Pickard, Harrington Named Athletes of the Week

A Pittisfield runner and a Wahconah thrower get the nods for our initial Athlete of the Week awards for the 2022-23 school year.

 

The Generals Kellie Harrington has picked up right where she left off after missing the end of last year's cross country season due to injury.

 

The senior harrier has finished first at both weekly Berkshire County League meets to start 2022, each time easily outpacing the field.

 

Last week at Wahconah Regional High School, Harrington ran a mile pace of 6 minutes, 24 seconds, and her finishing time of 19:55.96 eclipsed the field by more than two minutes.

 

"I have not run since October when I stopped running because of my foot injury," Harrington said after the season opener at Mount Greylock back on Sept. 7. "This is my first race. Obviously, I've been mountain biking all spring and summer."

 

Pittsfield heads to South County this week for dual meets against Taconic, Wahconah and host the host Monument Mountain Spartans in a five-team meet in Great Barrington.

 

While Harrington has established herself as the runner to beat in county cross country circles, the class of the county on the gridiron so far again resides in Dalton.

 

Senior quarterback Lucas Pickard last week threw for four touchdowns and ran for another, having a hand in all Wahconah's scoring in a 36-0 win at Lee.

 

After the game, Wahconah coach Gary Campbell Jr. said that Pickard, "throws the ball with the best touch I've had in a long time."

 

That is high praise coming from a coach with more than 200 career wins and multiple trips to Gillette Stadium for state title games — most recently last December.

 

This September, Wahconah sports a 2-0 record with wins over Pittsfield and Lee. It has one more county clash on the schedule this week when Taconic visits Dalton on Friday night before jumping into five straight weeks of Suburban South league competition when East Longmeadow visits on Sept. 30.