WESTFIELD — For the first time in school history, there will be a trophy representing a boys’ cross country team at Frontier Regional School.
The Red Hawks are going to the state Division II meet Saturday in Gardner after finishing second to Mount Greylock at the Western Massachusetts meet Sunday at Stanley Park.
“Walt (Flynn) and I have been around a long time and this is the best we’ve ever done,” Frontier coach Bob Smith said. “These boys are young and very determined. This is the most self-motivated team we’ve had.”
Flynn agreed.
“This is the best team we’ve put on the line,” Flynn said.
Alex Sharp was the second individual to cross the finish line Sunday. The sophomore covered the 3.1-mile course in 17 minutes, 6 seconds.
“It was really a tactical race,” Sharp said. “Everyone went out very slow. There was a large pack and I just decided to make my move.”
Mount Greylock was a formidable opponent.
“We’re happy with our result but we’re not satisfied,” Sharp said.
Carsten Carey also came up big for the Red Hawks. The sophomore finished 11th in 17:30.
“We’re happy about it, but we want more,” Carey said. “Alex had a great race — his best of the season — and that really helped us. We’ve trained together all year and we wanted to bring home some hardware to South Deerfield.”
Ben Litskoski was 21st in 18:10, Aaron Dorshow 29th in 18:28 and Jake Meier 39th in 18:43.
“Carsten and I feel we’ve got one more year with our juniors and two more together,” Sharp said. “Our goal is to win a championship.”
Mohawk’s Seth Hoynoski is going to states after he finished 11th in 17:22 — a personal best for the second straight week.
“I’m really happy with my performance,” Hoynoski said. “I was one place off from making states last year and this was my goal this year.”
Chadwick was happy for Hoynoski.
“He came around after a slow start,” he said. “He should be proud.”
So should Mohawk senior Zach Coburn, who qualified for states for the first time. He placed 20th in 18:09.
“I felt great and this was my best time,” Coburn said. “I was hungry for states.”
GIRLS
Chalk up another one for Mohawk’s terrific trio.
Meghan Davis, Jackie and Lilly Wells, who took second, third and fourth, respectively at the PVIAC meet, did it again at the Western Mass. Girls’ Division II meet. They combined to lead the Warriors to a third-place finish with 99 points.
Mohawk finished behind champion Lenox and runner-up Mount Greylock.
Prior to the race, Mohawk coach Joe Chadwick had a few words of caution for his team.
“Don’t take anything for granted because every week can be different,” Chadwick said. “If you told me a month ago that we would go to states I would have said no because I didn’t think our young girls were ready.”
But one week later on the very same stage, the results were the same. The big difference was this time, the Warriors took third after they finished fourth at PVIACs.
“They work so good together and they know that on any given day, they can beat each other,” Chadwick said. “I hope they realize what an honor it is to go to states.”
Eighth-grader Jackie Wells secured second in 19:13, just seven seconds behind individual champion Emma Jourdain of Lenox.
“I tried my hardest (to catch her), but she is just an amazing runner,” Wells said. “We are so close and we help each other. States should be fun.”
Meghan Davis took third, 14 seconds behind Jackie Wells.
“I was watching Jackie and Emma up front and I just pushed myself to keep up with them,” Davis said. “My teammates are so amazing. We work so hard at practice and we knew what we were up against.”
Lilly Wells is her sister’s biggest fan.
“I’m so proud of my sister, what she did was just awesome,” Wells said. “We’ve competitive, and she always inspires me to do better.”
Mohawk seventh-grader Riley Hayward helped by coming in at 22:44 for 45th place.
There are no egos on the Mohawk.
“Lilly doesn’t care if her sister beats her, she’s really the leader of this team,” Chadwick said. “It’s not easy, but she’s embraced her role.”
“They are so good and they inspire me to run faster and do my best,” Hayward said.
Greenfield’s Amy O’Sullivan qualified for states after she came in 11th at 20:05.
“I ran better than last week (at PVIACs),” said O’Sullivan, who was battling a cold. “My goal was to make states.”