Rudzinskas, Gill Notch Wins at Mohawk Trail
BUCKLAND, Mass. -- After seven weeks, the truncated, snow-challenged Berkshire County High School Nordic season ended Saturday the way it began, with Lenox’s Herkus Rudzinskas and Mount Greylock’s Brandi Gill at the end of the pack.
Gill won for the fourth time in six outings and the the second straight time at Mohawk Trail to lead the Mounties to first place in the league standings.
Back in the New Year’s Eve season opener, she shared the top of the podium with Rudzinskas, and that was how it went again on Saturday as he finished 11 seconds ahead of Mount Greylock’s Col McDermott to claim the top spot with a time of 13 minutes, 49 seconds.
McDermott and the Mounties again were the top team in the field of eight boys teams.
The Mounties amassed 21 points to finish 10 points ahead of Rudzinskas’ Millionaires.
Rounding out the scoring for Mount Greylock’s undefeated boys were Corban Miller, Gabe Gerry, Foster Savitsky in fourth, seventh and eighth places, respectively.
Junior Owen Tucker-Smith did not score but did crack the top 10 for the Mounties. He said the conditions at Mohawk were challenging on Saturday.
“It was a lot of fun, but it was definitely not completely normal,” he said. “It was obviously pretty icy, and sometimes the trails were pretty narrow. But I think it’s good to compete in all sorts of conditions. We did a lot of races at [Vermont’s Prospect Mountain] at the beginning, which is more of the typical trails. Having some stuff that is different from what we’ve been doing is fun in its own way.”
For the league’s coaches, it has been a challenge just to find skiable terrain.
After the traditional kickoff in Woodford, Vt., the league made three more trips “north of the border” in consecutive weeks before getting a Massachusetts race in at Mohawk two weeks ago. Last week, the scheduled race at Mount Greylock was scrapped and no alternative was found; Saturday’s event was originally scheduled for the Berkshire School in Sheffield.
The narrow trails through the woods of Buckland presented a special challenge to racers, like Tucker-Smith, who started in later waves. Passing zones were at a premium.
“When in you’re in such narrow trails and you’re behind someone, at Prospect, you can just pass them,” he said. “Here, sometimes, you just have to say, ‘OK, I’m going to be on this trail for another minute, and then I can pass them.’ There’s also an element of, when you’re in the fields, really hammering it so you can pass them because you really don’t want to get stuck behind someone going into those narrow trails.”
Both Gill and Rudzinskas started in the first wave and did not have that problem, keeping ahead of the pack the whole way.
Rudzinskas was chased throughout by McDermott, who also started with the first group.
Gill, who crossed the finish line in 16:08, finished 30 seconds ahead of the field.
Wahconah’s Gabby Orlando, who started in the first wave, tied for second with Mount Greylock’s Elizabeth Dupras with a time of 16:38.
The Mounties placed their next two finishers in the top six to round out the scoring. Jacqueline Wells was fourth, and Miriam Bakija placed sixth.
Mount Greylock’s girls finished well ahead of runner-up Lenox in the team competition. The Millionaires did get top 10 finishes from Grace Elliot (16:55) in fifth, Mary Elliot in seventh and Sola Herndon-Schmidt in 10th.
The regular season concluded, the Massachusetts public school teams in the league turn their attention to the state championships, scheduled for Feb. 26 at Notchview Reservation.
Girls Team Scores
Mount Greylock 13; 2. Lenox 37; 3. Mohawk 64; 4. Wahconah 72; 5. Berkshire School 102; 6. Northfield Mount Hermon 103; 7. Hoosac Valley 105; 8. Amherst 165.
Girls Top 20
Brandi Gill (MG), 16:08; 2. Elizabeth Dupras (MG), 16:38; 2. Gabby Orlando (W), 16:38; 4. Jacqueline Wells (MG), 16:49; 5. Grace Elliot (L), 16:55; 6. Miriam Bakija (MG), 16:59; 7. Mary Elliot (L), 17:00; 8. Erika Looman (M), 17:07; 9. Lainey Gill (MG), 17:12; 10. Sola Herndon-Schmidt (L), 17:14; 11. Margo Smith (MG), 17:20; 12. Holin Keyser-Parker (NMH), 17:28; 13. Katarzina Wisnauckas (M), 17:32; 14. Sage Michel (NMH), 17:34; 15. Maggie Sorrentino (L), 17:35; 16. Aidan Burns (L), 17:43; 17. Mia Gale (HV), 17:53; 18. Julianne Harwood (L), 17:56; 19. Ava Bachman (L), 18:05; 20. Amelia Murphy (MG), 18:06.
Boys Team Scores
Mount Greylock 21; 2. Lenox 31; 3. Hoosac Valley 66; 4. Wahconah 81; 5. Amherst 111; 6.Berkshire School 114; 7. Simsbury 139; 8. Mohawk Trail 149.
Boys Top 20
Herkus Rudzinskas (L), 13:49; 2. Col McDermott (MG), 14:00; 3. Maxime Leger (L), 14:39; 4. Corban Miller (MG), 14:40; 5. Corben Craig (HV), 14:42; 6. Justin Levesque (HV), 15:04; 7. Gabe Gerry (MG), 15:05; 8. Foster Savitsky (MG), 15:06; 9. Michael Maruk (MG), 15:11; 10. Owen Tucker-Smith (MG), 15:18; 11. Robert Carotenuto (L), 15:27; 12. Emmet McDonnell (BS), 15:28; 13. Shea McIlquham (W), 15:31; 14. Jack Rice (NMH), 15:36; 15. Guy Rice-Lesure (M), 15:37; 16. JT Novitsky (L), 15:38; 17. Nor Young (A), 15:49; 18. Justin King (L), 16:02; 19. Ollie Swabey (MG), 16:08; 20. Colin Young (L), 16:19.