Gill, Rudzinskas Earn Narrow Wins in Nordic Opener
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WOODFORD, Vt. -- The 2018-19 high school Nordic ski season started with a pair of fantastic finishes.
Lenox’s Herkus Rudzinskas and Mount Greylock’s Brandi Gill collected individual titles in the lid-lifter at Prospect Mountain with wins by margins of 1 second and 2 seconds, respectively.
In the boys race to start the New Year’s Eve competition, Rudzinskas covered the 5-kilometer course in 13 minutes, 2 seconds, one second ahead of runner-up Jakin Miller of Mount Greylock.
Gill traded leads with Wahconah’s Gabby Orlando before beating her to the line by two seconds with a time of 15:32.
“We were right together the entire time and kind of passing off the lead throughout the entire race,” Gill said. “At the beginning, most of my [wave] was together. Then we spread out a little bit after the first two hills. It was mostly me and Gabby fighting it out in the lead.”
The different course configuration -- utilized to make the most of the available snow at the Southern Vermont touring center -- may have played a role in the outcome.
“We finished on a downhill, and I think my skis were a little faster,” Gill said. “[Orlando] was much stronger on the uphills. So she had passed me on the hill going into the final stretch, and I was able to get her on the downhill right before the finish.”
Rudzinskas had just as close a battle with Miller.
“[Miller] was in front of me in the beginning, and then I got him,” he said. “Then he got me again. He probably had a 5-second lead, and I was able to come back and get it. It was intense.”
Miller’s Mounties were the top team among six schools who scored at the season-opener.
With Col McDermott (13:25) finishing third and Owen Tucker-Smith, Ollie Swabey, Michael Maruk and Foster Savitsky each placing in the top 10, Mount Greylock finished with 16 points, 18 ahead of Rudzinskas and the Millionaires in second.
Gill was joined by teammates Amelia Murphy, Miriam Bakija and Lainey Gill in the top 10, and Mount Greylock earned a narrow 20-29 margin over second-place Lenox despite not having a few of its regulars in action.
“It feels really good because it was a hard-fought win, which I think makes it feel even better because it was so close,” Gill said.
“We were missing three of our top eight: Jackie [Wells], Hazel [Scullin] and Margo [Smith]. So it was really cool to see all these younger girls stepping up and racing their first varsity race and doing really, really well for themselves.”
Of course, the big winner on Monday was the league itself, which benefited from the hard work done by the staff at Prospect Mountain to get the course ready after a challenging late December marred by rain and unseasonable temperatures.
Rudzinskas said the area’s cross country skiers got creative finding ways to train.
“We did some interesting bounding and hiking trails, which are great for skiing,” he said. “And I also do lots of core and all that sort of stuff. I’ve been staying in shape. It’s all good.
“We were just up in Lake Placid, so we were doing plenty of skiing there. Then we came here yesterday and mapped out the course to see what the conditions were going to be.”
The conditions on Monday did not disappoint.
“It was actually really good,” “Rudzinskas said. “Driving up here, there was [no snow] until you hit the mountain, and then you get up here and it’s a beautiful day, and you say, ‘Alright. It’s going to be a good day of skiing.”
Boys Top 20
Herkus Rudzinskas (L), 13:02; 2. Jakin Miller (MG), 13:03; 3. Col McDermott (MG), 13:25; 4. Corben Craig (HV), 13:26; 5. Corban Miller (MG), 13:46; 6. Owen Tucker-Smith (MG), 14:01; 7. Maxime Leger (L), 14:03; 8. Ollie Swabey (MG), 14:20; 9. Michael Maruk (MG), 14:36; 10. Foster Savitsky (MG), 14:44; 11. Josh Cheung (MG), 14:51; 11. Nor Young (A), 14:51; 13. Guy Rice-Lesure (M), 14:53; 14. Robert Carotenuto (L), 14:55; 15. Justin Levesque (HV), 14:56; 16. April Harwood (L), 15:09; 17. Justin King (L) 15:14; 18. Justin King (L), 15:14; 18. JT Novitsky (L), 15:24; 19. Tyler Olds (W), 15:49; 20. Adam Bosenberg (S), 15:50.
Boys Team Scores
Mount Greylock (16); 2. Lenox (34); 3. Hoosac Valley (55); 4. Amherst (77); 5. Wahconah (96); 6. Simsbury, Conn. (118).
Girls Top 20
1. Brandi Gill (MG), 15:32; 2. Gabby Orlando (W), 15:34; 3. Maggie Sorrentino (L), 16:08; 4. Erika Looman (M), 16:09; 5. Amelia Murphy (MG), 16:13; 6. Miriam Bakija (MG), 16:18; 7. Aidan Burns (L), 16:28; 8. Lainey Gill (MG), 16:42; 9. Grace Elliot (L), 16:45; 10. Sola Hemdon-Schmidt (L), 16:47; 11. Mary Eliot (L), 16:52; 12. Elizabeth Dupras (MG), 16:55; 13. Julianne Harwood (L), 17:00; 14. Mia Gale (HV), 17:03; 15. Katarzyna Wisnauckas (M), 17:10; 16. Lily McDermott (MG), 17:48; 17. Jane Skavlem (MG), 18:01; 18. Suki Lang (HV), 18:07; 19. Lilliana Manley (M), 18:10; 20. Isabelle Viner (W), 18:15.
Girls Team Scores
Mount Greylock 20; 2. Lenox 29; 3. Mohawk 58; 4. Wahconah 67; 5. Hoosac Valley 79; 6. Amherst 118.