Scott Carpenter wasn’t about to play hero right away at the Brown University Northeast Cross Country Championships on Saturday. With a talented field that featured several runners capable of traversing over Goddard Memorial State Park’s generous five-kilometer layout in the low 15-minute range, the senior from Lenox High was content with just hanging with the lead pack and making his move in the late stages.

GREAT BARRINGTON - The weather may not have been ideal for cross country running Wednesday - chilly and breezy after rain fell at Monument Mountain Regional High School - but it's the same for everyone on the course.  "You put that aside and run your own race," Lenox's Scott Carpenter said. Carpenter ran his own race, all right - and ran it faster than anyone there. For the sixth week in a row, the Millionaires' senior won his race, finishing the 3.06-mile course in 16 minutes, 19 seconds. He was one of three Lenox runners in the top 10, allowing the team to hold off Monument 26-29 in a dual meet.

CROSS COUNTRY PREVIEW- WEST DIVISION II As always, predicting what will happen in any high school sport before it happens is an act of folly, and one that will almost always make the predictor look foolish and the second-guesser to look like a genius. But, given the task of previewing each of the state’s 10 divisions, and given that I’ve never shied away from an opportunity to look foolish, here I stand, ready to dive in. As a disclaimer, though, I should say this-I know only what these teams did in the past calendar year. I have no knowledge of incoming freshmen, soccer or field hockey transfers, or the gossip and rumors that seem to permeate the forums. And lastly, a failure to mention a particular team is not intended as a slight, but merely a reflection of the incredible depth each of the divisions our great state has to offer. In short- I don’t want to hear from coaches who feel slighted that their team went unmentioned.

The State Meet is here and the MSTCA has released their weekly poll.  Did your team make the list?

It turns out sound team strategy can beat out spectacular individual performances.  Both were on display at Lenox High School on Wednesday when Scott Carpenter and Lauren Farry dominated races, but the Lenox girls and Pittsfield boys stole the show on the duals scoreboard. (via www.berkshireeagle.com)  

Each week MileSplitMass will look at the top 20 teams from each of the two state divisions.