The Academy boys Varsity soccer team defeated Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School 5-3 on Monday behind a hat trick by Nat B-O. Tucker Z-A scored off a free kick from 40 yards away and Raymond M also scored, while Nico V had three assists. Alex T came up with some pivotal saves in the second half, while Ishan S, Sam R, and Bennet B also made big contributions on defense. The Charlemont XC Team ran an optional meet on Wednesday at Ashley reservoir, hosted by White Oak School. In this non scored meet Academy runners got their season started with some excellent performances. Paloma H-S came in 12th out of 51 with a time of 23:38. Katie T placed 32nd with a time of 28:26 to round out the girls’ squad. On the boys’ side, with many of them running their first XC meet ever, Will D ran at 18:52 for a top 10 finish out of 73 runners. Eli C was 27th with a personal record of 20:17 for a 5K. Finishing in a close pack David A and Tor O finished 47th and 48th with times of 22:55 and 23:11 respectively. To finish out the 5th spot on the boys side Izzy S had a time of 27:18 for 67th overall in the race. Nice work Aardvark XC runners!