Athletes of the Week: McNinch & Tibbetts

Tucker McNinch
Lenox

The Western Massachusetts Division 2 cross country meet turned into an extension of the Berkshire County season, and just as he did for the last two months, Tucker McNinch led the way.

McNinch captured the individual championship with a time of 16 minutes, 31 seconds on the 5-kilometer course at Northfield Recreation Area. He was nine seconds faster than county rival Travis Ciempa of Hoosac Valley and led a pack of county runners who took the top nine places and 14 of the top 20.

McNinch also led Lenox to a second-place finish in a team competition similarly dominated by Berkshire County schools. Mount Greylock, Monument Mountain and Hoosac finished first, fourth and sixth, respectively. McNinch and the Millionaires will battle Mount Greylock again on Saturday at the state meet at Boston's Franklin Park.

Emily Tibbetts
Lenox

Local fans got used to the Millionaires dominating the Berkshire County scene this fall, but they were supposed to be pushed a little bit at the Western Mass meet. No such luck for the rest of the region as Lenox took four of the top five places to capture a 55-point win. Leading the way was Tibbetts, who won the individual race with a time of 20 minutes, 29 seconds over 5 kilometers.

"I wasn't expecting [to win] at all," Tibbetts said. "But I felt really good when I was running and just decided to go for it."

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.