After capturing a fifth straight Western Mass championship on November 8, the Mt. Greylock boys’ cross country team advanced to the state meet as one of the contenders to win it all. States was held at Franklin Park in Boston on Saturday, November 15, and the Mounties raced to a fourth place finish. When asked about the team’s solid end to the season, senior captain Carter Stripp noted, “It was solid; the best Greylock has had in years. However, we certainly could have had a better race. But I am happy with our performance.” The Mounties highest finisher was junior Tommy Kirby, who finished 17th with an impressive time of 16:36 in the three mile race according to miaa.net. Next was Stripp in 35th, who finished with a time of 16:58 (miaa.net). The next four Greylock Runners who helped propel the Mounties to their fourth place finish were seniors Sam Kobrin, Will Nolan, and Jake Kobrin and freshman Sam Culver. In the girls’ race, two Greylock runners individually qualified for the meet based on their finishes at Western Mass the week before. Sophomore Niku Darafshi and freshman Emma Polumbo raced to 119th place and 157th place respectively (miaa.net).

Greylock always looks to improve on their placement at the state race year after year. The team, as usual, will lose key seniors to graduation this year. However, the team will also return talented juniors and sophomores as well as a few up and coming freshmen. All are prepared to carry the team in the future. Stripp witnessed the younger runners grow throughout the year and said of the team’s depth, “Although we are graduating 5 of our top 7 runners, the people moving up are really strong and I see them taking home another Western Massachusetts title if everything goes right”. The senior captain closed out one of the great running careers in Greylock history. Stripp and the rest of the seniors have been on the team for an astounding 5 Western Massachusetts championships dating back to their eighth grade seasons. Stripp will continue running after high school for the Division III Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens out in California. In regards to his final season, Stripp said, “I am so grateful for the opportunity to be able to run with such an incredible team and an incredible coach. I couldn’t have asked for a better 4 years of cross country at Greylock.”