As the teams stood around the podium, there was little doubt in the air as to which school would be announced as the winners of the nordic ski season’s final race. Cheers exploded from the crowd when the Mount Greylock girls and boys nordic ski teams were both crowned Massachusetts State Champions. The race took place in Woodford, Vermont, with 17 teams attending the boys race and 18 attending the girls.
Both teams had dominating performances and left their competition in the snow. Mount Greylock has always had a powerhouse ski program, but in recent years there has been more competition. Last year, the boys team came in second and the girls team won. The year before, the girls team came in second and the boys won.
Although the recent competition has been stiffer, it also makes the races more exciting. “I like winning (but) more competition makes everyone better (which is) better for everyone,” said senior Simon Shin.
This year, though, they were both able to surge to victory. The boys team won with 34 points, beating Wahconah and Concord-Carlisle, who came in second and third with 55 and 68 points respectively. The standings were closer on the girls side, where the team pulled off the win over season-long rivals Amherst by 11 points.
The boys team put three finishers in the top ten including sophomore Patrick Holland in second, senior Simon Shin in fourth, and senior Knowl Stroud in seventh.
“I just went out there–we [had] to get it done,” said Holland.
Wahconah’s Fritz Sanders took the first place prize, securing an overall second place finish for the Warriors.
For the Mountie girls team, sophomore Lauren Miller led the way coming in fifth. Also ranking highly were first-year Josie Bay in fifteenth, sophomore Mia Holmgren in sixteenth, and first-year Elizabeth Spelman in 25th. Brookline’s Hannah Petersen captured first place, winning by 27 seconds.
“Going in, I wasn’t expecting us to win at all,” said Miller. “Then afterwards, it was looking a little bit close, but I still didn’t think we won.”
The unexpected nature of the victory made it even more exciting when the results eventually came out.
“At first, I didn’t really believe it,” said Holmgren.
“I was ecstatic,” said Miller.
Winning two years in a row as underdogs, the mindset for the girls team, according to Holmgren, remains “going in humble and not really expecting anything… but if we do the same thing again and try really hard and race for each other, I think we have a chance at winning again.”
It is worth noting that the girls team’s scorers should all be returning next winter.
For Holmgren, it is much less about the results and more about the team culture: “I think it’s just (about)…having fun during practice, helping the people who need help, (especially) helping the seventh and eighth graders and making them love the sport like we (do) because if they have fun, they’ll come back next year.”
This is the first time both the boys and girls teams have won since 2017.
There are still many opportunities for the Mount Greylock skiers. Holland will be racing at Junior Nationals in Soldier Hollow, Utah this March for team New England.
Holland “spent a lot of time working towards this and [is] really excited to go.”
