Athlete of the Week: Benistand & Wright

Francois Benistand
Lenox

Lenox junior Benistand did not exactly come out of nowhere to win the 6th annual Berkshire County Classic high school golf tournament. He just came farther than anyone has before.

Benistand, an exchange student from France, has come a long way from an (understandably) poor outing in his first-ever round of competitive golf on U.S. soil a mere five weeks ago. Since that debut at Forest Park in Adams, Benistand has gotten used to American courses, which he said are a little shorter than what he is used to in his home country, and become a leader on the Millionaires.

At Stockbridge Golf Club on last week, he led the way for the entire county with a 5-over-par 76 to take the county individual title.

Amanda Wright
Pittsfield

Wright is one of several seniors on an experienced Pittsfield roster, but she is the one that other teams most have to watch out for.

Wright had a team-leading 17 goals through 13 games as the Generals opened the year 9-2-2. Pittsfield outscored opponents by a margin of 41-11 in the process, and Wright was a big reason why. She recently scored twice in a 3-1 win over Mount Greylock and once in a 5-1 win over Taconic as Pittsfield continued an 8-0-2 run heading into a pair of non-league dates against Ludlow and Westfield.

iBerkshires Sports and Capital Region Honda Dealers, including Bedard Honda in Cheshire, will be spotlighting two Berkshire County high school athletes each week, a boy and a girl, who best excelled in their sport or boosted their teams' efforts.