Lenox Girls, Mount Greylock Boys Win Team XC Titles

NORTHFIELD, Mass. — The seeds for the Mount Greylock boys cross country team’s fifth straight Western Mass title were planted in the first week of the season.

"We got spanked," Mounties coach Scott Burdick said of his team’s first dual meet outing of the fall. "Coming into this season, we knew Lenox’s top three. We didn’t know about their fourth and fifth. So we went into the year thinking, 'OK, let’s not get hurt. Let’s just get through this [dual meet] season.' We were starting to pat ourselves on the back a little bit.

"And all of a sudden, we got spanked by Lenox by 10 points, and it was the best thing that ever happened. … Week one, we got spanked, and all of a sudden, our workouts changed."

On Saturday at Northfield Recreation Center, that training paid off in a two-point victory over the Millionaires to claim Mount Greylock’s seventh regional title in the last 10 years.

"Lenox is a great team," Burdick said. “And there’s certainly no shame in coming in second. But they made us better.”

The Mounties were good enough on Saturday to place six runners in the top 20, including three in the top six to collect 49 points and beat Lenox (51 points) for the Division 2 crown.

In the D2 girls race, there was no such drama. Lenox's girls blew away the field with 27 points, easily outpacing second place Mohawk Trail (82). Lenox took four of the five spots, led by regional champion Emily Tibbetts, who finished in 20 minutes, 29 seconds.

Lenox also had the top boy in D2 in Tucker McNinch, who continued a stellar season with a time of 16:31 to beat Berkshire County rivals Travis Ciempa of Hoosac Valley (16:40) and Ace McAlister of Monument Mountain (16:43).

The next three boys across the finish line in the D2 race wore Mount Greylock red and white: Tommy Kirby, Carter Stripp and Will Nolan. Sam and Jake Kobrin rounded out the scoring for Mount Greylock, but a key finish was turned in by non-scorer freshman Owen Brandriss, whose 20th place finish by fewer than three seconds cost Lenox a point.

"When it’s a two-point meet, everyone’s important, every place," Burdick said. "And these kids, they make me look good. I'm in the right place at the right time a lot.

"You could see it in their faces. They were focused."

The Mounties and Millionaires get to stare each other down again next Saturday at Franklin Park in the state championships, where they will be joined by the third-place team from Cathedral and individuals Travis and Trevor Ciempa and McAlister.

On the girls side, Lenox and Mohawk Trail will be joined by third-place Hampshire, which edged Mount Greylock’s girls for the third team-qualifying position, 99-103. The Mounties will send Emma Polumbo (sixth) and Niku Darafshi (20th) to the state meet.

In Division 1, no Berkshire County teams qualified for states, but Taconic’s Matt Rabasco (12th) and Pittsfield’s Lauren Farry (14th) each qualified as individuals to run in Franklin Park on Nov. 15.

In D2 girls, Lenox was so dominant that if it was not already going as a team, it would still have five girls who qualified for states as individuals. Tibbetts was followed across the line by teammates Magdalena Sorrentino (second), Emma Jourdain (fourth), Alice Namimy (fifth) and Elizabeth Jarck (15th).

Tibbetts, a junior and one of the elders on a very young Lenox squad, said that Saturday she felt as good physically as she has all year on a race course.

"My plan was to go up the hill slow and take advantage of the downhills in the second mile," she said. "Alice (Najimy) and I decided to kind of run up the hill in the beginning together and try to pick people off as we went. And I felt really good going down the hill.

"In the straightaway right before the first mile is when I think I took the lead."