Powered by a pair of top 20 finishers in the girls’ race, the Mohawk Trail Regional High School Nordic ski team more than held its own in the season finale on Tuesday.
After relocating the event due to a lack of snow, the MIAA State Cross Country Ski Championships were held at Prospect Mountain Ski Area in Watford, Vt. The Warriors finished 6th as a team on the girls’ side with 106 points, with Mount Greylock Regional School capturing the state title with a low of 31 points. In the boys’ race, Mohawk finished 14th with 312 points, as the Mounties swept the team titles with 25 points.
The Mohawk 1-2 punch of Clarissa Pollard and Lilly Wells led the way for the girls’ team in Vermont, as the duo cracked the top 20. Pollard was the first Warrior across the line in 16th place overall with a 5K time of 26 minutes, 3 seconds, while Wells was close back in 18th position (26:17).
Also scoring points towards the team total were a pair of top 50 finishers in Sarah Gokey (34th, 28:00) and Erika Looman (43rd, 29:45), while Mae Rice-Lesure (63rd), Holli Keyser-Parker (79th), Lilliana Manley (104th) and Grace Gokey (129th) rounded out the Mohawk finishers on the day.
Aidan Sandvik paced the Warriors in the boys’ race, as he traversed the course in 26:19, good enough for 28th place overall.
Mohawk’s Guy Rice-Lesure was the team’s next scorer in 66th position (29:09), while Max Carr (92nd, 31:51) and Sam Nelson (131st, 43:17) also figured into the team scoring. Bill Hanson also competed for the Warriors, as he crossed in 132nd position.
Newton North High School’s Jacob Jampel won the boys’ race with a time of 23:00, while Brookline High School’s Isabel Cole was the individual winner on the girls’ side (23:47).
FCHA Squirts snag East title
On the strength of 5 goals from Griffin Mariani, the Franklin County Hockey Association White team captured the Greater Springfield League Squirt East championship on Sunday with a 6-3 victory over Holy Name.
Jackson Caron added a goal and three assists in the win for FCHA, while Sailor Cohen registered three assists. Porter Hall dished out a pair of helpers while Cade Skiffington grabbed the victory between the pipes with 14 saves.
• The weekend began with a 7-3 win over Westfield on Saturday that advanced FCHA through to the playoff tilt one day later.
Mariani again filled up the stat sheet with three goals and two assists, while Caron joined him with a hat trick and an assist. Anson Prunier rounded out the scoring, with assists from Cohen and Gigi Grima. Skiffington recorded 12 saves in net.
J & J edged by Keene for PeeWee title
Billy Woodall scored on an assist from Shea Savage on Sunday but the FCHA J & J Hockey Snipers fell to Keene, 4-1, in the GSL Peewee East Division championship game Sunday at the Olympia Ice Center in West Springfield.
Will Cowie made 24 saves in net in the loss. Chris Phelps, Aydyn Clayton and Cooper Bourbeau played well on the weekend.
• On Saturday, FCHA registered a come-from-behind, 3-2 overtime win over Amherst on Saturday in the semifinals at the Olympia.
Trailing 2-0 late in the third period, the Snipers cut the lead in half with a goal from Jamison Baleno with 1:12 left. Just 42 seconds later, Roger Grondin Jr. notched the equalizer with just 30 seconds to play and an extra attacker on the ice. Ethyn Clayton capped off the comeback with the game winning goal with just 54 seconds remaining in overtime to account for the 3-2 win.
Gabe Voudren and Sam DeJackome added assists and Josh Bordeaux made 21 saves in net for FCHA. Savage, Jaxon Lavallee, Dylan Mahar, Cowie and Voudren all played well on defense.
Vipers edge Holy Name, 3-2
The Dillon Chevrolet FCHA Vipers defeated Holy Name Green, 3-2, in an independent Peewee game Sunday at Collins-Moylan Arena in Greenfield.
Matt Lavoine scored 2 goals and Trevor Kuchieski also tallied in the win, while Matt Provencal added 2 assists. Shane Prusak, Braeden Killeen and Hunter Smith each added a helper for FCHA. Trevor Parkinson made 18 saves in net.
GML Registrations
Registrations for the Greenfield Minor League will take place on three dates in March at the Greenfield Police Station.
Registrations will take place on Saturday from 10 a.m. until noon, March 10 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. and March 11 from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m.
The league is also introducing 50/70 baseball this season.