Girls Western Mass Recap
West Division I
The sign at Northfield did not read "Welcome to the Amherst Show", but it might have been appropriate, given the dominance the Hurricanes put on the field in WMass DI. Mel Devoney's winning time of 19:34 was just a sign of things to come, as she battled with Westfield's Ally Morin (19:41) in a Mano-a-Mano fight that never seemed fully secured until it ended. Longmeadow's Manon Blackmon (3rd; 20:35) separated herself form a large chase pack, and then the swarm of Amherst runners began to settle in. Sarah Vannah (4th; 20:38), Emmy Zimmermann (6th; 20:49), and Anna Kaplan (7th; 20:52) secured the win, surrounding Pittsfield's Lauren Farry (5th; 20:40) and nearly securing a dual meet type win with 31 points. Farry helped Pittsfield to 88 points and 2nd place, with teammate Makayla Powers taking 11th. Elaina Zimmerman (9th; 21:11) helped Northampton slip ahead of Blackmon's Longmeadow squad 121-126 for the 3rd and final All States qualifying spot. Amherst will be a player next Saturday, but the age-old question will be asked, does the mountain serve as a harbinger of success from one week to the next, or is ignorance bliss?
West Division II
Mount Greylock might have had the Vegas line favored their way coming in to Saturday's jaunt up the Mountain, but the problem was that nobody told the Lenox girls that it was their party to spoil. Four 8th and 9th graders joined Hannah McCluskey to steal an upset win 78-89, with Monument Mountain (125) securing the 3rd bid to next week's All State Championship. Natalie Mako (will somebody else please start calling her "The Shark", I'm getting the feeling I'm the only one) of Frontier blitzed the field in 19:19, with only Greylock's Emily Kaegi (20:03) within 90 seconds. A minute and a half sounds like a long time, but when you watch it pass, and only two runners have come by you, it feels more like an eternity. Kailyn Alibozek (3rd; 20:52) of Hoosac Valley pushed Kaegi's teammate Kat Chenail (4th; 20:56) back a spot, but Greylock looked poised for the win early on. Lenox freshman Elizabeth Jarck (9th; 21:31) began the comeback, with McCluskey (14th; 21:55), 8th graders Kate McNinch (17th; 22:06) and Ella King (25th; 22:26) and freshman Emily Tibbetts (18th; 22:09) all sliding in before Mt. Greylock's 3rd runner could come across the line. Lenox was largely unheralded coming into the season, as most extremely young teams are, but they moved up and showed poise throughout the race, giving them a trophy to hoist at the end of the day.
Boys Western Mass Recap
West Division I
Watching Westfield's senior triple play must have been a sight to behold on Northfield Mountain, as Blake Croteau (16:26), Tim Dostie (16:30), and Matt Jacobson (16:34) really never had anyone to contend with after the steep climb up Massachusetts' most feared peak. Sure, sophomore Ben Dorion (14th; 17:36) and senior Artie Cruz (20th; 17:42) did the dirty work at the back end to secure Westfield's class championship, but watching three teammates so smoothly traverse a mountain climb is something rarely seen or heard from. Westfield's 40 points bested Amherst-Pelham (127) and Pittsfield (130), who narrowly escaped a late charge from Ludlow to take the 3rd spot at All States. Pittsfield needed all of Dan Brien's 4th place finish (16:51), and who knew how crucial his charge by Ludlow's Brian Crowley might have been, as Crowley took 5th, just 4 seconds back. Amherst-Pelham got great races from Ryan Stender (8th; 17:00) and Gabe Fishman (12th; 17:30), as well as a top-20 finish from Connor Evans. Like SJS, Westfield has opened a lot of eyes around the state, and the question will be asked all week, did racing the Mountain give them an edge over the rest of the field, or will it be sitting in their legs in the form of lactic acid throughout the week? My guess is that Westfield left enough in the tank during their relatively easy win that they can recover for one more swipe at glory, and a first ever All State title.
West Division II
Everybody knew that Lenox's Scotty Carpenter (16:31) was going to win DII WMass, although the 53 second margin of victory might have been tougher to predict. However, when teammate Tucker McNinch (17:24), a runner with a Suessian name and guts beyond his years, took 2nd, Lenox appeared poised for victory. But Mount Greylock never panicked, as Will Kirby (17:44; 4th) and Carter Stripp (17:53; 6th) narrowed the gap. As Lenox's Ben Herrick outlasted Sam Kobrin for 11th, Greylock's task looked taller, until Jake Kobrin and Will Nolan closed out top-30 finishes, giving their team a 74-83 win to celebrate. Monument Mountain (105), led by 9th place Logan Morton (17:58) just eked out the final All States spot by two points over Hoosac Valley, despite a great race from Travis Ciempa (17:27; 3rd). Rounding out the top 5 was Putman Voc/Tech's Freddy Rivera (17:49), putting together a nice race just days after the State Voc/Tech Meet in Wrentham. All eyes will be on Carpenter at the Mountain next week, as expectations are high for him to take a strong run at the 16:00 mark, giving a full effort.