Mounties Prosper at Prospect
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The Mounties placed eight finishers in the top 10 among boys and six in the top 10 for girls in a meet moved north after it was determined that the course at host Wahconah would not be ready.
Will Nolan and Ian Culnane finished first and second, respectively, in the boys race. Nolan edged out his teammate by four seconds, covering the course in 25 minutes, 44 seconds.
In third place, Northfield Mount Hermon’s Estevan Velez finished in 25:53, just five seconds behind Culnane.
Matthew Wiseman, Jake Kobrin and John Driver all scored for the Mounties. Driver jumped up out of the sixth wave to pass numerous skiers.
On the girls side, Mount Greylock’s Grace Smith was nearly two minutes faster than the rest of the field.
Smith finished in 29:07 to beat out Mohawk Trail’s Alison Lull (30:57).
Sophie Gerry, Greta Savitsky and Christian Butcher were third through fifth for the Mounties, and teammate Ellie Williams finished ninth.
The skiers faced slightly slower conditions than they had at Prospect during the holiday week season opener.
“The snow was definitely a lot more cold today, which can make for slower conditions,” Smith said.
“I think it’s a little bit of both [mental and physical differences]. Mentally, it’s about keeping a positive attitude. But everyone has to ski in the same conditions, and we’re really lucky to have snow coverage up here.
“It can be harder to carry speed, definitely, and that can be mentally wearing. But it’s just about being mentally tough, I think, and just being able to keep speed and really carry through transitions.”
Smith won in both sets of conditions this winter, as did Nolan. In fact, the results were very similar to those nearly two weeks ago at Prospect.
On the boys side, the top four from the opener all were in the top five on Saturday with the addition of Culnane, who sat out the December meet.
For the girls, the top seven finishers were identical with some skiers flopping positions. The top three remained the same. Butcher and Savitsky swapped places at No. 4 and No. 5. Wahconah’s Stacey Tutela and Lenox’s Alice Huth were sixth and seventh, respectively, on Saturday after finishing seventh and seventh, respectively, on Dec. 30.
Next Saturday, conditions permitting, the league will stay closer to home with a meet at Mount Greylock.
BOYS TOP 20
Will Nolan (Mount Greylock), 25:44; 2. Ian Culnane (MG), 25:48; 3. Estevan Velez (Northfield Mount Hermon), 25:53; 4. Matthew Wiseman (MG), 25:58; 5. Jake Kobrin (MG), 26:22; 6. John Driver (MG), 26:30; 7. Jake Foehl (MG), 26:44; 8. Joey Gais (MG), 27:06; 9. Willy Wright (Amherst), 27:24; 10. Thomas Schoorlemer (MG), 27:29; 11. 11. Toby Weed (NMH), 27:33; 12. Matas Rudzinskas (Lenox), 27:36; 13. Jared Haley (Hoosac Valley), 27:39; 14. Sean Harvey (Wahconah), 28:42; 15. Rye Buckley (NMH), 28:48; 16. Patterson Malcolm (NMH), 28:50; 17. Sam Pyser (W), 28:52; 18. Sean Peters (W), 29:01; 19. Kale Wenczel (A), 29:12; 20. Ciaran Young (A), 29:17. Other top local finisher: 23. Matthew Rabasco (Taconic), 30:21.
GIRLS TOP 20
Grace Smith (Mount Greylock), 29:07; 2. Alison Lull (Mohawk), 30:57; 3. Sophie Gerry (MG), 31:26; 4. Greta Savitsky (MG), 33:16: 5. Christina Butcher (MG), 33:17; 6. Stacey Tutela (Wahconah), 33:22; 7. Alice Huth (Lenox), 33:24; 8. Loulou Tanski (Northfield Mount Hermon), 33:53; 9. Ellie Williams (MG), 34:01; 10. Niku Darafshi (MG), 34:11; 11. Isabelle Lotocki (NMH), 34:12; 12. Lily Howes (W), 34:14; 13. Charlotte Price (Amherst), 34:33; 14. Margo Smith (MG), 34:35; 15. Sarah Gokey (M), 34:46; 16. Eve Pomazi (NMH), 34:49; 17. Jaime Barthe (Hoosac Valley), 34:55; 18. Amanda Riley (A), 35:10; 19. Nevada Powers (NMH), 35:21; 20. Zofia Noble (A), 36:18: Other top local finisher: 29. Lauren Farry (Taconic), 38:10.