The mass start of the boy's long course.
Eighty-five boys and sixty-four girls started in mass on the trails of Mount Greylock High School on Saturday morning in the Berkshire League’s second classical race of the season.
Matthew Cheung (MG), career victory number one and counting...
In the boys’ race Hoosac Valley’s Dan Dermody took things out hard, before settling in with a pack of six Greylock skiers who were skiing relaxed, but quickly. Behind them were a few more Greylock skiers followed by three from Amherst. The lead pack entered the woods all together around the 3.5 kilometer mark, but by the time they came out of the woods a kilometer later the pack was down to only four Greylock skiers. The race for the individual win was on!
The skiers then disappeared into a large open field. By the time they came back into sight of the crowd, proven running standout, Matthew Cheung, had opened up a twenty meter lead over teammate Josh Harrington with one kilometer remaining in the 6.5km course. As the two sprinted to the line that gap was closed to just inches, but Cheung was able to hold on for his first career skiing victory in a time of 21:27. Greg Karabinos (MG) charged ahead of teammate Luke Costley for third. In total, the Mounties place nine skiers in the top ten, with only Hoosac Valley’s Dan Dermody breaking things up, finishing in seventh place.
Greylock's Mackenzie Hitchcock floats to victory.
Things in the girls race shaped up a little differently, but the end result was very similar. With Greylock’s star Cate Costley taking on a cheering role due to illness, the individual win was up for grabs. From the start Costley’s teammate Mackenzie Hitchcock took things out quickly, even though she was skiing smooth and relaxed with a smile on her face.
Throughout the 6.5km course Hitchcock lengthened her lead over teammate Laura Nolan, who also had a sizable lead over the eventual third place finisher, Mohawk’s Brenna Keogh. As the girls crossed the line it was Hitchcock with a time of 24:41, who would climb to the top step on the podium, with Nolan roughly a minute behind in a time of 25:46, Keogh another minute back in 26:42 and Lenox’s Josie Marshall toeing the line in 27:35. After that it was all Greylock in the top ten as the Mounties took places five through ten.
In the boy’s 4.8km short course race it was Greylock’s Zach Harrington who came across the line first in a time of 21:07 with a small margin of victory over teammate Caleb Raymond. Zach’s twin brother Alex finished third, 13 seconds off the pace. MG’s Iain Kuttner and Hoosac Valley’s William Morrissette finished 4th and 5th respectively.
The girl’s short course race came down to an exciting finish between Greylock’s Greta Savitsky and a charging Lenox skier, Lydia Graham. Savitsky held on to the lead for a one second victory. Greylock’s Sophie Gerry, Zavi Sheldon, and Grace Smith rounded out the top five.
A selection of photos of all races.
All photos above courtesy of Tamara Hitchcock.
A selection of photos from Ken Kuttner.
Complete Results:
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From front to back, the long course girls get racing. Photo courtesy of Ken Kuttner.
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