finished with 31 team points, well ahead of runner-up Brookline with 70.
“I think it says that they like to train together, which is awesome,” Mount Greylock coach Hilary Greene said of her team’s depth. “They like to race together, and I think they know they can count on each other. If someone does have an off day or is a little bit under the weather or falters, there’s someone right there.
“It’s great to have that depth, and it’s great that I think they all feel like they just had very positive, solid races – and that’s our goal.”
Finishing just behind Rachel Miller, the fourth and final Mount Greylock scorer, were the Mounties’ No. 5 and 6 skiers, Lucy Gregg and Maya Filson, who placed 18th and 19th out of 131 finishers in the girls race.
Mount Greylock’s girls could have thrown out its top two results, counted its third through sixth finishers and beaten runner-up Brookline by 10 points.
“I think they all did what we knew they were capable of, but Josie Bay, just the difference from last year, moved way up and was skiing really well through a lot of traffic,” Greene said. “So to come in fifth, I think, was outstanding.
“We also have a couple of seventh-graders in their first big, big race. One of them, Bridget Holland, was in the top 10, and Rachel Miller was our fourth score, and Grace Irwin was 30th. So that’s exciting for them.”
Lenox’s girls finished fifth in the team standings behind Jane Elliot, who placed 14th (13th for team scoring purposes) to lead three Millionaires in the top 25.
While the Mount Greylock girls were swamping the field, the school’s boys posted a solid but closer finish to win their second straight title.
Holland also gave Berkshire County a second-straight individual title, finishing atop the podium that Wahconah’s Fritz Sanders topped a year ago.
“Obviously, we wanted to win again today, we like to win,” Holland said. “We definitely lost a few big guys from last year, but I think our younger guys put in a ton of work in the summer and fall, and we just did it.
“Most of us are in cross country [in the fall], so we do the cross country workouts and do maybe a little bit extra like strength and roller ski on our own. And in the summer, we do a lot of skiing-based stuff: roller skiing, running, lifting.”
Benjamin Mandel, Luke Irwin and Andrew Holland helped the Mounties lift another state championship trophy, each finishing in the top 12 to score along with Patrick Holland, who was second to Wahconah’s Sanders at last year’s state meet.
“I’m super happy for Patrick, because he’s kind of struggled with some illness throughout the season, and for him to come back and carry on his legacy because, you know, his dad was a state champion,” Greene said. “And that’s interesting, because last year, Fritz [Sanders] won, and Fritz’s dad had been a state champion.”
No titles for Wahconah on Tuesday, but Beau Sanders and Chaz Mahar each finished in the top 10 to lead their team to a trophy for second place.
The Lenox boys got a top 20 finish from Everett Shepardson, who placed 15th out of 128 finishers on the boys side.
Photos from this meet to come.
Boys Team Scores
1. Mount Greylock (1., No. 161, Patrick Holland, 19:49.9; 7. No. 162, Benjamin Mandel, 20:45.0; 8., No. 164; Luke Irwin, 20:59.8; 12., No. 163, Andrew Holland, 21:27.1) 28 points; 2. Wahconah (2. No. 91, Beau Sanders, 19:55.0; 9., No. 93, Chaz Mahar, 21:24.5; 24., No. 92, Owen Tucker; 28., No. 95, Noah Wesley) 63; 3. Concord-Carlisle, 69; 4. Amherst, 77; 5. Mohawk Trail, 101; 6. Wellesley, 103; 7. Lenox (13., No. 71, Everett Shepardson, 21:39.8; 22., No. 72, William Keefe, 22:24.6; 39., No. 73, Chase Candee, 24:04.8; 41., No. 74, Noah Pinsonneault, 24:10.4); 8. Acton-Boxborough, 120; 9. Newton South, 149; 10. Newton North, 185; 11. Lincoln Sudbury, 222; 12. Brookline, 248; 13. Winchester, 248; 14. Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter, 268; 15. Weston, 275; 16. Wayland, 287; 17. Westford, 292; 18. Arlington, 353.
Top 10 Boys
1. Patrick Holland, MG, 19 minutes, 49.9 seconds; 2. Beau Sanders, Wah, 19:55.0; 3. Zachary Scopinich-Burgel, Concord-Carlisle, 19:59.00; 4. Dashiell Martin, Newton South, 20:01.9; 5. Matthew Krieger, Acton-Boxborough, 20:30.0; 6. Calvin Miller, Amherst, 20:43.2; 7. Benjamin Mandel, MG, 20:45.0; 8. Luke Irwin, MG, 20:59.8; 9. Chaz Mahar, Wah, 21:24.5; 10. Augustus Niswonger, Mohawk Trail, 21:25.0.
Girls Team Scores
1. Mount Greylock (3., No. 161, Lauren Miller, 24:25.6; 5., No. 163, Josephine Bay, 24:44.0; 8., No. 162, Bridget Holland, 25:02.2; 15., No. 164, Rachel Miller, MG, 26:12.5) 31 points; 2. Brookline, 70; 3. Mohawk Trail, 74; 4. Winchester, 74; 5. Lenox (13, No. 71, Jane Elliot, 25:51.5; 22., No. 76, Audie Tresp, 27:01.4; 25, No. 73., Lila Kousch, 27:05.9; 26., No. 74, Allie Lussier-Rivers, 27:13.1) 86; 6. Wayland, 107; 7. Acton-Boxborough, 108; 8. Westford, 140; 9. Newton South, 153; 10. Wellesley, 203; 11. Weston, 205; 12. Amherst, 210; 13. Wahconah (19., No. 91, Megan Tucker; No. 94, Ava Irene, 40:57.1; No. 96, Aria Marcella, 45:42.8) 214; 14. Concord-Carlisle, 223; 15. Lincoln Sudbury, 227; 16. Newton North, 265; 17. Arlington, 271; 18. Dover Sherborn, 296.
Top 10 Girls
1. Leigh Niedeck, Brookline, 22 minutes, 51.6 seconds; 2. Rachael Strock, Brookline, 24:19.5; 3. Lauren Miller, MG, 24:25.6; 4. Caroline Lanz, Winchester, 24:36.7; 5. Josephine Bay, MG, 24:44.0; 6. Charlotte Niswonger, Mohawk Trail, 24:55.6; 7. April Padilla-Hrones, Natick, 24:58.1; 8. Ada Corner, Mohawk Trail, 25:00.8; 9. Bridget Holland, MG, 25:02.2; 10. Lucy Reiner, Lincoln Sudbury, 25:27.7.