Swann, Feeley Earn Athlete of the Week Recognition

This week's iBerkshires.com/Southwestern Vermont Medical Center Athletes of the Week get a week off to prepare for their respective sectional competitions.

 

Each finished league play with a bang over the weekend as Mount Greylock's Katherine Swann and Hoosac Valley's Liam Feeley led their teams to big victories.

 

Feeley rushed for 300 yards and three touchdowns Friday night, and the Hoosac Valley football team needed every one of those scores in a 27-19 win over Ludlow at Renfrew Park.

 

Feeley has been a mainstay for a Hurricanes offense that has amassed 271 points in an 8-0 regular season -- an average of just less than 34 points per game.

 

Hoosac Valley gets a well-deserved bye week this week to rest up for the Western Massachusetts Division 8 playoffs, where it is likely to be seeded first in a four-team fields when brackets are set on Sunday in Northampton.

 

The Mount Greylock girls cross country team also figures to be among the teams to beat when it runs in the Western Mass Division 2 Championship at Northfield Recreation Center.

 

Look for Katherine Swann to be at the head of the pack, a spot that is very familiar for the Mounties sophomore this fall.

 

On Saturday, she was named the Berkshire County MVP after winning the county's season-ending meet at Notchview Reservation by a margin of 33 seconds.

 

It was the sixth straight first-place finish in the county for Swann, who started the season with a third-place finish at Monument Mountain and a runner-up showing at Wahconah and then won five straight weekly competitions.

 

Outside the county, Swann was an impressive fourth at the Bob McIntyre Twilight Invitational in Barnstable earlier this month, finishing three seconds behind Western Mass rival Emily Boutin of Pope Francis.

 

Last year, Boutin won Western Mass as a junior; Swann placed seventh at the sectional to lead the Mounties toa  team title.

 

"If you look at the results from last year to this year, [Swann] started off at a very high level -- faster than she was last year," Mount Greylock coach Hilary Greene said. "And then she really has been gaining confidence. She showed a good base from the summer and really has done some very strong workouts.

 

"You very rarely see someone whose progression is linear and increasing. It's usually an up-and-down roller coaster. But she really has raced race and been building and improving. It's been fun to watch."

 

The iBerkshires.com Athlete of the Week is sponsored by Southwestern Vermont Medical Center.