WESTHAMPTON — Cheers and smiles from ear to ear consumed the four cross country teams in attendance at Tuesday’s quad meet held at Hampshire Regional.
The Hampshire Regional runners had something more to be proud about.
The host Raiders came away with sweeps on both the boys and girls sides, riding performances from both individual winners.
Each and every runner used every breath they had, but at the same time enjoyed the accomplishments and camaraderie of their fellow teammates. The competitors were smiling, laughing and even dancing as the meet continued to resemble what the season ahead will ideally look like for all teams involved.
Hampshire’s first place finisher Gulian Marconi was pleasantly surprised with how his race performance went in Tuesday’s meet. So much so that he felt that he started off on the wrong foot, but soon discovered just the right pace to grab the lead needed to finish at the top.
Teammate Jeff Fish was the next Hampshire runner across the line, taking fourth overall.
“At the start, I was terrified,” a grinning Marconi said. “Two Frontier runners took the start and I was thinking that didn’t work in my favor, but I just stuck to my race.”
Gulian finished in front of the pack with a best time of 16 minutes, 53 seconds. It was a personal record that made Tuesday’s meet have more of a resounding impact.
“I decided to run watchless because I felt anxious that I was going to look at it the whole time. I didn’t even know what my time was until my teammates and coaches told me,” Marconi said with a laugh. “I was very excited.”
The watchless strategy worked in Marconi’s favor as he helped the boys team get the win and gain an impressive finishing time.
Similar to the boys team, the Hampshire girls finished at the top as well. Raiders’ first-place finisher Sylvie Mahon-Moore reflected on her approach, patiently maneuvering throughout the trail.
“I’m pretty comfortable with the course. I generally get lost on a lot of other courses because I get turned around in the woods, but this course I know pretty well,” Mahon-Moore said.”
Mahon-Moore’s time of 20:01 led the way, and the excitement on the face of the Raider was clearly noticeable.
She said persistence and patience are the names of the game, as is a thought-out approach to take every race seriously one at a time. The times of reflection and progression are the keys for more success.
“I’m trying to like ease into the season so I’m working hard, but not to my full effort yet,” Mahon-Moore said.
The hope is that improvement will continue to come in the near future so that the Hampshire runner will be ready for the peak season in November. Time will tell, girls head coach Susannah Tracy is remaining optimistic.
“We just have to keep training smart,” Tracy said.
Four Frontier girls finished in the top 10. Abigail Howard took second overall, crossing the finish line at the 21:00 mark. Sylvie DiBartolomeo finished fourth with a run of 21:22, Leah Gump took sixth (21:49) and Sadie Ross placed eighth (22:08).
Hampshire’s Ellia Masenior was third (21:04) and Ellie Meunier was fifth (21:28). Easthampton’s Brooke Bongiovanni was her team’s top finisher in 17th place.
On the boys side, Frontier’s Luke Howard (17:25) placed third overall to pace his team on the 2.92-mile course. Easthampton’s Leverett Horrigan led his side with an 18th-place showing.
PVCICS 21, Smith Vocational 35; Smith Vocational 22, Pioneer Regional 33; PVCICS 18, Pioneer Regional 43 — The Dragons’ Odin Moore set a new course record at Smith Vocational, winning the 2 ½-mile boys race in 13:41. PVCICS went 2-0 in the tri meet.
Kyan Frantz was second (15:13), Grafton Tolopko took sixth (17:13), Nate Tuttle was seventh (17:18) and Garus Turner finished eighth (17:25) for PVCICS.
Amherst 15, Minnechaug 47; Amherst 17, Westfield 43 — Two sophomores topped the podium for the Hurricanes in a tri-meet sweep in Westfield. Kyle Yanko won in 17:57.67. David Pinero-Jacome was second in 17:58.7.
Ryan Yanko placed third (18:02). Diego Lopez was fifth (18:04) and Aidan Bergeron sixth (18:26.6) for Amherst (3-0).
Longmeadow 15, Belchertown 50 — The Lancers took the top six spots at Foley Field.
Evan Harrington paced the Orioles in seventh (18:24). Nick Rivers placed eighth (18:31), Brendon Adamson ninth (18:35) and Henry Sacco 10th (18:56).
Pioneer Regional 24, PVCICS 35 — Sarah Fardal demolished the course record at Smith Vocational for the Dragons by two minutes, finishing the 2.5-mile course in 17:09. Ada Nystrom was fifth (21:29), and Isla Salus took sixth (21:58) for PVCICS.
Gateway 22, Hopkins 37 — Gateway’s Anya Niles placed first on the 3.1-mile course at Dufresne Park in 24:23. Alexandra Henrichon was second for the Gators (25:00) followed by Sawyer Wilkinson in fifth (28:18), Lucy Pitoniak in sixth (29:33) and Kaitlyn Maynard in eighth (33:44).
Longmeadow 19, Belchertown 40 — The Orioles kept a tight pack at home. Laura Potter placed fourth in 23:01 followed by Kami Wlodyka in fifth (23:05). Megan Watts placed ninth (24:21), Cameron Ting 10th (24:23) and Paige Ivey 16th (28:20).
South Hadley 16, Hampshire 8 — Levi Zielinski shot a 41 to earn medalist honors for the Raiders, but the fell at Beaver Brook. He beat South Hadley’s Keegan Earle 3-1 at No. 1.
Ben Gardiner took the No. 2 position 3½-1½ for the Tigers over Nicky Elias Gillette.
At No. 3, South Hadley’s Nick Hartley bested Owen Lech 4-0. The Tigers John Biola also picked up a 4-0 win over Pryden Messier at No. 5, and Sean Whalen beat Tim Florek 3½-½ at No. 6.
Hampshire’s No. 4 Brayden Fennessy bested Bennett Allen 4-0.
Belchertown 22, Frontier 2 — The Orioles cruised at Cold Spring with four 4-0 sweeps.
Ryan O’Neil topped Alex Gochinski at No. 1, Riley Breen beat Shane Prusak at No. 2, Brady Perkins bested Kevin Baumann at No. 5 and Henry Poissant handled Cade Allenby at No. 6.
In the No. 3 match, Tyler McDonald won 3-1 against Ryan Cetto, and Ben Anderson prevailed 3-1 over Cam Skiffington at No. 4.
Westfield Tech 14½, Easthampton 9½ — Tanner Kmetz earned the medalist honors with a 45 and beat Evan Grant 3-1 at No. 2 at East Mountain Country Club. Easthampton’s Mikey Thompson tied the No. 1 match 2-2 with Devan Werbiskis.
Connor Perreault won 4-0 at No. 4 for the Eagles against Jake Balser.