Nordic Skiers Battle Rain at Prospect Mountain
WOODFORD, Vt. -- The weather has been a challenge for the Berkshire County cross country ski league all season.
But never more so than on Saturday morning at Prospect Mountain.
Mount Greylock's boys and Amherst's girls skied off with team titles at the second meet of the season -- a season that got underway one week late after snow was unavailable for the traditional New Year's Day opener.
And while Prospect had sufficient cover for Saturday's race, the snow and the racers were pelted by a steady rain throughout the morning.
"I won't say that it was easy," Mount Greylock's Ollie Swabey said after winning the individual crown. "Obviously, we've gotten so much rain. It was raining while we were racing. It makes it hard to ski. So really, it was all about just pushing through -- literally and figuratively today.
"The hard part of this is that the snow is so wet that it feels like it's suctioning your skis. So it's so much pushing, rather than what skiing is all about, which is gliding. ... It's as much mental as physical, but it's really hard to fight, I guess."
Swabey, skiing out of the first wave, was the first across the finish line and one of several leaders in both the boys and girls varsity races who showed their exhaustion by flopping onto the snow after a quarter hour of pushing through it.
Swabey finished 13 seconds ahead of Wahconah's Fritz Sanders, who also skied out of the first wave and placed second overall to lead his team to a second-place finish.
Mount Greylock's boys then took the next three places, earning points from Jude Bakija, Declan Rogers and Knowl Stroud to finish with 13 points -- 23 points ahead of Wahconah.
In the girls race, Mount Greylock pulled down the top two positions, but Amherst won a solid team win with four finishers in the top 10.
The Mounties' Lauren Miller, skiing out of the second wave, was the second skier across the finish line.
Lauren completed the course just 59 seconds after her sister, Anne, who went off in the first wave, giving Lauren a one-second win.
The Miller sisters were more than 30 seconds faster than the rest of the field.
But a strong contingent of Amherst Hurricanes, led by third-place finisher Ella Workman, helped their team finish 10 points ahead of second-place Lenox.
The Millionaires were led by Jane Elliot, who placed fourth overall, and Audie Tresp, who finished ninth.
Mount Greylock finished six points behind Lenox's girls, followed by Wahconah, which got a fifth-place finish from Vienna Mahar.
Lenox's Nicholas Moore placed eighth in the 39-boy varsity field to lead the Millionaires to a third-place finish, one notch ahead of their showing in the delayed season opener at Ski Butternut earlier in the week.
The South County venue was a change from the league's usual haunts, like Prospect, and a rare meet under the lights.
"It was really fun," Swabey said of Ski Butternet. "I'm so grateful we were able to go there. It's so different from these long flats and long uphills. It's rolling up and down and tight turns. It's so much fun.
"I personally really like skiing at night. I can't really explain why. It feels like you're going faster. You can't see as much where you're going. You just zoom. It's so much fun."
Girls Team Scores
1. Amherst, 25 points
2. Lenox, 35
3. Mount Greylock, 41
4. Wahconah, 61
5. Mohawk Trail, 65
Girls Top 25
1. Lauren Miller, MG, 16:25; 2. Anne Miller, MG, 16:26; 3. Ella Workman, A, 17:08; 4. Jane Elliot, L, 17:29; 5. Vienna Mahar, W, 18:26; 6. River Wolvaer, A, 18:42; 7. Isla Cusick, A, 18:59; 8. Audie Tresp, L, 19:10; 9. Addie Mager, A, 19:35; 10. Anya Reed, MT, 19:44; 11. Lila Kousch, L, 19:58; 12. Fiona Ward, L, 20:03; 13. Zoey Candito, A, 20:07; 14. Megan Tucker, W, 20:08; 15. Corinne Somes, MT, 20:327; 16. Charlotte Niswonger, MT, 20:39; 17. Elizabeth Spelman, MG, 20:51; 18. Kim Mach, Hoosac Valley, 20:57; 19. Charlotte Fleury-Belman, L, 21:02; 20. Skylar Rosier, W, 21:12; 21. Maya Filson, MG, 21:39; 22. Natylee Martin, W, 22:29; 23. Binxy MacQueen, L, 22:53; 24. Sadie Mahone-Moore, MT, 23:23; 25. Lilliana Penna-Ward, W, 24:15.
Boys Team Scores
1. Mount Greylock, 13 points
2. Wahconah, 36
3. Lenox, 59
4. Amherst, 60
5. Mohawk Trail, 88
6. Simsbury, 126
Boys Top 25
1. Oliver Swabey, MG, 13:36; 2. Fritz Sanders, W, 13:49; 3. Jude Bakija, MG, 13:51; 4. Declan Rogers, MG, 14:36; 5. Knowl Stroud, MG, 14:37; 6. Ian Burns, A, 14:47; 7. Patrick Holland, MG, 14:56; 8. Nicholas Moore, L, 15:06; 9. Aidan Garcia, W, 15:08; 10. Owen Tucker, W, 15:30; 11. David Scholz, Hoosac Valley, 15:32; 12. Ben Ames, L, 15:49; 13. Julian Camera, A, 16:00; 14. Andrew Holland, MG, 16:01; 15. Jack Curtiss, W, 16:20; 16. Jackson Carthart, L, 16:27; 17. Calvin Miller, A, 16:30; 18. Nathan Miller, W, 16:42; 19. Augustus Niswonger, MT, 16:43; 20. Caddy Gladu, W, 17:00; 21. Luke Irwin, MG, 17:04; 23; Adam Muller, MT, 17:15; 24. Vincent Gauthier, MT, 17:17; 25. Chase Candee, L, 17:19.