Nordic ski, alpine ski, MIAA Div. 5 indoor track championships on tap this week 

Mohawk Trail’s Addie Loomis competes in the giant slalom at Berkshire East earlier this season.

Mohawk Trail’s Addie Loomis competes in the giant slalom at Berkshire East earlier this season. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL Franz

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

Staff Writer

Published: 02-12-2024 6:14 PM

The high school sports winter postseason officially kicked off over the weekend, with the Athol, Franklin Tech, Frontier, Mahar and Mohawk Trail wrestling teams competing in their respective sectional championships while Turners Falls had swimmers in the Central/West Championships on Sunday. 

This week the MIAA Nordic Ski Championship and the PVIAC Alpine Ski Individual Championship will also take place, while multiple schools had athletes qualify for the MIAA Div. 5 state indoor track championship — scheduled for Wednesday at the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury. 

Both ski meets were originally scheduled for Tuesday, but with the impending storm, were postponed. 

The Nordic ski championship will now take place on Wednesday, still at Prospect Mountain in Woodford, Vt. The race has been delayed an hour from its original start time, with the boys race kicking off at noon before the girls race at 1:15 p.m. 

Mohawk Trail, who’s co-oping with Hampshire, is the lone Recorder area school with a Nordic ski team. Augustus Niswonger, Vincent Gauthier, Adam Muller, Curtis Casey, Luke Pickard, Aidan Gauthier, Aymeric Loucka, Malcolm Todd and Sam Barrows are set to compete for the Warrior boys while Charlotte Niswonger, Corinne Somes, Anya Read, Sadie Mahon-Moore and Ada Corner will race for the Mohawk Trail girls. 

The PVIAC Alpine Ski Individual Championship was moved from Tuesday to Thursday. The meet will still take place at Berkshire East, with the opening race set for 9 a.m. 

Expect both the Mohawk Trail boys and girls alpine teams to show well on Thursday. 

The Warrior girls had the top three finishers — Addie Loomis, Emmy Sisum and Sofiya Slocik-Gritzner — at the individual championships last year and all three are back this season. 

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Loomis, who won every PVIAC meet last winter, won all six PVIAC meets she participated in this year. The lone she didn’t compete in, Sisum took first. 

The Mohawk Trail boys will be in the mix for an individual champion on Thursday. Weston Den Ouden, Phineas Tuttman, Grayson Bishop and Gage Patenaude each have top 10 finishes on the season, with Den Ouden winning four of the seven meets this season. Den Ouden placed second at the individual championship last year. 

On Wednesday, Frontier, Greenfield, Mahar, Pioneer and Mohawk Trail had athletes qualify for the MIAA Div. 5 Indoor Track and Field Championship. 

Five different Redhawk boys will be competing on Wednesday. Ben Cachiguango qualified in the 55-meter dash (6.86 seconds) and 55 hurdles (8.53), Aidan Valderrama will compete in the 600 (1:31.73) and the high jump (five feet, 10 inches), Oliver Brown also qualified in the high jump (5-6), Amory Maxey is running in the 1,000 (2:51.39) and Charles Dennis qualified in the mile (4:52.93).

Maxey, Dennis, Augustus Radner and Valderrama will compete in the 4x800 relay (8:59.62). 

Greenfield’s Jackson Caron will be a top 10 seed in a pair of events on Wednesday. The senior is the No. 9 seed in both the 1,000 (2:45.98) and the mile (4:42.57). He’ll be joined by teammate Mason Youmell, who qualified in the 55 hurdles (8.68). 

Mahar’s Mitchell Krasco also earned a top 10 seed, as he comes in at No. 7 in the 55 hurdles (8.25). Krasco will also run in the 300 (38.22). David Phelps qualified for the 55 hurdles (9.03) while Mathieu Soucy will compete in the 55 (6.87) and the 300 (38.14) for the Senators. 

Mohawk Trail’s Chay Mojallali, who won the high jump at the PVIAC Individual Championships on Saturday, enters Wednesday as the No. 3 seed in the event with a top leap of 6-2. 

Mojallali will also run the 55 hurdles (8.94) while Peter Healy qualified in the 2 mile (11:01.63) for the Warriors. 

On the girls side, Pioneer’s Louise Flagollet earned a first place finish at the PVIAC Individual Championship in the high jump and will be the No. 5 seed in the event on Wednesday (5-2). 

Flagollet also qualified for the 300 (44.15) while Sahana Heilman qualified in the 55 hurdles (9.86). Emmanuelle Flagollet, Daniela Teaca, Heilman and Louise Flagollet will run in the 4x400 relay (4:37.91). 

Multiple Frontier girls qualified for states. Nicole Plasse will run in the 600 (1:50.43), Addison Morrey will compete in the 1,000 (3:27.35) and the mile (5:53.61), Kali Beam will also run in the mile (6:16.70), Leah Gump is competing in the 2 mile (12:46.51) and Hannah Davis will run the 55 hurdles (9.42). 

Plasse, Madelyn Antes, Morrey and Josie Fosnot qualified for the 4x400 relay (4:29.89). 

Suhani Patel was the lone Green Wave girl to qualify for states, making it in the high jump (4-10). Stellina Moore will represent the Senators, also competing in the high jump (4-10). 

Mohawk Trail’s Virginia Krezmien earned a top 10 seed in the mile, coming in at No. 9 with a top time of 5:36.27. 

The meet will get underway at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday.