Lenox Girls, Mount Greylock Boys Return to State Meet
Three teams and eight individuals from Berkshire County will take on the best high cross country runners from around the state on Saturday at Westfield's Stanley Park.
The Lenox and Mount Greylock girls and Mount Greylock boys will look to build on their success at last week's Western Massachusetts Championships on the same course as they contend in the Division 2 all-state meet.
Lenox's girls will be among the teams to beat after finishing second last year to Hamilton-Wenham by 52 points.
The Millionaires again dominated the Western Mass field last week, placing three runners in the top four and all five scorers in the top 16.
The trio of junior Emma Jourdain, senior Emily Tibbetts and freshman Magdalena Sorrentino went 2-3-4 for Lenox in the sectional meet.
Last year, Jourdain led Lenox's contingent at Boston's Franklin Park with a 13th-place showing. Hamilton-Wentham's Emily Weigand finished just ahead of her in 11th place, but she has graduated.
Most of the H-W team returns from 2014, as do all of the girls who scored for Lenox.
In Division 2 boys, Mount Greylock was fourth in the state last fall with 163 points. Champion Hopdale finished with 125 points.
Mounties senior Tommy Kirby was 17th in the state as a junior. And although most of last year's Mount Greylock team graduated, Kirby is joined by a talented group of up and coming under classmen at this year's state meet.
The Mount Greylock girls, a perennial contender in Western Mass, missed qualifying as a team for last yaer's state meet. But then-sophomore Niku Darafshi and then-freshman Emma Polumbo gained experience competing as individuals at the state meet. They're joined this time around by their teammates, including freshman Margo Smith, who placed eighth in Western Mass last week.
Mount Greylock's boys will be joined in the D2 race by Drury junior Connor Meehan, Hoosac Valley senior Jared Haley, Lee senior Sam Harding and Lenox senior Connor McNinch.
On the girls side, the D2 field will include Monument Mountain freshman Grace Phair and junior Meryl Phair.
In the Division 1 girls race, junior Kat Bruce and freshman Gabrielle Orlando will represent Wahconah.
Besides having the home course advantage on Saturday, the Western Mass runners will not have the disadvantage of going into the state meet one week after challenging the hills at the Northfield Recreation Center. The section's runners should be less fatigued and could be more competitive this year than they have been in years past.