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That is not Mount Greylock boys, not this year anyway.
Fortunately for the Mounties, they are the kind of team that will be a threat to take first-place points in enough events to keep them competitive this spring.
"That's what we're banking on: that our top end will be enough to help us do well," first-year Greylock head coach Kent Lemme said last week.
"Our preseason is going well. It's just that our numbers are down. This is probably one of the smallest teams we've had at Greylock numbers-wise in a long time."
But before you go crying for county co-champions because of what they don't have, look at what they do.
"We do have talent, even though we don't have a lot of depth," Lemme said. "Everyone is going to have to be versatile."
That versatility starts at the top, where senior Kelton Frye, one of Mount Greylock's tri-captains, shuttled between the throws and the 4x100 meter relay last spring. Don't be surprised if he does double duty again in '08.
Frye leads the squad along with fellow tri-captains
The sprinting corps will include senior Nick Karampatsos and sophomore Caleb Pudvar, both of whom also could see time in the jumping pits ... including one seldom used in these parts.
"We'd love to have a pole vaulter to go to Western Mass. with," Lemme said. "Everyone in Berkshire County has to give up points there. (Pudvar) has got a good build for that. Maybe we can pick up some points there. He also can long jump and triple jump."
Sophomore Spencer Rioux is the team's main high jumper and throws the javelin. He also runs middle distance events. In the longer distances, senior Nick Fogel will look to continue the momentum from his 2007 Western Massachusetts individual cross cross country title into the spring season.
In the fall, junior Patrick Joslin joined Fogel in helping the Mounties qualify for the state championship. In the winter, the two were the lynchpins of Mount Greylock's cross country skiing title. This spring, both will look to pile up points on the track.
Lemme, who has coached distance runners for Greylock's boys and girls teams for the last five years, is excited about his team's prospects in that area.
"The good news is we get Nick Fogel back running track for us," Lemme said. "He took a year off from track last year. He was the dominant cross country runner in the county this year, and we're expecting good times in the mile, 2-mile and 800. ... (Joslin) could throw down some really good times, too."
Mount Greylock, which has 22 boys on the roster (down from 37 last year), is a little thin in the throws, but sophomore Matt Wilson returns with experience, especially in the shot put.
Lemme said one concern is that of the 22-man roster, a large percentage ("eight or nine") are seniors. That said, as the preseason was winding down, he still was willing to talk to students in any class who were interested in coming out for the team.
"The problem is I'm not an at-school coach," he said. "It's difficult for me to talk to kids during the day and entice them if they're not doing anything to come out for track. I have to rely on the coaches we have there during the day.
"I only want kids who want to be there. I don't want to beg kids to come out. But I don't mind offering the opportunity to those who do."
While the boys look to compete with low numbers, the Mountie girls are excited that they'll be able to once again go after a Division 2 Western Mass. title.
The only bad news is Greylock will face a long grind before it gets to that point.
First, the positives. At the end of last spring, it appeared the Division 2 regional championship was a thing of the past. The MIAA announced that Division 1 and 2 schools would be grouped together for purposes of qualifying for the state championships starting in 2008. It appeared that the D-2 title race, won by Mount Greylock's 11 out of the last 19 seasons, was a dead issue.
But the region's coaches moved quickly to keep the spirit of competition alive.
"This year, we'll host a separate Division 1 and 2 championship on one weekend then we'll have a (season-ending) Western Mass individual championship," Gill said. "I give a lot of credit to the Western Mass coaches for pushing for separate divisional championships."
And, as a bonus, those coaches will not have to do the balancing act of deciding whether to enter athletes in the event where the athlete has the best chance to qualify for states or the event where she will do the team most good in the points race.
"This way, when you go to individual championships, you put each kid in their best event," Gill said. "It's better for kids. Coaches can play their games for the team championship, but when it comes to qualifying, it's more fair for kids."
So everything is great, right? Not exactly.
While the Mounties kept one team title to shoot for, they're path to the regular season county championship is harder than ever because they will not have the chance to consolidate their schedule with more manageable three-way meets.
"I don't know if we'll necessarily repeat as county champions, and I'm not sure if we want to because of how the schedule is going to be this year," Gill said. "Berkshire County is all duals, which is not my personal preference.
"We have 14 meets on the schedule, when you include two Western Mass meets, states and all the duals. There's so much competition, you don't have time to train once the season starts. We have to make a determination on whether you go for (the county title) or not. If you go for it, you beat the tar out of the distance kids every Tuesday and Thursday."
And distance events, after all, have been Greylock's bread and butter for years.
The Mounties should be strong there again this spring with junior captain Jackie Lemme leading a pack that includes classmate Hannah Chenail and eighth-graders Laura Nolan and Mackenzie Hitchcock.
"While our distance team is very good, it's also very thin," Gill cautions. "We lost Alex Peacock and Kelsey Dudziak, among other seniors off that distance team. We do return a nice set of runners who obviously did well in cross country."
Last fall, the Greylock's girls cross country team won its third straight Western Mass. championship. What is really encouraging for the Mounties is that they do not need to rely on distance points alone.
"Where we saw some nice gains last year was the young sprint/hurdle crew starting to come around," Gill said.
That includes the performances by captain Abby Bishop and Jessi Payton, who return for their junior and sophomore seasons, respectively. Senior captain Lindley Bell, a standout in cross country, adds depth in the hurdles and can contribute elsewhere on the track.
Greylock also added a couple of pieces this spring in transfer students Alex and Caitlyn Riley, a senior and eighth-grader who Gill thinks could have an impact in the sprints.
The Mounties' fourth captain, senior Amanda Burdick, is part of what Gill called "a nice mix of old and young" in the throws. Burdick will throw the javelin and the discus. Sophomore Samantha Radke also will compete in thejavelin, while classmates Meredith Phelps and Jamie Mathews throw the discus and put the shot.
"We've been weak in the throws the last couple of years, but I think throws will be a better position for us this spring," Gill said.
Dudziak's graduation (she now competes for Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn.) leaves a hole in the jumps, but freshman Geena Chang provides experience at high jump, and Bishop and Payton are penciled in at long jump and triple jump, respectively.
All told, Gill has 45 girls out this spring, and he thinks it is a more balanced team than Mount Greylock has had in recent years -- one that can pick up points throughout the lineup.
"Some of our kids are going to run four events every meet," said Gill, referring to the MIAA limit for events an individual can enter at any one competition. "To really succeed as a team, we have to have depth -- and quality depth. While we lost some really good up-front kids, we return some nice, quality depth."
