Mount Greylock Boys Win Fifth Straight State Title

WINDSOR, Mass. -- Four skiers in the top 15 equaled a fifth straight state championship for the Mount Greylock Regional School boys cross country ski team on Wednesday.

 

Matthew Wiseman and Will Nolan placed fifth, and sixth, respectively, to lead the Mounties to an 18-point win over Acton-Boxborough at Notchview Reservation.

 

Jake Foehl and Tommy Kirby placed 13th and 15th, respectively, for Mount Greylock, which also had four more skiers place in the top 25 out of 138 boys.

 

Jake Kobrin, John Driver, Thomas Schoorlemmer and Joey Gais all finished in the top 18 percent at the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Championships.

 

"I think Matt might have beaten me by a tiny bit," Mount Greylock's usual No. 1 skier, Nolan, said as the boys awaited the results. "And Tommy Kirby ran a really good race. I think he was either our fourth or fifth, and he was in the eighth wave, so he worked his way up."

 

Kirby ended up as the Mounties' fourth-fastest skier, and Wiseman did edge Nolan with identical times of 21 minutes, 18 seconds.

 

The top individual was Acton-Boxborough's Lewis Nottonson, who defended his individual state title with a time of 19:13. Concord-Carlisle's Jacob Meyerson was second in 20:58.

 

Nottonson, Meyerson and Nolan were all racing in the second wave -- a common position for teams' No. 1 skiers who like to be able to chase down skiers on the course.

 

"I decided to stay with them as long as I could, which turned out to be not very long," Nolan said. "I pushed as hard I as I could for the rest of the race. I think I put my best effort out there. That's all I could do."

 

Wiseman said his race did not go exactly according to plan, but he could not argue with the result.

 

"I got out fast, which was good," he said. "I didn't do what I wanted to do, though. I ended up pulling [other skiers] most of the race. I was leading the wave. I wanted to be drafting people.

 

"I skied well, though."

 

So did the Mount Greylock girls, who finished second in the state with 55 points, behind girls champion Wellseley but well ahead of third-place Acton-Boxborough (91).

 

Newton North's Sonya Jampel won the girls individual title in 23:33, three seconds ahead of Brookline's Gabby Vandendries.

 

The top four girls all came out of the first wave. Mount Greylock's Grace Smith finished fourth in 24:34, leading a group of four Mounties -- including Sophie Gerry, Margo Smith and Niku Darafshi -- in the top 25.

 

Mount Greylock's depth went beyond those four -- a fact that had Mounties girls coach Hilary Greene grinning from ear to ear.

 

"Every single one of our skiers felt like they skied their best, and there's nothing else you can do," she said. "They're happy. They crossed the finish line feeling like they gave their all. So we're absolutely not disappointed with that.

 

"The other thing that stands out is we had all of our eight girls in the top 35. They're all on the first page [of the individual results]. That just shows our depth. If one person falls off a bit, there's another teammate to fill in for them.

 

"And the other thing is this team is relatively young. Every single person who raced this year will be back next year -- and then some."

 

Margo Smith, who scored on Wednesday, is an eighth-grader. Brandi Gill, who finished 31st, is in the seventh grade.

 

The first Berkshire County girl across the finish line not wearing Mount Greylock's colors was Lenox's Alice Huth, who made the podium with a 10th-place time of 26:58.

 

Berkshire County Nordic League rival Allison Lull of Mohawk Trail placed right behind Huth in 11th place (26:58). Wahconah's girls were led by Lily Howes in 234d (28:49). Hoosac Valley's Jamie Barth was 34th (30:06). Rachel Tynan led Taconic with a time of 42:18.

 

Hoosac Valley's Jared Haley surprised himself a little with a 10th-place finish, covering the course in 22:03, just ahead of Lenox's Matas Rudzinskas (22:09).

 

"I felt really good," Haley said. "It was a great race.

 

"My goal was actually top 15 because I came in 17th last year. To hear I came in top 10 -- I was psyched."

 

Wahconah's Sam Pyser was 27th (23:51). Taconic's Matthew Rabasco finished 33rd (24:37).

 

More photos to come from this event.