CHARLEMONT – It was déjà vu all over again.
Last winter, the “dynamic duo,” Westfield High School female skiers Grace O’Connor and Rebecca Stephens, dominated the slopes during Pioneer Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference races alternating first and second place finishes almost on a weekly basis.
The more things change, the more they remain the same.
The two skiers show no signs of slowing down, in fact, actually appearing “much stronger” according to their head coach Monique Piotte.
For the second week in a row, O’Connor, now a junior, finished first overall, winning with a time of 25.17 late Thursday night. Stephens, a senior, was second (26.54) again.
Teammate Lauren O’Connor placed 12th overall (28.09) and Madelyn Jemiolo rounded out the team time with a 31.50 finish.
Those results combined to propel the Westfield girls’ ski team to a first place finish (1:11.30) in the North Division. Northampton was second (1:16.43).
BOYS’ RESULTS: The Westfield boys’ ski team, fresh off their highest finish in nearly eight years (3rd overall in the season opener), had another solid run with a fourth place standing.
Jacob Stephens led Westfield with an eighth place run (34.19), followed by Ethan Flaherty, whose 40.74 time cracked the top 30 (28th), Matt Kiefer (42.13), and Cris Daley (43.57).
Longmeadow finished first (1:35.20).
SUPER-MATT RETURNS: Forget the “S” in GS, there is an “S” on his chest.
On opening night, St. Mary skier Matthews Masciadrelli won the Giant Slalom, proving his skills have not diminished over the offseason. On Thursday, Masciadrelli showed that he can ski slalom as well, defeating East Longmeadow’s Cam Ottoson by two-tenths of a second to claim the overall top spot.
It was the second overall gold medal finish for Masciadrelli.
St. Mary’s Nate Bonini finished 10th overall, fourth in the South Division. Other top 20 finishers for the Saints included Jack Masciadrelli (13th overall, 5th South Division) and Hayden Lussier (17th overall, 6th South Division).
With the combined results, St. Mary managed to finish first as a team in the South Division.
“This was a great ‘comeback’ from last week’s GS,” St. Mary ski coach Andy Lussier said. “To put four skiers in the top 20 overall shows that we are versatile with the two events (SL and GS) … with some great skiing in some really challenging (soft) snow conditions.”
GIRLS’ RESULTS: Ally Rougemont had a strong finish overall in the GS, making a huge jump from last week’s slalom. Chloe Lussier also had a great run, but carried too much speed off the pitch into the last two gates and did not make the finish.
“It was still some great skiing by our team of two,” coach Lussier said.
BOYS’ BASKETBALL
Iglesias’ half-court heroics
Southwick 48, Ware 46
Southwick’s Hunter Iglesias rattled in a buzzer-beating, half-court shot as time expired to stun visiting Ware Friday night.
Iglesias finished with 16 points, and Nick Hough had 12.
GIRLS’ TRACK & FIELD
Westfield 85, Chicopee 10; East Longmeadow 59, Westfield 36
Moira McDonald passed everyone in the 300 meter dash (43.17), Mia McDonald finished first among their competition in the 1000 meter run (3:28.03), Sophia Gronbeck won the 2 mile (12:33.81), McKenzie Chaban claimed gold in the 55 meter hurdles (9.63), and Amanda Hall placed first among the three teams in the shot put (30-10.5) Friday.
BOYS’ TRACK & FIELD
Westfield 56, Chicopee 39; Westfield 52, East Longmeadow 43
Brenden LaForest was the top Westfield runner in the 600 meters, topping Chicopee and East Longmeadow with a time of 1:30.34, Isak Lund was tops in the mile run (5:03.38), Tafari Thompson bested his competition in the 2 mile (13:24.43), Andrew Cameron was first in the 55 meter hurdles (9.36), and Kyle McCaffery outdistanced his competitors in the shot put (38-6.5).
