Despite their differences, they were equals during this winter's cross-country ski season and are the co-Most Valuable Players of the All-Eagle nordic team. The team was determined by a points system which took each competitor's top four results.
Marcotte, a senior at Berkshire County League school Mohawk Regional, and Barry, a sophomore, at Lenox, were a cut above the rest of the league, combining to win four of the five league races and both state titles.
Marcotte, a senior, entered the season primed to take over the mantle of the league's top skier from teammate Hannah Specht, last year's MVP. She won the first race of the year on Jan. 2 and a second race on Jan. 21. In between the top finishes, Marcotte displayed plenty of toughness, skiing to a third-place finish during one race despite competing with a kidney stone. Marcotte said she finished the race doubled over in pain and was taken to the hospital soon after she crossed the finish line.
In the final race of Marcotte's career — the freestyle state championship — she dusted the largest field of the season
"I came in hoping to either go undefeated or win a state title," Marcotte said. "So I had a couple of goals in mind and I got one of them. Winning states was the perfect way to end it."
And while Marcotte, a five-year member of the All-Eagle team, finished alone during that race, Barry provided constant competition over the course of the year.
"Rita's been one of the top skiers around for a long time," Lenox coach Joe Bazzano said. "She's one of the girls that Janet and the rest of our girls were always chasing. For Janet to have her name up there with her, that's pretty awesome."
Barry, who was on last year's All-Eagle team, put herself in that position by winning her first race on Jan. 16. She was the only skier in the county who competed in every race and never finished outside the top five.
Her crowning moment came in the classical state championship on Jan. 28, when she won by one minute and 24 seconds. It had been an event that Barry, and two other teammates, had been striving to win after performing poorly the year before.
"That was what I really wanted," Barry said. "That had to be the highlight of the year. I wasn't happy starting first, but I just pushed myself the whole race and never stopped."
Bazzano credits Barry's constant desire to improve for her incredible season. Barry, who said she is weaker in the freestyle events, still managed to finish second and third in them. Despite being one of Lenox's top skiers, Barry often followed the lead of teammates Katie Miller and Hanna Walton, two long-time skiers that have perfected the freestyle technique. Instead of charging to the front to lead in practices, Barry trailed behind the pair, mimicking their movements.
It's no wonder that Miller and Walton were such fine teachers, the pair were also first-teamers, along with teammate Jessica Plager. Joining the Lenox contingent on the team was Wahconah Regional's Lizzy Lewis, Mount Greylock's Camille Robertson and Gateway's Melissa Stylos.
Miller was the only other skier to win a race this season, winning the first event of her career in the freestyle race on Jan. 7. After battling the flu and finishing in 14th place in the first race of the year, Miller never finished out of the top five.
She rebounded from her worst performance with her best in a winning effort, and then took a pair of second-place finishes before being slowed by a back injury.
"She was on top of the world after that win," Bazzano said. "We worked all week and she was ready to break through. She had a lot of injuries and illnesses to work through, but she was still a member of that dominant group of skiers."
Like Barry, Lenox's Walton never finished outside the top five in any race she competed in. Other than missing one race, Walton repeated as a member of the first-team by finishing second, third or fourth in every league race. A junior, Walton is a devoted skier and came into the season expecting to challenge for wins and state championships. She did, but never quite broke through.
"Hanna could have won easily," Bazzano said. "She loves to ski. She was consistent for us all year, consistently good. She just never quite hit that peak to get a win."
Plager, another junior, rounded out the top four for the county's dominant team. Plager, a second-team All-Eagle selection last year, finished in the top 10 in every race she skied, turning in consistent results that helped round out the scoring behind the team's big three. With her help, the team finished unbeaten and won both state titles. Her season-best was a fifth-place result in her first race.
Wahconah's Lewis, a junior, was the lone consistent threat for the Warriors this season. One of the team's leaders and organizers, she finished a season-best fourth in the final league race of the year and capped her season by matching that fourth-place result in the freestyle state championship. Lewis was on the second-team last year, but improved tremendously to leap onto the first team.
Robertson, a freshman at Greylock, was the newest face to appear on the scene. Robertson started her year with a ninth-place finish, but improved her placing in every league race but one — taking an eighth-place, fifth-place, sixth-place and third-place. She finished the year with a fourth the state freestyle championship.
"She improved a lot over the summer," Greylock coach Hillary Greene said. "Originally I think a lot of our older skiers were surprised. By the end of the year, she was the one saying, 'Let's go out for another lap or we have to cool down.' By the end she was one of our leaders. As a freshman, she received a lot of votes to be captain next year, which is always surprising."
Gateway's Stylos had good finishes. She had even better fortitude.
After placing fourth in her first two races, Stylos broke her hand before the third race of the year. Unable to grip her pole with her injured hand, Stylos strapped the pole onto her hand and never missed a race. She carried on and was 13th in each of her next two races before ending the season with an eighth-place finish in the final league race.
The coaches' also determined a second-team which included Lenox's Pam Barry and Molly Spector, Mohawk's Julia Beebe, Jeanine Condron, Kim Sessions and Laura Duffy, Mount Greylock's Katie White and Taconic's Madeline Sinico.
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