Mount Greylock Girls, Boys Open Nordic Season with Wins in the Rain
WINDSOR, Mass. -- As Mount Greylock's Col McDermott neared the finish line in Saturday's lid-lifter for the Berkshire County Nordic Ski League, public address announcer Mark Santella noted that the Mountie had time to take a look behind himself.
Did he see anyone else?
"I did not, no," he said with a smile after leading Mount Greylock to a dominating win at Notchview Reservation.
"I was surprised," McDermott said of his margin of victory. "I kept thinking ... I must have been hearing my own skis the whole time because I kept thinking there was someone right on my tail.
"But I remember hearing at the first checkpoint of the race that I had a seven-second lead. I assumed that would be closed down. So, yeah, when I looked back, I was pretty shocked not to see anyone coming in for a little bit."
It was 1 minute, 10 seconds before the next finisher, McDermott's teammate, Foster Savitsky, finished on a rainy day that Santella dubbed "Slushfest."
Of course, on the scoreboard, the margin was tighter than that.
Savitsky, racing in the second wave, nearly eliminated the one-minute stagger behind McDermott, who went out with the first wave of racers. Savitsky's elapsed time of 12:32 was just 10 seconds behind McDermott's winning time.
On the scoreboard, it was a true runaway for the Mounties.
Mount Greylock's boys took the top five places and finished with a perfect 10 in team points to easily outpoint runner-up Lenox (40 points).
The defending state champion Mount Greylock girls also dominated the season opener, collecting 13 points to finish 20 points ahead of runner-up Lenox.
But individually, the girls race provided the top finish of the day as Mount Greylock's Jackie Wells edged Mohawk Trail's Erika Looman by just one second.
Both Wells and Looman raced in the first wave. Wells held off Looman down the stretch to win with a time of 14:40.
The next three finishes belonged to Mount Greylock, which placed five racers in the top seven.
Behind Looman came the Mounties' Miriam Bakija, Brandi Gill and Annie Miller.
Mountie Juliann Lawson finished seventh, behind Lenox leader Mary Elliot (15:03).
The Millionaires rounded out the top 10 with Grace Elliot, Aidan Burns and Solia Herndon-Schmidt placing eighth, ninth and 10th, respectively.
Six girls teams scored in a season-opener delayed by four days after the traditional New Year's Eve race was canceled due to conditions at Prospect Mountain in Vermont.
Wahconah's Haley Crosier (16:35) and Hoosac Valley's Vienna Mahar (16:50) cracked the top 20 in 17th and 18th place, respectively.
On the boys side, the first non-Mountie in the final standings was Lenox's Ted Yee, who placed sixth with a time of 13:16.
Hoosac Valley's Justin Levesque (13:23) and Wahconah's Jack Pudlo (13:25) placed eighth and ninth, respectively.
A steady but light rain fell all morning at the traitional site of state championship competition, but McDermott said, all things considered, it was a good day for a race.
"I felt pretty good," he said. "The conditions were not ideal, definitely, with the rain. But the snow was fast in spots. Pretty good course. It was fun to rip.
"The rain only was a factor when I first showed up and during the warm-ups. When you're in the race, it's really hard to think about anything other than the race. In terms of during the race, the rain wasn't much of a problem. Before hand, it's a bummer. But I think everyone just worked past it."
Boys Team Scores
1. Mount Greylock, 10 points; 2. Lenox, 40; 3. Hoosac Valley, 61; 4. Wahconah, 62; 5. Amherst, 85.
Boys Top 20
1. Col McDermott, MG, 12:22; 2. Foster Savitsky, MG, 12:32; 3. Gabe Gerry, MG, 13:05; 4. Owen Tucker-Smith, 13:06; 5. Corban Miller, MG, 13:09; 6. Ted Yee, Lenox, 13:16; 7. Teague Murphy, MG, 13:17; 8. Justin Levesque, HV, 13:23; 9. Jack Pudlo, Wahconah, 13:25; 10. Maxime Leger, Lenox, 13:27; 11. Colin Young, Lenox, 13:29; 12. Quinn McDermott, MG, 13:33; 13. Corben Craig, HV, 13:41; 14. JT Novitsky, Lenox, 13:45; 15. Nor Young, Amherst, 13:55; 16. Tomas Leger, Lenox, 13:55; 17. Cedric Lemaire, MG, 13:56; 18. Hayden Kendall, Wahconah, 13:58; 19. Brennan Anderson, Wahconah, 14:33; 20. Evan Norcross, HV, 14:42.
Girls Team Scores
1. Mount Greylock, 13 points; 2. Lenox, 33; 3. Mohawk Trail, 58; 4. Wahconah, 72; 5. Hoosac Valley, 82; 6. Amherst, 121.
Girls Top 20
1. Jackie Wells, MG, 14:40; 2. Erika Looman, Mohawk, 14:41; 3. Miriam Bakija, 14:46; 4. Brandi Gill, MG, 14:48; 5. Annie Miller, MG, 14:55; 6. Mary Elliot, Lenox, 15:03; 7. Juliann Lawson, MG, 15:15; 8. Grace Elliot, Lenox, 15:19; 9. Aidan Burns, Lenox, 15:20; 10. Solia Herndon-Schmidt, Lenox, 15:33; 11. Elizabeth Dupras, MG, 15:43; 12. Katazyna Wisnauckas, Mohawk, 15:51; 13. Lily McDermott, MG, 15:51; 14. Amelia Murphy, MG, 15:59; 15. Ava Bachman, Lenox, 16:04; 16. Julianne Harwood, Lenox, 16:26; 17. Haley Crosier, Wahconah, 16:35; 18. Vienna Mahar, Hoosac Valley, 16:50; 19. Lilliana Manley, Mohawk, 17:03; 20. Emma Sorentino, Lenox, 17:51.