2025 Year in Sports: Mount Greylock Girls Track Was County's Top Story
Mount Greylock Regional School did not need an on-campus track to be a powerhouse.
But it did not hurt.
In the same spring that it held its first meets on its new eight-lane track, Mount Greylock won its second straight Division 6 State Championship to become the story of the year in high school athletics in Berkshire County.
"It meant so much this year to be able to come and compete on our own track and have people come here – especially having Western Mass here, it's such a big meet,"Mounties standout Katherine Goss said at the regional meet in late May. "It's nice to win on our own track.”
A week later at the other end of the commonwealth, Goss placed second in the triple jump and 100-meter hurdles and third in the 400 hurdles to help the Mounties finish nearly five points ahead of the field.
Her teammates Josephine Bay, Cornelia Swabey, Brenna Lopez and Vera de Jong ran circles around the competition with a nine-second win in the 4-by-800 relay. And the Mounties placed second in the 4-by-400 relay while picking up a third-place showing from Nora Lopez in the javelin.
Mount Greylock's girls won a third straight Western Mass Championship on the day the school's boys team claimed a fourth straight title. At states, the Mounties finished fifth in Division 6.
In the season-ending Meet of Champions that features student-athletes from all divisions, Lopez again earned a bronze in the javelin.
2. Hoosac Valley Girls Go Back-to-Back
The county's most successful girls basketball team of the 21st century made yet another run to the state finals in March. And for the second straight year, the Hurricanes closed the deal, this time in dramatic fashion.
Hoosac Valley trailed undefeated Renaissance by 13 points at half-time but came back for a 64-57 win at the Tsongas Center.
"Knowing that they hadn't lost, and us being their only loss last year and wanting it again this year is what gave us that momentum,"Hoosac Valley 1,000-point scorer Ashlyn Lesure said of the come-from-behind win.
Leisure scored 18 points in the final, which saw Reagan Shea score 15 and Emma Meczywor add 11, including an off-balance go-ahead basket in the final minutes.
"That was a Hail Mary,"Meczywor said of the game-winner " I did not think that was going to go in. Thank God it did.”
3. Mount Greylock Boys, Girls Win Nordic Crowns
Repetition is a bit of a theme on this year's list of the top 10 sports stories.
Mount Greylock's girls cross country ski team won back-to-back state crowns at Vermont's Prospect Mountain and was joined by the school's boys team at the top of the podium
"We were just planning to come out here and give it our all and see what would happen," Mount Greylock's Lauren Miller said. "But this was super unexpected. We were not expecting to come away with the win in any way, shape or form.”
The Mounties girls edged Berkshire County League rival Amherst by nine points to claim the title.
Behind a second-place finish from Patrick Holland, Mount Greylock's boys earned a win over its league rival and state runner-up Wahconah in the year's final meet.
But Wahconah also had plenty to brag about, including an individual state title for Fritz Sanders and a silver medal for Vienna Mahar, the top Berkshire County racer at the state meet.
4. Pittsfield High's Mullen Masters Slopes
Staying on the snow, the county got an individual state championship repeat – actually two of them – from Pittsfield High's Eliza Mullen.
Mullen followed her performance at Wachusett in 2024 by winning the slalom and giant slalom at Berkshire East, giving the 2025 graduate a maximum of four Alpine gold medals in two years of high school competition in Massachusetts.
It was a big day for the Berkshire County contingent as a group at the state meet, as Lenox's Oliver Kirby and Monument Mountain's Kitson Stover placed second and third, respectively, in the boys slalom race.
5. Spartans Split Title in Chicopee
The award for the longest wait to claim a state title goes to the Monument Mountain bowling team, which appeared to win the school's first state championship outright at Bowlero by beating St. John's of Shrewsbury, 2-1, in their title match.
But St. John's pointed out that the Spartans did bowl out of order in the Baker format match, leading to a protest that was not resolved until five days after the state meet, when the two teams were declared co-champions.
"I can't commend them enough, really," Monument Mountain coach Wayne Woodard said moments after the match. "Especially Jeel [Patel] and Chris [Paul], never bowled in any competition at all before. To go from that to at least second place in the state — all these kids did so well. No matter what the ruling, I'm happy with my kids.
"It's just a great group of guys. You know, we could have finished in sixth place, and I'd say the same thing about them. They did so good. This just proved it right here."
6. Monument Mountain Boys Basketball Makes History
There was no sharing of the title for the Spartans on the hardwood, but despite a 61-54 loss to Georgetown in the state final, there was no doubt that the 2024-25 Monument Mountain boys team was special.
The Spartans avenged a loss to Pittsfield in the 2024 Western Mass final by earning a four-point win at the Boys and Girls Club in the 2025 regional final. Then they exceeded their No. 5 seed by earning a berth in the Division 4 state final.
After falling just short of the ultimate prize, coach Randy Koldys talked about what his team accomplished.
"We talked about how much they gave to the program and what they did and their work ethic during the off season and what they do to prepare for the season,"Koldys said after emerging from the Spartans' locker room. "We talked about what they accomplished as a group as far as the wins and losses over the last four years and going to places Monument's never been before – winning a Western Mass championship for the first time in 46 years and the first time ever getting to the state championship game.
"It was just a great contribution to the program. I was lucky to be around them and lucky to have them. And not only did it make me a better coach, they made me a better person.”
7. Let's Play Two … in the Final Four
The Drury and Pittsfield baseball teams gave their fans quite a ride in 2025.
Drury earned a dramatic, come-from-behind victory at Joe Wolfe Field to claim a Western Massachusetts Championship, then outscored its opponents 27-0 in three games of the Division 5 State Tournament before dropping a 9-7 decision to Boston English at Holy Cross in the state semi-finals.
On the same night at the same venue, Pittsfield, which went to the state final in 2024, came up one game short of a return trip. Along the way, the Generals provided the signature moment of the Spring of 2025 when Jack Reed hit the first home run of his high school career to score two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning for a walk-off win in the state quarter-finals.
Reed was among the seniors who already had graduated from PHS before the baseball season ended. But both the Generals and Blue Devils appear poised to make some noise again when the snow melts this April.
"I can't wait to go chase this thing again,"Drury coach Rob Jutras said after the state semi-final loss. "I've got the best players in the world, and I can't wait to go chase it with them.”
8. Lee Runs to Semi-Finals … Twice
The Lee High athletic program bookended 2025 with a state semi-final appearance for its girls basketball team followed by another for its football squad.
The ninth-seeded girls were an upset road winner in the second round and quarter-final round of the Division 5 State Tournament, upending the tourney's top seed to reach the Final Four.
The Wildcats came up short in the semi-finals against Renaissance, but there was no missing the heart of a team that lost seven games going into the state tourney and still came within a game of reaching the final.
""I think they've grown so much, and they've proven they can win on the road, and they compete,"Lee coach Rick Puleri said. "They don't get too high, they don't get too low. And they just continue to fight. I mean, they're bruised, they're beat up, they're sore. But they keep fighting until the last whistle. I know everybody is at this time of the year, but that's all I can ask of them, to compete.”
The Wildcats football team did not lose a thing on its way to the Final Four. In fact, it hardly gave up a point, averaging 8.2 points per game on defense in its first nine games.
After surviving a 48-36 shootout with Boston's Cathedral High for win No. 10 in the Division 8 state quarter-finals, Lee came up short against West Boylston, which ended the Wildcats' season for the second straight year.
When this year was over, Lee coach Tom Salinetti was more focused on his players than the scoreboard.
""We're just grateful that we're still together right now,"he said. "I just told them that just because this is our last game, that doesn't mean that we stop being a family.”
9. A New Banner Goes Up in Dalton
The Pittsfield baseball team was not the only one bringing the drama in the spring.
Wahconah's girls lacrosse team got a big stop from Phalyn Renderer in the final seconds to secure a 13-12 win over South Hadley in the Western Massachusetts Class C title game.
The win was the first regional title in the sport and the culmination of a big run for Wahconah, which was 4-15 in 2024 and 7-7 in 2025 before winning five straight to reach the regional final.
"It feels great,"Renderer said. "We've all worked so hard this year. It's been amazing. It's been a long journey. It's my first time and these girls' first time winning — Western Mass Finals and everything.”
10. McCann Tech Swings into States
It took a tie-breaking matching of the fifth golfers from each side for McCann Tech to avenge a pair of one-stroke regular season losses to Franklin Tech.
And it came at the best time possible.
Nick Varellas provided that key round, beating the Eagles' No. 5 finisher at the Division 3 Western Mass Championships by seven strokes. That gave the Hornets the third and final Western Mass berth in the state championship tournament.
"The minute we got on the bus this morning, for the hour and a half, it was just constant talk of golf," McCann Tech coach Pat Ryan said after the sectional. "Hole for hole, they had their little notes from the practice round.
"They were just trying to dial it in on the bus. It was awesome to hear, as a coach, I'm driving the bus, and that whole hour and a half drive was just constant golf. That's just awesome to hear and see."
Honorable Mention
Monument Mountain's Everett Pacheco follows his 2024 individual state crown in cross country with a mile/two-mile double at the Division 6 Cross Country State Championships. Hoosac Valley boys lacrosse beats McCann Tech in all-Berkshire Western Mass final. … Pittsfield girls basketball wins Western Mass title and advances to Division 3 State Semi-Finals. .. Lenox girls win back–to-back Western Mass titles in tennis. … Mount Greylock boys and girls soccer win Western Mass championships. … Drury High School athletic offerings change as school leans into co-ops – joining Hoosac Valley for football and two new sports: volleyball and Unified basketball.
Tags: high school sports, year in review,
