On September 17th, the Mount Greylock cross-country teams traveled to Queensbury, New York to compete in the annual Queensbury Invitational. The boys varsity team won the meet against 14 other schools in their division and both the boys and girls middle school teams won as well. 

The invitational was hosted by Queensbury High School. After a two hour bus ride from Mount Greylock, the cross-country runners arrived at the course with temperatures ranging from the high 50s to low 70s. 

Modified (middle school) girls started Mount Greylock off in the win column at 9:00 am. The team won with 65 points, 19 points less than second place Shaker High School. Paige Tudor, Addie Eakin, Lillian Howe, and Coralea Lash-St. John all placed in the top 20 for Mount Greylock. Tudor placed ninth in this 1.5 mile race with a time of 8 minutes and 9.1 seconds. 

The first boys race went off at 9:20. The middle school boys won the modified race by a significant margin, beating the second place team, Burnt Hills-Ballston, 41 to 122. Greylock placed six runners in the top 15 in a field of 222 runners, and eighth grader Nolan Stuebner placed second overall. 

The Division III varsity girls race started at 11:30, and the team placed eighth. Sophomore Katherine Goss placed 15th in the race with a time of 22 minutes and 51.5 seconds. 

The boys’ Division III varsity race began at 1:00. The varsity team had a large-margin victory in this race, beating the second place team, Stillwater, 36 to 84. Greylock placed five runners in the top 20 in a field of 122 runners. Senior Ezra Holzapfel placed third with a time of 17 minutes and 5.4 seconds, Junior Andrew Petropulos placed fourth at 17 minutes and 25.3 seconds, and Junior Ryan Keating placed seventh at 17 minutes and 53.4 seconds. Rafael Mellow-Bartles and Zeke Singer also placed in the top 20. The varsity team received a plaque and commemorative Queensbury blankets for their victory.

The boys’ coach, Christian Malone, expressed great pride in the team for their accomplishments. “[Queensbury] gave us a chance to see how we measure up against a large number of schools,” he said. “Everyone on the team in all of the races ran well and numerous personal bests were set.”

Malone expects great things from the team going forward. “The season is going well and everyone seems to be having fun, which is the most important thing. Our times are improving every week. Our goals are to minimize injuries and achieve our peak performances in the district and state championships in November.”