NORTHFIELD -- Will Kirby had a hard time seeing the finish line in the last quarter mile, but he never lost sight of a third straight Western Massachusetts Division II title for the Mount Greylock boys' cross country team.
"I was actually feeling pretty dizzy. Really for the last quarter mile I was dizzy and couldn't see that well," Kirby said after being helped to his team's tent by a few teammates. "That was a little bit scary, but I hung on and it worked out well."
His fourth-place finish helped the Greylock boys edge out Lenox by nine points and claim its third straight Western Mass. title.
"It's really emotional," Grey lock's Carter Stripp said. "Will has been a part of the championship Western Mass. teams every year and it's great to get him another one in his senior year. I'm glad I got to be part of it."
Lenox's Scott Carpenter finished in first with a time of 16 minutes, 21 seconds and teammate Tucker McNinch took second. The Mounties were able to make up for it with their depth.
"It's just amazing," Kirby said. "We've won it the past two years and this is just like a dream come true. To have us go for a third year in a row, in my senior year, it's just unbelievable."
Kirby took fourth in 17:44 and Stripp took sixth in 17:53. Mount Greylock's normal pack got split up, but was still able to get the job done. Sam Kobrin was the next Mountie across the line in 12th place. Jake Kobrin, Will Nolan, Archer
"I knew Lenox is good and Monument is good, but we're good, too," Greylock coach Scott Burdick said. Any of the teams could have won the race on any day, but [Saturday] was just our day.
Berkshire County teams in general had a solid showing as it took the top four team slots. Hoosac Valley missed qualifying for states by two points, taking fourth place with 107 points.
"We knew Berkshire County teams were going to be the strongest ones here," Kirby said. "That was good because we have raced against them before. We beat Lenox once and they beat us once, so we knew it was going to be close."
Despite finishing in fourth and not qualifying for states, the Hurricanes had three runners qualify for Saturday's championships. Travis Ciempa finished fourth overall; Austin Poulton took 14th; Trevor Ciempa took 15th place. Jared Haley just missed the cutoff, finishing in 18th place. The top three teams and the top 10 runners not on those teams qualify for the state meet.
"I'm thrilled, we ran a great," Hoosac coach Ron Namislo said. "Trevor Ciempa came through, he's been a question or hurt all year, and he came through for us.
"Chris Cardimino was a guy that I used to run because I only had seven. Now I run him because he's my fifth guy. He's cut three minutes off his time, so I got no complaints how we ran today."
To reach Sam Monroe, email
smonroe@thetranscript.com.
On Twitter: @NAT_DigitalSam
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