Hoosac Valley's Bush, Mount Greylock's Greenfield Recognized

This week's iBerkshires.com/Bedard Bros. Athletes of the week have made deep runs into the postseason.

 

On Saturday afternoon, the Mount Greylock girls cross country team ran to the school's third state championship in 2018 while the Hoosac Valley football team ran over its state semi-final opponent en route to a trip to Gillette Stadium.

 

Senior co-captain Adam Bush helped anchor an offensive line that has the Hurricanes on the cusp of a 12-0 season and a Division 8 state crown.

 

On Saturday, the Hoosac Valley O-line paved the way for a 220-yard day by running back Matt Hall, 196 yards from David Critelli and 81 from QB Vance Eugene.

 

"I think the offensive line did a good job of having their assignments communicating and getting to the second level," Hoosac coach Dayne Poirot said.

 

The Hurricanes 76 points against Central Mass champion Nashoba Tech were a season high for a high-powered offense that has averaged 48 points per game. Its lowest point total came in a 26-0 shutout win over D5 Westfield.

 

While Hoosac was rolling in Westfield, the Mounties were posting a solid win in the Division 2 State Championship race in Wrentham.

 

How big was Mount Greylock's 38-point margin of victory? There were 20 teams competing, and just two place positions had bigger spreads: the gap sixth- and seventh-place and the gap between 19th and 20th place.

 

The key for Mount Greylock was its balance. While just five of the seven runners on the team added to the team score, it is worth noting that Mount Greylock was the only team that put all seven of its runners in the top 70 of the 178-runner field.

 

Kate Swann, Mount Greylock's No. 7 runner in 69th place, finished 97 spots ahead of the No. 5 runner for team runner-up Nauset.

 

The Mounties' No. 5 (and final scorer), Hazel Scullin, was 47th in the field, a whopping 119 spots ahead of Nauset's No. 5.

 

Helen Greenfield has been in the mix for two state championships at Mount Greylock this year. Last February, she was the Mounties' top finisher as they won a state Nordic ski crown (a feat duplicated that day by Mount Greylock's boys). On Saturday, the sophomore finished 39th overall (22nd in the team points race) in a time of 20 minutes, 9 seconds at the Wrentham Developmental Center.

 

The iBerkshires.com Athlete of the Week is sponsored by Bedard Bros. Auto of Cheshire.