Greylock Locks Up Two State Titles
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WOODFORD, Vt. – The Mount Greylock boys returned to the top of the mountain.
The Mounties’ girls stayed right where they are.
Both Mount Greylock teams took home a state championship from Tuesday’s state meet at Prospect Mountain.
And out of four gold medals awarded, Berkshire County took home a third, as well, with Wahconah’s Fritz Sanders finishing ahead of the field in the boys race to help his squad place second in the commonwealth. His Wahconah teammate, Vienna Mahar, just missed making it a clean sweep for the county with a second-place finish in the girls race.
Of all the racers at the top of the podium on Tuesday, perhaps none were as surprised as the Mount Greylock girls team, which successfully defended the title it won a year ago, when it broke a three-year title drought.
“It feels amazing,” said the Mounties’ Lauren Miller, who placed fifth to lead her team to victory. “This was not expected at all. Even last year, we did not expect it. And then, especially this year, with Annie [Miller] gone, we’re super excited.
“We were just planning to come out here and give it our all and see what would happen. But this was super unexpected. We were not expecting to come away with the win in any way, shape or form.”
Miller and the Mountie girls ended up with an 11-point win over Berkshire County Nordic League rival Amherst.
Josie Bay and Mia Holmgren placed 15th and 16th, respectively, and Elizabeth Spelman cracked the top 25 in the 133-racer girls field to round out the scoring.
Lenox’s girls moved up four spots from last year’s ninth-place finish behind Jane Elliot, who placed 12th overall.
And Wahconah, which was 13th a year ago, moved up to No. 10 in the 18-team girls field on Tuesday.
For the second year in a row, Kimberly Mach was the lone Hoosac Valley skier among the boys or girls. She finished in 65th place this time around.
Mount Greylock’s boys, who were a runner-up by six points in 2024, finished a solid 21 points ahead of the field this year.
Patrick Holland chased Sanders across the finish line to win a silver medal. Simon Shin and Knowl Stroud were fourth and seventh, respectively, to give Mount Greylock three top 10 finishers, and Ben Mandel was 21st to provide the rest of the scoring.
Mount Greylock went into the state meet battle tested and healthy.
“It’s been different than previous years because there’s been competition, mainly against Wahconah all season, and we were battling sickness for most of the season,” Shin said. “But we all got over it for this race, and it was fun.”
Sanders was backed up by Chaz Mahar (12th), Cadighan Gladu (20th) and Owen Tucker (22nd) as it finished 13 points ahead of Concord-Carlisle.
Lenox’s boys cracked the top 10, placing eighth in a 17-team field behind Everett Shepardson and William Keefe, who finished 31st and 35th, respectively.
While Holland, like Sanders, was in the first wave to hit the course on Tuesday, Shin was in wave No. 3.
“I ran a pretty good race,” he said. “I stuck to my race strategy of taking it a little easier in the beginning so I didn’t burn up and then hammering it along the flat sections toward the end. … It’s kind of fun [chasing from Wave 3], but also, I’ve got to pass a lot of people, and that takes time.”
Shin made up the one-minute stagger on everyone in the 16-skier second wave and all but three in the 18-racer first wave.
No one was catching Sanders, who had two wins in the league season this winter and jumped up from last year’s seventh-place showing as an individual to win it all.
“I just kind of left it all out there, as you can see, a 40-second gap at the end,” Sanders said. “I felt really good. The last hill, I knew there wasn’t anyone behind me, but I still went as hard as I could just to prove I could do it.
“I love [being in the first wave]. It looked like that’s where most of the competition was. I knew all these Mass boys. I’ve been with them most of my high school career. Going on the first wave, I basically knew everyone in that wave. … Going out in front means you kind of have to push yourself. In the woods, where you’re by yourself the whole time, you’ve got to stay in the game mentally.”
Wahconah could not quite catch its rival from North County, but the silver medal on the team side is an improvement from last year’s fourth-place showing.
“Still, definitely a solid finish,” Sanders said. The last time we got this close, we were third, I think. That was my sophomore year. … This is the best we’ve done. Our team is really strong. I’m happy with what we did.”
Boys Top 10
1. Fritz Sanders, Wah, 20 minutes, 23 seconds; 2. Patrick Holland, MG, 21:08; 3. Mori Finlayson-Johnecheck, Arlington, 21:10; 4. Simon Shin, MG, 21:33; 5. Danshiel Martin, Newton South, 21:50; 6. Levin Brenner, Newton South, 21:50; 7. Knowl Stroud, MG, 21:52; 8. Adam Synnestvedt, Concord-Carlisle, 22:02; 9. Alex Huesgen, Westford Academy, 22:20; 10. Zachary Scopinich-Burgel, Concord-Carlisle, 22:21.
Berkshire County Boys
Lenox: 31. Everett Shepardson, 24:32; 35. William Keefe, 25:16; 41. Chase Candee, 25:56; 43. Jackson Carhart, 26:10; 55. Noah Pinsonneault, 27:07; 73. Caleb Ketchen, 29:46.
Mount Greylock: 2. Patrick Holland, 21:08; 4. Simon Shin, 21:33; 7. Knowl Stroud, 21:52; 21. Ben Mandel, 23:48; 30. Nathan Gill, 24:23; 32. Andrew Holland, 25:02.
Wahconah: 1. Fritz Sanders, 20:23; 12. Chaz Mahar, 22:55; 20. Cadighan Gladu, 23:42; 22. Owen Tucker, 23:52; 28. Christopher Hyatt, 24:16; 29. Colby Robb, 24:18.
Boys Team Scores
1. Mount Greylock, 34 points; 2. Wahconah, 55; 3. Concord-Carlisle, 68; 4. Newton South, 90; 5. Amherst, 104; 6. Wellesley, 123; 7. Wayland, 136; 8. Lenox, 150; 9. Acton-Nashoba, 156; 10. Mohawk Trail, 177; 11. Winchester, 208; 12. Newton North, 217; 13. Westford Academy, 226; 14. Lincoln-Sudbury, 242; 15. Brookline, 299; 16. Pioneer Valley, 319; 17. Weston, 327.
Girls Top 10
1. Hannah Petersen, Brookline, 24 minutes, 50 seconds; 2. Vienna Mahar, Wah, 25:17; 3. Rachael Strock, Brookline, 26:26; 4. Polina Kontorovich, Newton South, 26:36; 5. Lauren Miller, MG, 26:43; 6. Lucy Reinder, Lincoln-Sudbury, 27:09; 7. Shay Barnard, Acton-Nashoba, 27:30; 8. Hannah Leese, Newton South, 27:32; 9. Ella Workman, Amherst, 27:37; 10. Alta Oswald, Winchester, 27:37.
Berkshire County Girls
Hoosac Valley: 65. Kim Mach, 33:54.
Lenox: 12. Jane Elliot, 27:48; 19. Lila Kousch, 28:41; 27. Sarah Chevalier, 29:21; 31. Hannah Carhart, 29:39; 33. Audra Tresp, 29:43; 41. Allie Rivers-Lussier, 30:16.
Mount Greylock: 5. Lauren Miller, 26:43; 15. Josie Bay, 27:59; 16. Mia Holmgren, 28:02; 25. Elizabeth Spelman, 29:10; 34. Maya Filson, 29:47; 50. Avery Wied, 32:12.
Wahconah: 2. Vienna Mahar, 25:17; 41. Megan Tucker, 30;16; 62. Lilliana Penna-Ward, 33:46; 71. Natylee Martin, 34:27; 81. Lily Cook, 40:16; 92. Sienna Shannon, 40:16.
Girls Team Scores
1. Mount Greylock, 61 points; 2. Amherst, 72; 3. Acton-Nashoba, 77; 4. Newton South 85; 5. Lenox, 89; 6. Winchester, 100; 7. Mohawk Trail, 126; 8. Brookline, 137; 9. Weston, 175; 10. Wahconah, 176; 11. Wellesley, 191; 12. Westford Academy, 213; 13. Newton North, 228; 14. Lincoln-Sudbury, 283; 15. Wayland, 292; 16. Dover-Sherborn, 307; 17. Concord-Carlisle, 332; 18. Arlington, 334.