Westfield’s Matt Masciadrelli races toward the finish line. (Submitted photo)
CHARLEMONT – The Olympics aren’t the only game in town right now. In fact one local skier and his teammates have made quite the argument that the spotlight should be shifted some nearly 7,000 miles closer to home with attention-grabbing results.
St. Mary’s High School senior skier Matt Masciadrelli extended his three-year long winning streak with another Giant Slalom victory, this time coming on the hard-packed snowy slopes of Berkshire East in the Pioneer Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference championships Tuesday.
Masciadrelli won the GS championship race by two-tenths of a second, compiling a winning time of 24.00 seconds. Longmeadow’s Jonathan Burger was second in 24.22.
St. Mary’s High School skier Matt Masciadrelli, center, holds his second-place trophy, while standing alongside his parents, Greg, left, and Lisa, right, at the PVIAC Championships Tuesday at Berkshire East in Charlemont. (Submitted photo)
Burger’s slalom time of 32.28 bested Masciadrelli’s 34.47 to claim the all-around individual trophy. For the St. Mary senior, it was his second consecutive 2nd place overall finish at PVIAC’s.
“It kind of played out like I expected,” Masciadrelli said. “It worked out perfectly.”
Matt’s younger brother, Jack, a sophomore also performed admirably on the slopes.
Jack Masciadrelli placed third on the slalom (34.95) and fourth on the GS (24.82) for a 3rd place overall finish.
Said Matt Masciadrelli: “It’s like a family competition out here every time.”
Maybe that is because the Masciadrelli’s cousins, Hayden and Chloe Lussier, have also been making a steady climb toward the top of the leaderboards all season.
On Tuesday, Hayden completed a 14th place run in the Giant Slalom and 22nd in the Slalom to finish 18th overall. Chloe Lussier completed a seventh place overall finish among the girls.
Chloe Lussier was eighth on the GS (27.51) and 10th on the Slalom (40.03).
ST. MARY SAINTS
Ski Team
“All of our skiers skied very strong with a lot of aggression,” said Chloe and Hayden’s father, St. Mary’s ski coach Andy Lussier. “They all really wanted it.”
The Saints will team up again to try and capture more medals at the states March 6 at Berkshire East.
BOMBERS DYNAMIC DUO: Westfield skiers Jacob Stephens and Grace O’Connor claimed spots in the top five.
O’Connor finished second overall with times of 36.03 (2nd place) in the slalom and 25.76 (2nd place) in the GS.
Jacob Stephens had a nice run on the slopes for Westfield, capturing fifth overall with a 11th place finish of 25.69 in the GS and 5th place finish of 35.67 in the slalom.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Cybercats chase Tigers
Sci-Tech 56, Westfield Technical Academy 9
Ann Harrington (21 points) and Olivia Goodrow (14) combined for 35 points to lead Sci-Tech at home.
Westfield Tech’s Jaymee Hall led Westfield Tech with six.
Wurster paces Rams
Ware 48, Southwick 34
Southwick’s Maura Wurster scored a team-high nine points. Rams’ Julia Gardner had five.
In JV action, Ashley Squires recorded six points in Southwick’s 40-19 loss to Ware.
Hasiuk, Comp barrels past WHS
Chicopee Comp 62, Westfield 57
Arriana Hasiuk exploded for 26 points, and Chicopee Comp held off visiting Westfield.
Westfield had three players score in double-digits – Kaela Mochak (13 points), Olivia Hadla (12), and Alexis Wood (12).
