WESTFIELD — Chris Gould thought about talking to Jack Yanko before the race, but decided not to say a word to him.
Sometimes, there is no need for words and this was one of those times. Gould just let Yanko go out to do his best and the Amherst Regional sophomore did not disappoint.
Yanko finished second overall as the Hurricanes took second Saturday at the Pioneer Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference boys cross country championship.
“I considered saying something to Jack before the race, but I thought to myself that he didn’t need to hear anything from me,’’ Gould said. “He’s got a head for racing, he knows how to compete and he is just an incredible guy with a big engine.’’
Yanko covered the 3.1-mile course at Stanley Park in 15 minutes, 48 seconds, only four seconds behind winner Cameron Correia of team-champion Holyoke (58 points). Amherst was runner-up with 72 points and Northampton took third with 85 points.
Those will be the teams to watch on Nov. 13 in the Western Massachusetts Division 1 championship, also at Stanley Park.
“We didn’t think we are a shoo-in to make the state meet and to finish second fairly substantially is a big day for us,’’ Gould said. “We’re thrilled’’
Gould was quick to point out that success in the PVIAC meet doesn’t always assure success in the sectional meet. What the Hurricanes managed to accomplish should help their confidence.
“Our team ran an exceptional team race and we may have a little more to draw on next week,’’ Gould said. “These guys just put it on the line today and ran a race they are capable of running.’’
Amherst may have expected to be in the mix, but now the Hurricanes should be after several of their runners rose to the occasion, just as many of the program’s runners have done in the past.
The Hurricanes are led by underclassmen who just may be peaking at the right time. Yanko is only a sophomore, while junior Aiden Foucault-Etheridge also turned in a top-10 finish by coming in seventh in 16:34.
Another sophomore, Aiden Shea, was 15th in 16:49, while junior Leif Stevens was 17th in 17:02.
Sophomore Sean Towse came in at 17:38, while freshman Quentin Moliterno turned in his best time (18:01).
“They were practically heroic today,’’ Gould said. “Even a couple of people who were struggling after they exited the forest, responded brilliantly when they needed to.’’
Northampton was led by Ethan Milsark, who secured sixth in 16:25.
“I haven’t had a personal best this year and I really didn’t feel that great going into today’s race,’’ Milsark said. “The first mile was faster than I would have liked. Then it went downhill from there, but I was able to pick it up and have a pretty good finish.’’
Milsark is ready for the sectional meet.
“I will need to prepare myself both mentally and physically,’’ he said. “I was happy to see some our guys get personal bests.’’
Among them was Nick Peterson, who was ninth in 16:36.
“We’re excited and looking forward to seeing what we can do next week,’’ said Peterson, who is Northampton’s most improved runner.
Another young team was Frontier, which placed sixth with 231 points. Sophomore Carsten Carey had a top-20 showing by placing 19th in 17:06.
South Hadley junior Joe Werenski led the Tigers to eighth place. He finished 29th in 17:33.
Belchertown placed 11th. The Orioles were led by Parker Mas, who was 37th in 17:48.
Hampshire finished 15th. Freshman Christopher Vayda was 32nd in 17:38.
Hopkins was 17th, led by Alex Locher’s 18:44.
Gateway (23rd) saw Brandon Daniels finish in 18:29, while Granby (26th) was led by Brandon Hutchinson’s 19:43.