Lenox Boys, Girls Win Titles at State Qualifier
GARDNER, Mass. – The format has changed, but the feelings remain the same for the Lenox girls and boys cross country teams, which swept the team championships at Sunday’s state meet qualifier on the Gardner Golf Course.
“We pretty much consider this the new Western Mass equivalent,” Lenox junior Alice Culver said. “So we’re really excited about it. It’s really a great boost of confidence going into states. I think it’s really what we needed.”
Culver placed third in Division 3’s C race to lead the Millionaires to a team win, covering the 5-kilometer course in 20 minutes, 42.14 seconds, 42 seconds behind individual champion Evelyn Wool.
The win for the Lenox girls made up for their fourth-place finish at last month’s PVIAC race at Stanley Park, where they finished behind county rival and champion Mount Greylock.
On Sunday, the Millionaires finished just five points ahead of the runner-up Mounties in the team standings.
Lenox’s boys, who were coming off a team win in the PVIAC meet at Stanley Park, cruised to a convincing 26-point win on Sunday in Gardner behind individual champion Dennis Love.
Love ran a time of 16:48.85, 12 seconds ahead of the rest of the field, and the Millionaires amassed 46 points, well ahead of runner-up Parker Charter. Mount Greylock’s boys placed third in the team standings.
In all, five Berkshire County teams qualified for Saturday’s State Championships at Fort Devens.
In addition to the Lenox and Mount Greylock boys and girls, the Wahconah boys placed third in the Division 3A race. The top seven teams in each of three divisional races advance to the state meet.
Qualifying as individuals on Sunday were Monument Mountain’s Everett Pacheco, who placed fifth in the Division 3A boys race, and Rae Geddes, who was 15th among 3A girls.
Among Division 3C boys, Lee’s Jacob Bianco (22nd) and Mount Everett’s Mount Everett’s Ben Vella (40th) qualified for the state meet.
The top 10 runners not on a team that qualified as a team for states earn a ticket to Fort Devens to compete as an individual.
Up until last fall, spots in the state championship meet were determined at sectional tournaments like the old Western Mass meet.
Love agreed with Culver that the new format is an adequate replacement.
“This means a lot,” he said. “I’m really happy team wise and individually. Everything just clicked for us. Going into this, my legs felt great.
“This was a real confidence booster for us. Some of us had an off day, but I know next weekend everything should click. And hopefully we can get something special out of it for our senior year.”
Both Love and Culver are old enough to remember the old Western Mass meet.
Culver was an eighth-grader who finished sixth in the section to help the Lenox girls win it all at Stanley Park. Love, now a senior, placed 15th and scored for the team champion Lenox boys that year.
“It’s amazing, actually,” Love said. “My freshman year, this happened for Western Mass. Boys and girls won. Now, senior year, boys and girls won. It’s really cool, I think.”
Division 3C Boys
Teams
1. Lenox, 46 points (Dennis Love, 16:48.85; Maxwell Adam, 17:20.24; Cormac Mathews, Lenox, 17:34.64); Andy McCormack 17:57.00; Benjamin Harwood, 18:28.91)
2. Parker Charter 72
3. Mount Greylock 73 (Andrew Petropulos, 17:37.24; Oliver Swabey, 17:37.24; Ezra Holzapfel, 18:20.63; Ryan Keating, 18:26.22; Rafael Mellow-Bartels, 18:39.34)
4. Hopedale 143
5. Bromfield 171
6. Mohawk Trail 193
7. Maynard 235
8. Ayer-Shirley 258
9. Pope Francis 294
10. Monsoon 302
11. Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion 321
12. Greenfield 346
13. Murdock 356
14. Lee 367 (Jacob Bianco, 18:36.30; Ben Cooper, 20:33.42; Devon Brock, 23:03.16; Korey Chen, 24:19.93; Leeland Davis, 24:29.47)
15. Sutton 382
16. Naragansett 395
17. Mount Everett 434 (Ben Vella 19:47.70; Tatum Oates, 21:20.16; Michael Doherty, 24:05.52; Max Manning, 26:09.93; Charles Vion 2618.02).
18. Salem 444
19. North Brookfield 502
20. Gateway 512
Top 15
1. Dennis Love, Lenox, 16:48.85; 2. Henry Jacobson, Parker Charter, 17:00.69; 3. Caleb Hatlevig, Parker Charter, 17:03.81; 4. Andrew Linkenhoker, Monson, 17:09.17; 5. Jackson Hunt, Hopedale, 17:14.70; 6. Emmett Johnson, Mohawk Trail, 17:18.49; 7. Maxwell Adam, Lenox, 17:20.24; 8. Cormac Mathews, Lenox, 17:34.64; 9. Andrew Petropulos, Mount Greylock, 17:37.24; 10. Oliver Swabey, Mount Greylock, 17:44.36; 11. Ben McCarthy, Millis, 17:.53; 12. Ben McWaters, Bromfield, 17:54.85; 13. Andrew McCormack, Lenox, 17:57.00; 14. Vincent Gauthier, Mohawk Trail, 18:17.62; 15. Jackson Caron, Greenfield, 18:20.00.
Division 3C Girls
Teams
1. Lenox 74 points (Alice Culver 20:42.14; Elyssa Scrimo 22:03.18; Geenvieve Collins 22:26.97; Jessie Scrimo 22:35.58; Nora Schoeny 22:39.57)
2. Mount Greylock 79 (Adriana Carasone 21:53.56; Vera de Jog 22:12.75; Chase Hoey 22:13.90; Ainsley Abel 22:17.55; Katherine Goss, 23:02.40)
3. Sutton 96
4. Bromfield 101
5. Mohawk Trail 169
6. Ayer-Shirley 184
7. Narragansett 214
8. Maynard 255
9. Lee 263 (Emily Holian, 23:29.29; Kira Johnson, 24:26.89; Raeanne Hickson 24:36.70; Emma Ranzoni, 24:41.01; Taryn Bannon, 24:41.68)
10. Murdock 286
11. Falmouth 291
12. Gateway 292
13. Hopedale 306
14. Parker Charter 313
15. Pope Francis 335
16. Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion 336
Top 15
1. Evelyn Wood, Bromfield, 19:59.61; 2. Avery Murphy, Mudock, 20:12.45; 3. Alice Culver, Lenox, 20:42.14; 4. Lillian Skawinsk, Murdock, 21:06.88; 5. Elise Casso, Falmouth, 21:09.88; 6. Jessica Kenyon, Pope Francis, 21:14.88; 7. Rose Bradley, Bromfield, 21:26.20; 8. Annabel Lamoreaux, Sutton, 21:46.14 9. Adriana Carasone, Mount Greylock, 21:53.56; 10. Carolyn Mason, Ayer-Shirley, 21:53.70; 11. Kayleen Boratyn, Sutton, 21:56.42; 12. Shealin Conroy, Milis, 21:58.87; 13. Elyssa Scrimo, Lenox, 22:03.18; 14. Vera de Jong, 22:12.75; 15. Chase Hoey, Mount Greylock, 22:13.90).
Division 3A Boys
Teams
1. Weston 74 points
2. Bishop Stang 110
3. Wahconah 152 (Cadighan Gladu, 18:09.62; Riley Gladu 18:54.60; Fritz Sanders 19:01.61; Aidan Garcia, 19:12.83; Luas Wildrick, 19:32.24)
4. Gardner 155
5. Hamilton-Wenham 155
6. Seekonk 165
7. East Bridgewater 220
8. Lynnfield 224
9. Amesbury 232
10. Monument Mountain 256 (Everett Pacheco, 17:37.17; Lucas Faggioni, 19:49.76; Andre LaRochelle, 19:55.40; Nico Friedmutter, 20:31.21; Colby Sweet, 20:53.32)
11. Oakmont 271
12. Northbridge 306
13. Upper Cape Cod Tech 338
14. Advanced Math and Science 375
15. Ipswich 409
16. Stoneham 42
17. Keefe Tech 493
18. Nipmuc 502
19. Tri-County Tech 528
20. Bellingham 562
21. Minuteman 572
22. Abington 576
23. Taconic 589 (Noah Krantz, 20:28.00; Brady MacDonald, 22:03.71; Alec Ginsberg, 22:43.66; Anthony Trapani, 22:58.41; Nick Kerwood, 23:29.65)
24. Excel Charter 635
Top 15
1. Marcus Reilly, Northbridge, 16:11.87; 2. Nick Uzzo, East Bridgewater, 17:16.33; 3. Carsen Valenta, Weston, 17:20.56; 4. Noah Amaral, Seekonk, 17:32.63; 5. Everett Pacheco, Monument Mountain, 17:37.17; 6. Caiden Sears, 17:40.83; 7. Jack Collins, Norfolk Aggie, 17:43.93; 8. James Osborn, Weston, 17:45.31; 9. Dylan Reilly, Northbridge, 17:51.71; 10. Quinn Garry, Weston, 17:57.37; 11. Andrew Caldera, Bishop Stang, 17:59.54; 12. Cadighan Gladu, Wahconah, 18:09.62; 13. Joe Stanton, Amesbury, 18:11.75; 14. Tyler Meunier, Gardner, 18:17.36;15. Ben Rich, Hamilton-Wenham, 18:20.74.
Division 3A Girls
Teams
1. Weston 38 points
2. Gardner 97
3. Lynnfield 101
4. Advanced Math and Science 160
5. Bellingham 201
6. Oakmont 202
7. Nipmuc 208
8. Seekonk 243
9. Stoneham 252
10. Abington 260
11. Amesbury 267
12. Quabbin 272
13. Monument Mountain 307 (Rae Geddes, 22:14.65; Evie Grossman, 25:11.14; Francis Stanmeyer, 25:30.66; Aria Grossman, 26:02.43; Zoe Holmes, 27:05.31)
14. East Bridgewater 307
15. Taconic 330 (Molly McNeil, 23:54.58; Lily Powell, 24:37.59; Mia Ives, 25:30.59; Jane Wong, 26:55.88; Gabby Starsja, 27:54.68)
16. Tri-County Tech 382
17. Rockland 392
18. Wahconah 396 (Megan Tucker, 25:07.61; Olivia Langeheim, 25:53.32; Maddy Beatty, 25:55.31; Mars Rabuse, 26:25.86; Aryanna Bouchard, 28:30.05)
19. Ipswich 422
20. Minuteman 469
21. Excel Charter 634
Top 15
1. Madelyn Germain, Norfolk Aggie, 19:53.35; 2. Alessandra Gavins, Weston, 20:25.04; 3. Julia Parsons, Amesbury, 20:52.87; 4. Olivia Jackson, Weston, 20:58.71; 5. Krista Bettez, Gardner, 21:08.14; 6. Avery Orff, Nipmuc, 21:11.19; 7. Sofia Moukaddem, Weston, 21:19.50; 8. Emma Smith, Bellingham, 21:26.66; 9. Cambyr Sullivan, Amesbury, 21:27.38; 10. Selena Wood, Abington, 21:29.42; 11. Charlotte Madden, Hamilton-Wenham, 21:41.70; 12. Maddie Daigle, Lynnfield 21:42.04; 13. Kaylee Bettez, Gardner, 21:48.40; 14. Gabriela Friel, Weston, 22:01.64; 15. Rae Geddes, Monument Mountain, 22:14.65.