Monument Mountain Girls, Wahconah Boys Excel at Hoosac Valley
CHESHIRE, Mass. – On a day when not much separated the leaders in the girls cross country race, Monument Mountain’s Amelia Desilets had just enough in the tank to pull out a two-second win at Hoosac Valley on Wednesday.
Desilets outkicked Pittsfield’s Yasmine Oubtrou, crossing the finish line in 24 minutes, 17.83 seconds and leading the Spartans to a dual meet win over Wahconah.
The pair, who were neck-and-neck throughout the whole race, finished about 2 and a half minutes ahead of the rest of the field.
“I expected to stay with her the whole time,” Desilets said. “She’s an amazing runner, and I knew we were going to be neck and neck right until the end.
“But it was crazy. She didn’t pass me. I didn’t pass her. We were just swapping back and forth. At some points, we were right next to each other, matching each other’s strides. It was crazy going with her.”
Oubtrou (24:19.78) led the Generals to a dual meet win over the host Hurricanes.
Hoosac Valley’s girls lost in a tie-breaker to Wahconah.
After the teams’ top five finishers amassed 28 points apiece, it came down to Wahconah’s Lilliana Penna-Ward, who placed 11th in the dual meet and broke the stalemate.
The closest team finish in the boys race was between Mount Everett and Monument Mountain, and the Eagles pulled out a 23-34 win behind Ben Vella and Nico Bruno, who placed fifth and eighth, respectively, among 54 finishers on the boys side.
The boys race also featured a close race for first place – only between teammates Noah Wesley and Fritz Sanders. Wesley crossed the line in 20:20.02 to finish a couple of seconds ahead of Sanders.
Wahconah’s boys placed four runners in the top six with Cadighan Gladu and Aidan Garcia finishing fourth and sixth, respectively and earned convincing dual wins over Monument Mountain and Mount Everett.
Pittsfield’s boys also beat the Eagles behind a third-place finish from Seth Aitken.
Host Hoosac Valley did not have enough boys to score in the event, but Hurricanes ninth-grader Noah Sawtelle cracked the top half of the field with a 25th-place finish.
Hoosac Valley’s girls were led on Senior Day by seniors Hannah Walsh and Taylor Garabedian; they placed sixth and 12th, respectively.
Girls winner Desilets said that chasing and being chased by Pittsfield’s Oubtrou made both runners better.
“I think it really helped both of us,” she said. “It gave me a lot of motivation, definitely. Especially on the downhills. I knew she was coming right up behind me, so I knew I had to keep going faster and accelerate. So, yeah, it definitely helped a lot.”
All nine of the Berkshire County League’s cross country squads are scheduled to be in one place for the first time this fall when they square off next Wednesday at Wahconah.
Boys Team Scores
Wahconah 15, Monument Mountain 50
Wahconah 18, Mount Everett 43
Wahconah 15, Hoosac Valley, no team score
Mount Everett 23, Monument Mountain 34
Pittsfield 15, Hoosac Valley, no team score
Pittsfield 22, Mount Everett 38
Boys Top 25
1. Noah Wesley, W, 20:20.02; 2. Fritz Sanders, W, 20:22.50; 3. Seth Aitken, PHS, 20:44.66; 4. Cadighan Gladu, W, 20:51.45; 5. Ben Vella, ME, 21:30.92; 6. Aidan Garcia, W, 21:32.00; 7. David Bernal, PHS, 22:48.31; 8. Nico Bruno, ME, 23:38.62; 9. Cohen Zahn, PHS, 23:45.42; 10. Jack Curtiss, W, 24:07.56; 11. Owen Tucker, W, 25:15.31; 12. Logan Kunde, W, 25:47.86; 13. Marshall Noyes, W, 25:57.87; 14. James Smith, PHS, 26:07.95; 15. Preston Phair, PHS, 26:19.92; 16. Luke Irwin, PHS, 26:31.50; 17. Jonathan Fredsall, ME, 26:35.63; 18. Brayden Ryan, W, 26:47.73; 19. Ryan Geoghan, W, 27:03.91; 20. Beau Sanders, W, 27:08.21; 21. Sam Glockner, PHS, 27:10.16; 22. Robin Tovell, MM, 27:55.88; 23. Donald Corbett, 28:13.12; 24. Tatum Oates, ME, 28:15.04; 25. Noah Sawtelle, HV, 28:16.07.
Girls Team Scores
Monument Mountain 23, Wahconah 35
Wahconah 15, Mount Everett, no team score
Wahconah 28, Hoosac Valley 28 (Wahconah wins tie-breaker)
Monument Mountain 15, Mount Everett, no team score
Pittsfield 18, Hoosac Valley 40
Pittsfield 15, Mount Everett, no team score
Girls Top 25
1. Amelia Desilets, MM, 24:17.83; 2. Yasmine Oubtrou, PHS, 24:19.78; 3. Natylee Martin, W, 26:57.64; 4. Rae Geddes, MM, 27:15.97; 5. Grace Ungewitter, PHS, 28:02.12; 6. Hannah Walsh, HV, 28:09.03; 7. Sophia Lamalfa, PHS, 28:40.82; 8. Cora Pacheco, MM, 28:57.89; 9. Bella MacDonald, PHS, 29:12.95; 10. Clare Meighan, PHS, 29:23.38; 11. Megan Tucker, W, 29:41.86; 12. Taylor Garabedian, HV, 29:43.58; 13. Reagan Shea, HV, 29:52.76; 14. Jada Siv, PHS, 30:16.49; 15. Briannah Superneau, HV, 30:29.71; 16. Elliana O’Leary, W, 30:39.69; 17. Seren Brown, MM, 30:43.16; 18. Myah Bailly, MM, 30:50.15; 19. Julianna Torres, MM, 30:53.00; 20. Madeline Beatty, W, 30:53.57; 21. Isabella Williams, PHS, 31:15.62; 22. Nina Martin, MM, 32:20.40; 23. Taryn Griffin, PHS, 32:28.94; 24. Reagan Supple, PHS, 32:34.54; 25. Noa Honig-Briggs, MM, 32:40.72.