Young Mount Greylock Girls Win State Crown
WOODFORD, Vt. – The Mount Greylock girls cross country ski team Wednesday put another trophy in the school’s trophy case and put the rest of the commonwealth on notice.
This group of Mounties will be a force to be reckoned with for years to come.
Ninth-grader Lauren Miller placed fifth in the state at Prospect Mountain to lead Mount Greylock to its first team title since 2019.
The Mounties also got a seventh-place finish from their lone senior, Lauren’s sister Annie, en route to a five-point win over runner-up Amherst.
In the boys race, Mount Greylock finished second behind a second-place finish from Quinn McDermott, who crossed the line in 18 minutes, 59 seconds.
Newton South’s Liam Sakakeeny covered the 6.9-kilometer course in 18:49 to lead his team to a frist-place finish. The Lions outdueled the Mounties by placing four racers in the top 10 to finish with 22 points
Mount Greylock’s boys, who had three top 10 racers and one in 11th place, checked in with 28 points.
That allowed Newton-South to win its first state title and snap a three-run run atop the podium by Mount Greylock, which has claimed 10 of the last 13 boys titles.
Mount Greylock’s girls had a four-year winning streak snapped by rival Lenox in 2020. Wednesday’s win shows that the Mounties may not have to wait very long to get back to the top of the mountain again.
“We have one senior and one junior,” Mount Greylock coach Hilary Greene said. “We have one sophomore. And the rest are grades seven through nine.”
Three Berkshire County League girls teams finished in the top half of the field on Wednesday.
Lenox’s girls placed ninth behind Jane Elliot’s 14th-place showing.
Amherst-Pelham battled the Mounties and Millionaires all year for league supremacy before finishing second, a big leap from the Hurricanes’ 11th-place finish a year ago.
“In our league, we sometimes flipped, and even when we had our strongest team out there, we weren’t winning,” Greene said of the season-long battle.
“We knew we’ve been kind of coming into our own. We had these younger middle schoolers who are learning how to ski. So they’re figuring things out and learning how they can gain time and just learning how to tuck.
“We knew they were coming up, but we absolutely didn’t expect that they would crush it today.”
Mount Greylock’s fourth skier on Wednesday, who clinched the title by placing 42nd in the field (the top four of six skiers for each team go into the team score) was seventh-grader Avery Wied, who is brand new to the sport this year, Greene said.
The other team points for the Mounties came from Mia Holmgren, who placed 16th out of 132 finishers.
Runner-up Amherst was led by River Wolaver and Ella Workman, who placed 11th and 12th, respectively
Wahconah’s girls finished in 13th place behind the county’s third top 10 finisher, Vienna Mahar, who placed eighth.
Wahconah’s boys placed fourth in a field of 18 teams, one better than their 2023 showing.
Fritz Sanders earned a medal for himself with a seventh-place finish after placing 11th last year.
Lenox’s boys finished in the top half of the field, placing ninth, behind Finn Jolly, who skied into 28th place.
Hoosac Valley had two racers competing on Wednesday. In the boys race, David Scholz placed 24th. Kim Mach finished in the middle of the pack, placing 68th in the girls race.
Girls Top 10
1. Alexandria Taylor, Lincoln-Sudbury, 21 minutes, 47 seconds; 2. Hannah Peterson, Brookline, 22:40; 3. Sarah Kirincich, Concord-Carlisle, 22:43; 4. Polina Kontorovich, Newton South, 23:22; 5. Lauren Miller, Mount Greylock, 23:28; 5. Katie Pohlig, Concord-Carlisle, 23:28; 7. Annie Miller, Mount Greylock, 23:58; 8. Vienna Mahar, Wahconah, 24:06; 9. Amy McCormack, Wayland, 24:38; 10. Rachael Strock, Brookline, 25:12.
Berkshire County Girls
Hoosac Valley: 68. Kim Mach, 30:22.
Lenox: 14. Jane Elliot, 25:38; 25. Hannah Alsdorf, 26:38; 51. Audra Tresp, 28:53; 54. Fiona Ward, 29:00; 55. Sarah Chevalier, 29:02; 57. Lila Kousch, 29:21.
Mount Greylock: 5. Lauren Miller, 23:28; 7. Annie Miller, 23:58; 16. Mia Holmgren, 25:46; 42. Avery Wied, 28:15; 44. Elizabeth Spelman, 28:17; 51. Maya Filson, 28:53.
Wahconah: 8. Vienna Mahar, 24:06; 56. Skylar Rosier, 29:09; 63. Natylee Martin, 29:44; 65. MEgan Tucker 29:58; 72. Lilliana Penna-Ward.
Girls Team Scores.
1. Mount Greylock, 70 points; 2. Amherst, 75; 3. Concord-Carlisle, 107; 4. Newton South, 112; 5. Lincoln-Sudbury, 116; 6. Wellesley, 119; 7. Acton-Boxboro, 133; 8. Winchester, 133; 9. Lenox, 144; 10. Weston, 152; 11. Mohawk Trail, 178; 12. Wayland, 190; 13. Wahconah, 192; 14. Westford Academy, 201; 15. Brookline, 216; 16. Newton North, 271; 17. Dover-Sherborn, 306; 18. Nashoba, 339; 19. Andover Academy, 405.
Boys Top 10
1. Liam Sakakeeny, Newton South, 18 minutes, 49 seconds; 2. Quinn McDermott, Mount Greylock, 18:59; 3. Mori Finlayson-Johnecheck, Andover Academy, 19:17; 4. Ian Brenner, Newton South, 19:23; 5. Ollie Swabey, Mount Greylock, 19:24; 6. Adam Synnestvedt, Concord-Carlisle, 19:30; 7. Fritz Sanders, Wahconah, 19:32; 8. Dashiell Martin, Newton South, 19:49; 9. Levin Brenner, Newton South, 19:54; 10. Jude Bakija, Mount Greylock, 19:55.
Berkshire County Boys
Hoosac Valley: 24. David Scholz, 21:38.
Lenox: 28. Finn Jolly, 22:11; 39. Nick Moore, 22:43; 40. Ben Ames, 22:50; 48. Chase Candee, 23:43; 58. Jackson Carhart, 24:36; 60. William Keefe, 24:40.
Mount Greylock: 2. Quinn McDermott, 18:59; 5. Ollie Swabey, 19:24; 10. Jude Bakija, 19:55; 11. Declan Rogers, 20:24; 17. Patrick Holland, 20:56; 20. Knowl Stroud, 21:11.
Wahconah: 7. Fritz Sanders, 19:32; 25. Aiden Garcia, 21:40; 28. Owen Tucker, 22:11; 31. Nathan Miller, 22:19; 36. Jack Curtiss, 22:35; 42. Colby Robb, 23:01.
Boys Team Scores
1. Newton South, 22 points; 2. Mount Greylock, 28; 3. Wellesley, 76; 4. Wahconah, 91; 5. Concord-Carlisle, 104; 6. Andover Academy, 147; 7. Weston, 152; 8. Mohawk Trail, 154; 9. Lenox, 155; 10. Wayland, 165; 11. Amherst, 168; 12. Acton-Boxboro, 177; 13. Newton North, 254; 14. Winchester, 271; 15. Westford Academy, 294; 16. Lincoln-Sudbury, 330; 17. Dover-Sherborn, 397; 18. Nashoba, 398.