Smith, Kirby Lead Mount Greylock to Victories

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — It was a sea of red on Wednesday afternoon at Reid Middle School, where the Mount Greylock boys and girls cross country teams dominated a five-team meet.

 

The Mounties placed six runners in the top 10 of each race as they picked up dual meet wins against Wahconah and Drury.

 

Host Pittsfield and Mount Everett also competed at the midway meet of the county's seven-week cross country season.

 

Mount Greylock's Margo Smith and Tommy Kirby were the top individuals.

 

Smith was followed across the finish line by three of her teammates as the Mounties swept the top four places.

 

Mount Greylock coach Larry Bell said he is pleased with the way his team has developed this fall.

 

"I think we've made a lot of progress," he said. "We saw a lot of folks at our scrimmage the first week of September, so we're kind of keeping tabs as far as, 'Where are you compared to your opponents?'

 

"Then we have the gold standard: How many minutes are you in back of Margo? That's getting better too, and Margo is getting faster."

 

On Wednesday, Smith finished in 20 minutes, 33 seconds, 1:38 better than teammate and runner-up Ellie Williams. Mount Greylock's Niku Darafshi and Isabelle Bote came next before a pair of Wahconah runners, Gabrielle Orlando and Danielle Orlando.

 

With defending Western Mass champion Lenox running on its home course on Wednesday, it was no surprise to see Mount Greylock dominate the final results (it placed 11 in the top 20). But there was more than just scores to satisfy Bell.

 

"The biggest problem this time of year is not putting yourself where you think you should be," Bell said. "And we did a good job of pushing the middle part of the race really hard. That's what we were focusing on today.

 

"I was pleased wih how they pushed the middle away from the crowd in the woods. That was our strategy today, kind of the race within the race. That, I thought, was the best accomplishment of the day: They ran really hard when no one else was watching."

 

In the boys race, all eyes were on Kirby, who finished in 17:06, ahead of teammate Evan Arthur (17:47).

 

Drury's Connor Meehan edged Pittsfield's Noah Casino for third place before four more Mounties — Jacob Fink, Cameron Castonguay, Owen Brandriss and Sam Culver — finished fifth through eighth, respectively.

 

Kirby is a senior who led Mount Greylock to a Western Mass title last fall. He said Meehan, a sophomore junior who is running cross country for the first time this fall, pushed him hard in their first head-to-head meeting.

 

"I figured Meehan would go out pretty fast, and he did," Kirby said. "But our chase pack really stepped it up like they always do. They were right in there with him, which is what our plan was."

 

Kirby is the only returning scorer from last year's sectional title, the Mounties' fifth straight. He said this year's Mount Greylock team has picked up where last year's graduated seniors left off.

 

"Team wise, our pack of younger guys has really stepped it up to replace the older guys," Kirby said. "We graduated so many, that we really needed that. I credit them with carrying the team."

 

1 Kirby, Tommy (MGHS), 17:06, MG; 2. 183 Arthur, Evan (MGHS) 17:47; 3. Meehan, Connor (DHS) 18:21; 4. Casino, Noah (PHS) 18:28; 5. Fink, Jacob (MGHS) 18:34; 6. Castonguay, Cameron (MGHS) 18:35; 7. Brandriss, Owen (MGHS) 18:35; 8. Culver, Sam (MGHS) 18:37; 9. Fournier, Greg (PHS) 18:44; 10. Massaro, Jaryd (WRHS) 18:55; 11. Lee, Tom (PHS) 19:02; 12. Raynor, Kevin (PHS) 19:04; 13. Cheung, Josh (MGHS) 19:13; 14. Goodwin, Lucas (PHS) 19:17; 15. Taglieri, Steve (PHS) 19:18; 16. Heon, Quincy (WRHS) 19:19; 17. Brainerd, Dan (WRHS) 19:31; 18. Northrup, Dylan

(PHS) 19:33; 19. Shepardson, Noah (PHS) 19:39; 20. Pyser, Sam (WRHS) 19:51.

 

1. Margo Smith (MGHS) 20:33; 2. Ellie Williams (MGHS) 22:11; 3. Niku Darafshi (MGHS) 22:40; 4. Isabelle Bote (MGHS) 22:54; 5. Gabrielle Orlando (WRHS) 23:01; 6. Danielle Orlando (WRHS) 23:02; 7. Taylor Maddalena (PHS); 8. Anya Sheldon (MGHS) 23:06; 9. Lessley Columna (PHS) 23:09; 10. Emily Lescarbeau (MGHS) 23:14; 11; Brooke Digennaro (DHS) 23:46; 12. Katerina Bruce (WRHS) 23:49.; 13. Lucia Shuff-Heck (PHS) 24:02; 14. Helen Greenfield (MGHS) 24:12; 15. Hailey Kirchner (PHS) 24:12; 16. Emily Hart (WRHS) 24:15; 17. Sophie Gerry (MGHS) 24:18; 18. Hazel Scullin (MGHS) 24:21; 19. Brandi Gill (MGHS) 24:22; 20. Miriam Bakija (MGHS) 24:35.