WOODFORD, Vt. — The snow was slick and icy and the weather wasn’t as warm as expected, making for a fast course at Prospect Mountain for the MIAA Nordic Ski Championship on Wednesday.
Both Mohawk Trail and Amherst teams made the trip up to compete, with the Warrior girls placing 10th as a team and the Hurricane girls taking 14th. The Amherst boys took 12th while the Mohawk Trail boys earned 14th.
Sylvie Mahon-Moore was the top Warrior finisher, taking 23rd overall in the 125-person field with a time of 24 minutes, 34 seconds on the 7-kilometer course.
It was the final Nordic race for the senior, who was pleased with her final run.
“I’m really sad this is our last ski race,” Mahon-Moore — a Hampshire Regional student — said. “I was scared at the start of the race with so many people. Our coach gave us nice words which pumped me up. I like the long distance and our teammates are great. It’s such a good experience.”
Ellie Meunier — another Hampshire Regional student — was the next fastest Mohawk Trail finisher, placing 38th with a time of 26:14. Meunier was surprised with how fast the conditions were.
“Our skis were really fast so I’m thankful to our coach for that,“ Meunier said. “The weather was colder than we expected. We all thought it was going to be slower than it was. It was a nice surprise.”
Kala Garrido, who also attends Hampshire, came across the finish line in a time of 27:03, good for 46th overall. Like Mahon-Moore, it was her final Nordic race and she said she put everything into it.
“I had a really good race,” Garrido “I felt good. It was my last high school race so I wanted to feel good after. I tried to ski as fast as I could and have no energy left at the end and I feel I did that.”
Brooke Looman and Alex Lilly rounded out the Warrior girls, with Looman placing 85th with a time of 32:04 and Lilly not far behind in 86th with a run of 32:06.
With 16 teams competing, Lilly enjoyed the vibe of the race with everyone supporting each other regardless of team.
“Everyone here is so nice and supportive,” Lilly said. “We’ll be racing and someone will pass me and tell me how good I’m doing. Everyone is just so nice.”
River Wolaver had the top time for the Amherst girls, placing 58th with a time of 28:14. Elizabeth Sawicki took 60th (28:25), Zoey Candito earned 61st (28:33), Maya Coggeshall-Burr came in 78th (30:27), Anna Burns finished in 80th (30:32) and Ava Zimmermann came in 82nd (31:03) for the Hurricanes.
Concord Carlisle’s Isabella Synnestvedt had the top girls time of 20:20 while Mt. Greylock was the team winner.
The course had ice on it for the girls race in the morning, which caused problems for some racers. Candito said she adjusted and still made good time to aid Amherst.
“It wasn’t my best race but I felt good about it,” Candito said. “It was icy out there. It was fast but on the downhills it was so slippery and I fell a couple times. I paced myself on the hills and put more effort in. It’s a stressful race.”
In the boys race, Amherst’s Sam Woodruff had no problem blasting through the icy course. He had the top Hurricane time of 20:43, which earned him 19th overall.
“I like this race course,” Woodruff said. “It was longer than usual and that hill at the beginning was tough. It was slippery out there.”
Ben Feeney was the next Amherst boy across the finish line, placing 68th with a time of 24:33.
Feeney said he enjoyed getting to compete against the best in the state, feeling the atmosphere amongst racers was cordial.
“The conditions were fast,” Feeney said. “It was a tough race going head-to-head with so many people. It’s good competition. You don’t bring people down to get in front, you bring everyone up with you.”
Ryan Yanko placed 71st (24:45), Julian Camera came in 80th (26:10), Ian Burns took 82nd (26:22) and Max Rugowski finished in 83rd (26:40) for the Hurricanes.
The 7K course was longer than any race Amherst has competed in this year, making it a challenge once you hit the final stretch.
“It wasn’t too bad out there,” Camera said. “It was icy at parts. It’s a tricky course but it feels good to get it over with. It’s very twisty. In the moment you just want it to be over but once you’ve done it, you realize how fun it was.”
Mohawk Trail’s Vincent Gauthier was another racer surprised with how fast the course was, using it to his advantage to finish 44th overall with a time of 22:04.
Having raced at Prospect Mountain in the past, he said he was thrilled to not have to deal with the sludgy snow that plagued the course two years ago.
“It was much faster than I thought,” Gauthier said. “There were some ice patches on the turns on the downhills. I had to hop over some people’s skis to get through it. It was fast but hard to control. This is much better than I’ve ever raced here. It was actually hard snow.”
Augustus Niswonger — a Hampshire Regional student — was the next Warrior across the finish line, taking 70th with a run of 24:37.
Niswonger gave it his all on the opening stretch of the course — which includes the biggest hill — and felt he didn’t leave enough in the gas tank for the final stretch.
“I pushed hard at the start which wasn’t good at the end,” Niswonger said. “I used all my energy on it but now I have no energy left. The first hill is tough but there aren’t many after that. I was worn out and my final sprint wasn’t what I wanted. I always feel terrible after a race but if you don’t feel good it means you did well because you have no energy left.”
Curtis Casey (84th, 26:52), Oscar Schiff (86th, 27:15), Seth Healy (90th, 28:19) and Adam Muller (96th, 30:58) rounded out the Mohawk Trail racers on Wednesday.
Mt. Greylock won the boys race as a team, with Mountie Quinn McDermott the overall winner with a time of 18:06.