CHARLEMONT – Gateway’s Austin Herman collected a first-place finish in Thursday’s PVIAC ski race at Berkshire East in what has been shaping up as a season-long battle with other skiers from all throughout Western Mass.
Herman won the slalom race in 33.14, beating Kyle Gagne, of Longmeadow by three-hundredths of a second.
St. Mary’s Matt Masciadrelli placed seventh (35.22).
Gateway dominated the South Division with Johnny Rooney (5th, 40.1), Nicholas Herman (9th, 43.14), and Ryan Ames (10th, 44.42) all cracking the top 10 on the night.
Gateway claimed first in the team results with a combined time of 160.80. The St. Mary Saints were runners-up at 168.25, but still managed to retain their overall first place standing in the South with 31 points. The Gators are currently in second (28 points).
“Quite a few of the top boys fell victim to underestimating the importance of good course inspection,” St. Mary coach Andy Lussier said. “However, as I’ve said in the past, Longmeadow and Mohawk have some strong skiers deep in their lineups.”
“They are all skiing very well,” Lussier added. “It’s great that our ‘worst’ finish is the envy of a majority of the teams in the league. Not too bad for our first year back in the PVIAC ski league after a very long hiatus.”
STEPHENS, O’CONNOR TOPS AGAIN
Westfield’s Rebecca Stephens (25.79) and Grace O’Connor (25.85) continued their consistent results on the slopes with a second and third place finish, respectively, Thursday night.
They were separated by just six-one hundredths of a second.
“(Our) two leading girls had great runs and it duly reflected in their time,” Westfield coach Monique Piotte said.
The Bombers finished third as a team (114.12 points) in the North Division, also their current standing after six races.
