Ski For Scholarship

A community Nordic ski race to benefit the

Mathias Jessup Bartels Scholarship Fund

Mount Greylock Regional High School, Williamstown, MA

February 17, 2013

By Alex White

On February 17^th , with temperatures hovering in the single digits, the annual Mathias J. Bartels Scholarship Race was held at Mt. Greylock Regional High School to commemorate the life of former Greylock student Mathias Bartels and to raise money for the scholarship founded in his name. Despite the blustery winter weather, skiers from around the county flocked to Greylock to join in the festivities.

In 2004, Mathias, then a junior and a varsity member of both the cross-country ski and soccer teams, passed away in his sleep of sudden cardiac arrest due to a heart arrythmia of unknown cause. After his death, the Mathias Jessup Bartels Scholarship was created as a way to honor a graduating senior who exemplifies the traits Mathias embodied: commitment to excellence, integrity, and kindness. The annual scholarship fundraising race, which began in 2008, has become both a vital resource for the scholarship as well as an opportunity time for alumni, friends, coaches, current skiers, and family to celebrate Mathias’s life and enduring legacy.

With race time approaching, skiers congregated around the starting line. As expected, the inclusiveness of the race forced the eleven o’clock start time back about fifteen minutes as the starters waited for stragglers to meander in from the parking and wax (or not wax in some questionable cases) their skis. Over fifty skiers ages 6-70 toed the line in varying race attire from spandex race suits, to blue jeans to down jackets. The five kilometer course—which had been groomed by members of the Greylock nordic ski community, including coaches Hiram and Hilary Greene—skirted the girls’ practice soccer field before heading into the woods behind the school. Skiers eventually emerged from what is commonly known as Second Loop and retraced their steps around the soccer field towards the finish near the school side of John T. Allen Field.  For those opting for a shorter race, a two kilometer course around the football/baseball fields and into the wooded Second Loop, attracted another round of enthusiastic skiers.

Local farmer, Greylock alum, skier, and businessman Topher Sabot took home the victory, using a powerful double pole to propel him through the icy conditions. Greylock nordic senior Will Kirby snagged second place ahead of his coach Matt Voisin. Topher’s wife, Jenn Mygatt, captured the top spot in the women’s category and finished off what turned out to be a couple’s sweep.  In the 2K race, strong finishes were seen by Luke Sector-Protti, Clarissa Pollard and Linden Niedick.

Gifts supplied by local businesses to support the scholarship made for an exceptional prize table for all participants. The prizes, however, took a back seat to the sense of community that the Mathias J. Bartels Race never fails to foster, no matter the conditions and the spectacular $1845 raised for the scholarship fund.

Mathias Race – Results 2013

http://www.barttiming.com/XCski/mass2013.pdf

MBW Final Race 4 Results

***These lists are unofficial and will remain so until 12:00PM Wednesday, January 30, 2013***

2013_EHS_BOYS_TEAMS

2013_EHS_GIRLS_TEAMS

2013_J2_BOYS_TEAMS

2013_J2_GIRLS_TEAMS

2013_J2_EHS_Classic_Boys

2013_J2_EHS_Classic_Girls

MBW Final Race 3 Results

2013_J2_EHS_Freestyle_Results

Berkshire League – 1-19-13 – Boys Long Course

Berkshire League -1-19-13- Girls Long Course

Berkshire League -1-19-13- Boys Short Course

Berkshire League -1-19-13- Girls Short Course

Team Scores:

GIRLS

MG 17
L 42
NMH 66
M 70
WRHS 71
A 84
SHS 142
TP 144

BOYS

MG 14
NMH 54
A 63
WRHS 67
M 71
L 93
HV 108
SHS 160

MBW Final Race 2 Results

Josie Marshall (Lenox) on her way to her second league win of the season.

By: Alex White

Warm weather makes for soft snow and soft snow makes for slow races. Those were the conditions the Berkshire County nordic skiers faced this Saturday at Prospect Mountain for the county’s first classic race in two years. With temperatures hovering around forty degrees and a light rain falling at times, skiers slogged through the 5K course. Some resorted to striding the downhills just to make it through.

In what is becoming a bout Marquez and Pacquio would be proud of, Lenox’s Josie Marshall took round three—her second in a row—over Greylock’s Kat Chenail. Chenail befell some serious misfortune in the second half of the race when she lost a ski and had to fight to make her way back into the race. Despite the fact that Chenail and Marshall were in the same wave, foul play has been ruled out of the question due to the fact that Marshall has never done anything mean to anybody. In the end, Marshall’s powerful skiing created too big of a gap for Chenail to overcome. In a post-race interview, Marshall expressed her delight to be back in the tracks saying, “I was just happy to be classic skiing on any conditions because haven’t had a classic race in so long.” Greylock’s Sophia Dastoli, Alexa Adams, and Steph Adamczyk took third, fourth, and fifth, respectively.

Following closely on the heels of the Girls Varsity skiers was the JV Girls, led by Greylock’s Greta Savitsky, Sophie Gerry, and Christina Butcher. Savitsky crossed the line in an elapsed time of 26:01 for the victory.

Greylock’s Sean Houston on his way to finishing second, a career best performance.

A Greylock one through five sweep in the Boys Varsity race was more than enough for the Mounties to snag the victory with a perfect score of ten, McKayla Maroney style…oh wait. Too soon? Senior Alex White took the victory in a time of 19:28. Close behind White were fellow seniors Sean Houston and Will Kirby. Cracking the top five for the first time this season were Jonah Majumder and Jake Foehl. Northfield skiers Estevan Velez and Henry Colt each scored notable top ten finishes, while Mohawk’s Tom Damery quietly continued his impressive season as he snuck in in eighth place. Houston, doing his best to contain his excitement upon hearing the results, stated, “Going one through five was a goal of ours entering the year, and today was as good a day as any to achieve it. I think it’s a real testament to the hard work a lot of these guys have put in both at practice and in the offseason.”

In their best effort to emulate their varsity brethren, the Greylock JV boys ultimately one-upped the Mountie V-Squad by placing six in the top six. Caleb Raymond recorded his first victory on the year, and first year skier Carter Stripp’s third place victory was an inspiration to all.

While the next few days’ weather has next week’s race location up in the air, one thing is for certain: there will be a race, and skiers better bring their game faces…as well as their skis, boots, etc. Don’t just bring your game face cause that won’t get you very far.

Complete Results:

Berkshire League -1-12-13- Boys Varsity

Berkshire League -1-12-13- Girls Varsity

BerkshireLeague -1-12-13- Boys JV

Berkshire League -1-12-13- Girls JV