It was a beautiful day for cross country, and Frontier Regional School made the most of it.
The Red Hawks scored victories in both the girls and boys races, sweeping visiting Mohawk Trail in a season-opening dual meet held in South Deerfield on Thursday.
“It was a welcomed sight,” gushed Frontier head coach Bob Smith. “It was absolutely wonderful, thrilling to see them out running again finally and they loved it.”
The girls team scored a 17-40 victory over the Warriors, the first dual victory over Mohawk Trail in program history, according to Smith. Angelina Egland paced a balanced Frontier effort, as she traversed the 2.72-mile course with a winning time of 20 minutes, 18 seconds. Teammates Leah Gump (20:32) and Abigail Howard (20:45) followed to give the hosts a 1-2-3 finish.
“Our top three are working super hard,” lauded Smith of the trio.
Mohawk Trail’s Erica Szewczyk paced the Warriors with a fourth-place finish in 20:48. Teammates Caitlin Upton (seventh, 21:02), Savannah Simmons (eighth, 21:56) and Sierra Upton (ninth, 22:08) also scored top 10 performances.
Frontier’s Olivia Deane made her debut with the cross country team a memorable one, as the volleyball star snagged a fifth-place showing with a time of 21:00. Sasha Malo was sixth overall (21:01), and Frontier’s Ayla Starr made her way inside the top 10 despite starting with the second wave of runners, crossing 10th overall in 22:45.
“The fact she bumped up inside the top 10 is a real tribute to her,” Smith said of Starr, who lives in Charlemont.
• Mohawk Trail standout Dennis Simmons won the boys race with a blistering time of 15:52, but the host Red Hawks captured a 20-41 team victory on Thursday.
Behind Simmons, Frontier had the next five finishers, led by Dan Fellows who was the runner-up with a time of 16:16. Luke Howard finished third overall (17:27), while Aleks Carey (fourth, 17:28) and Aden Gray (fifth, 17:30) rounded out the top five.
Jack Carey was sixth for Frontier in 17:46, while teammates Amory Maxey (eighth, 18:43) and Ben Sackrey (ninth, 18:54) wound up in the top 10.
Sean O’Dea was the second-fastest Warrior across the line in seventh position (17:54), and Vincent Gauthier scored a 10th-place showing in 19:35.
Athol, Pioneer tangle
Pioneer’s Noah de Ruiter bested the field by over two minutes to take the individual victory in a dual meet with Athol on Thursday at Bearsden Conservation in Athol.
de Ruiter’s time of 20:39 was the fastest in the boys race, and he was followed by teammate Jonathan Bodenstein (23:06). Athol’s Brent Boudreau (third, 23:08) and Antonio Carbone (fourth, 25:40) were next, while Pioneer’s Griffin de Ruiter rounded out the top five (29:39).
In the girls race, Pioneer’s Sahana Heilman was the winner with a time of 23:16, while teammates Laila Heilman (second, 25:17), Allison Clary (third, 26:24), Lucy Koester (fourth, 26:32) and Bryanna May (fifth, 26:32) also ran well. Athol’s Lily King was the first member of her team across the line, taking sixth overall in 39:44.
Pioneer 2, FC Tech 1 — An eighth-grader helped set the tone and make it a memorable opener for the Pioneer field hockey team on Thursday.
Eighth-grader Riley Thayer scored the season’s first goal just three minutes into the game, and sophomore Avery Sargent also found the back of the net to lift the host Panthers to a 2-1 victory over Franklin Tech in Northfield.
Hailey Haughey assisted on Thayer’s goal. Sargent made it 2-0 later in the first quarter, when she scored off an assist from Thayer.
Franklin Tech’s Kaitlin Trudeau, who transferred from Pioneer, tallied for the visitors to cut the deficit to 2-1 with 4:39 left before halftime.
Tech goalie Kyleigh Baleno (13 saves) and Pioneer keeper Charlotte Kahler (five saves) posted zeroes in the second half. Pioneer coach Marty Mulvihill lauded the play of defenders Laura Kahler and Kelly Baird in keeping the Eagles off the board over the final 30 minutes.
Frontier 16½, FC Tech 7½ — The 1-2 punch of Mikey Corduff and Gunnar Moore wasted little time reacquainting themselves with Franklin County on Thursday.
Corduff scored medalist honors out of the No. 1 spot with a 36, and Moore was one shot behind him with a 37 out of the No. 2 slot to lift Frontier to a convincing victory over host Franklin Tech at Thomas Memorial Golf & Country Club in Turners Falls.
Corduff scored all four points in his match against Tech’s Alex Sulda, who aided a balanced effort for the hosts with a round of 45. Moore won three points against Tech’s Ryan Artus, who took a point and had the low round of the day for the Eagles with a 42.
Frontier’s Kyle Maynard and Rowan Blair each shot 42 and combined to score 7½ out of a possible eight points in the Nos. 3 and 5 spots, respectively. Brady Burch recorded a point at No. 4 with a 45, while teammate Aidan Roche also scored a point at No. 6 with a 49.
Franklin Tech’s Anthony Zager scored three points at No. 3 on the strength of a 43, while teammate Nate Sciandra shot 46 at No. 6 and also nabbed three points. Jason Smith shot 45 in the No. 3 spot and added ½ point toward the team total.
Greenfield 24, Mohawk Trail 0 — Ryan Cote picked up where he left off last season, notching medalist honors with a 2-over-par 38 as Greenfield blanked Mohawk Trail in action played Thursday at the Country Club of Greenfield.
Cote won all four points in his match at No. 1. Five Green Wave golfers broke 50 on Thursday, led by Dylan Archer’s 45 at No. 2. Derek Lenois and Gabe Mota each carded rounds of 46 at Nos. 3 and 6, respectively, while Drew Conant shot 50 at No. 4 and Daniel Provost fired a 54 out of the No. 5 spot.
Mohawk Trail’s Phineas Tuttman had his team’s low round of the day, shooting 54 at No. 3. Ben Thompson (55), Logan Moore (59) and Douglas Wilcox (64) were the next four finishers for the Warriors.
Hopkins 246, Athol 275 — Quentin Polana fired the low round of the day for the re-launched Athol golf program Thursday, as the host Red Raiders fell to Hopkins Academy in a best five-stroke scoring format played at Ellinwood Country Club.
Polana set the mark for Athol with a low round of 46. Teammate Emma Bacigalupo was the next Red Raider to come in with a round of 52, followed by Logan Hume at 56. Rounding out the five Red Raider scorers were Owen Willhite (59) and Madelynn Kenniff (62).
Athol hosts rival Mahar in its next match on Monday.