By ANDY KIRKALDY
MIDDLEBURY — A narrow win for the Mount Abraham girls over host Middlebury and a number of strong early season performances highlighted the season’s first track meet, which brought Vergennes and Lyndon to the Middlebury College track on Saturday as well as the Eagles and Tigers.
The Eagle girls got strong performances in the sprints and throws, with sophomore Cassie Marion and senior Paige Wener winning three events apiece and sophomore Bailey Cote one, to edge the Tigers, 86-83, for first place. Lyndon was not far behind at 71, and the small VUHS contingent scored 21.
Winning individual girls’ events for MUHS were freshman Emily Anderson, juniors Alexa Clarisse and Eliza Carver, and senior Jasmine Blodgett. The Tigers also swept the relays.
For VUHS, senior Julie Edwards won a tight duel with Tiger senior Lindsay Jordan in the 800, 2:47.29 to 2:48.88.
On the boys’ side, Lyndon ruled with 144 points, followed by MUHS, 74; Mount Abe, 28; and VUHS, 13.
All teams were missing athletes because of the looming April vacation, but the small Commodore team was hit hard by the absence of senior runner Josh Carter and a few others. The Eagles also missed top senior thrower Isiah Moore because of a paperwork snafu.
Still, there were plenty of bright spots.
For second-place MUHS, senior Nate Peterson won one event and ran the anchor leg for the dominant Tiger four-by-400 relay team, seniors Ethan Dickinson and Jon Wright posted victories, and the Tigers also won the 4X800.
For the Mount Abe boys, senior Cole Lossman won three events, and VUHS junior Chris Parfitt posted a win.
All the coaches found something to like, especially considering that is was a season-opening meet with many athletes just starting to round into form and others just learning new events.
Mount Abe co-coaches Gary Russell and Gabe Hamilton were especially happy to see their girls do so well given that practices had been cancelled last week because of smoke from a persistent tire fire near their school.
“We’re starting off pretty early with some good results,” Russell said. “We’re really pleased how they’ve done, especially after missing two days of practice … We’re lucky we started some event training early this year.”
Russell also noted that some of his younger athletes who didn’t win events scored points.
“When the younger ones beat some of the older ones, it creates some healthy competition,” he said.
MUHS coach Bill Edson said he saw the product of the greater turnout for the sport this spring in Friday’s results.
“I think we had a solid performance. We were missing some key players because of vacation and school trips, but we had some kids step up and really show our depth,” Edson said. “I think we had a very solid showing for our first meet. It gives us something to build on.”
Edson was happy to see his team continue to shine in the relay events — if not for a stumble in the boys’ 4X100 that led to a disqualification, the Tigers would have won all six.
“The kids take a lot of pride in the relays,” he said.
VUHS coach Jeff Kauffman was happy to see athletes like Edwards, Parfitt, Ellen Watkins and James Sullivan perform to expectations, and will be happier when his small team is at full strength.
“It went pretty well. I was missing my best sprinters, but my middle distance came through,” Kauffman said. “We welcome that.”
GIRLS’ RESULTS
Local individual athletes posting top-six results and winning relay teams in the girls’ competition were:
• 100 meters: 1. Marion, MAU, 13.47; 2. Clarisse, MUHS, 14.09; 3. Rosalie Wright-Lapin, MUHS, 14.64; 5. Lane Russell, MAU, 14.67.
• 100 hurdles: 1. Cote, MAU, 20.07; 2. Meredith Cromis, MAU, 20.19; 3. Brittny Buck, MUHS, 20:32; 4. Mira Atherton, MUHS, 20.44; 6. Rachel Getz, MUHS, 21.44.
• 1,500: 1. Anderson, MUHS, 5:33.17; 3. Edwards, VUHS, 5:42.50.
• 200: 1. Clarisse, MUHS, 29.96; 2. Nina Edson, MUHS, 30.26: 3. Isabel Hamilton, VUHS, 31.29; 6. Alex Harris, VUHS, 32.89.
• 300 hurdles: 2. Buck, MUHS, 56.70; 3. Sarah Selby, MAU, 59.43; 4. Cromis, MAU, 59.49; 5. Getz, MAU, 1.20.
• 400: 1. Carver, MUHS, 1:09.59; 3. Watkins, VUHS, 1:10.87; 5. Julia Geisler, MUHS, 1:21.5.
• 4X100: 1. MUHS, 55.43 (Clarisse, Edson, Wright-Lapin, Ashleigh Hickey).
• 4X400: 1. MUHS, 4:38.47 (Jordan, Edson, Anderson, Hickey).
• 4X800: 1. MUHS, 11:27.47 (Jordan, Blodgett, Carver, Anderson).
• 800: 1. Edwards, VUHS, 2:47.29; 2. Jordan, MUHS, 2:48.88; 4. Watkins, VUHS, 2:58.31.
• Discus: 1. Wener, MAU, 77-1; 3. Virginia O’Neill, MUHS, 66-6.5; 5. Anna Bachand, MAU, 54-1.
• High jump: 2. Becky Johnston, MAU, 4-4; 3. Acacia Hammel, MAU, 4-2; 4. Viscaya Wagner, MUHS, 4-2; 5. Harris, VUHS, 4-0.
• Javelin: 1. Wener, 86-3.5; 6. Jade Blodgett, MUHS, 61-4.75.
• Long jump: 1. Marion, MAU, 16-3; 2. Hammel, MAU, 12-10; 3. Emily Wood, MAU, 12-9.25; 4. Sylvia Sword, 12-8; 5. Harris, VUHS, 12-7.
• Pole vault: 1. Jasmine Blodgett, MUHS, 6-6; 2. Wright-Lapin, MUHS, 6-6; 3. Buck, MUHS, 6-0; 4. Selby, MAU, 6-0; 6. Wood, 5-6.
• Shot put: 1. Wener, MAU, 28-1.25; 3. Cathy Paquette, MUHS, 22-3.75; 4. Jamie Cousineau, MAU, 21-5.25; 6. Bachand, MAU, 21-2.75.
• Triple jump: 1. Marion, MAU, 32-6; 2. Hammel, MAU, 29-0; 4. Sword, MAU, 24-5; 5. Tricou, MAU, 24-2.
BOYS’ RESULTS
Local individual athletes posting top-six results and winning relay teams in the boys’ competition were:
• 100 meters: 3. Adam Peterson, MUHS, 11.77; 5. Ephraim Parker, VUHS, 12.37.
• 100 hurdles: 3. Boucher, MUHS, 21.12.
• 1,500: 1. Parfitt, VUHS, 4:39.36; 4. Neil Guertin, MUHS, 5:02.89; 6. Schuyler Klein, 5:50.57.
• 200: 1. N. Peterson, MUHS, 23.83; 6. Sanjay Wunnava, 25.79.
• 300 hurdles: 1. Boucher, MUHS, 50.02. 
• 3,000: 3. Sullivan, VUHS, 11:50.86; 5. John Snyder-White, MUHS, 12:45.35.
• 400: 1. Dickinson, MUHS, 54.26; 5. Wayne Blodgett, MAU, 1:32.57.
• 4X400: 1. MUHS, 3:46.45 (A. Peterson, Stuart Guertin, Dickinson, N. Peterson).
• 4X800: 1. MUHS, 9:38.82 (Klein, N. Guertin, Stephen Peters-Collaer, Will Earle).
• 800: 2. S. Guertin, MUHS, 2:19.57; 3. Parfitt, VUHS, 2:19.85; 4. Earle, MUHS, 2:22.72; 5. Zander Carver, 2:30.23.
• Discus: 1. Wright, MUHS, 106-6; 2. Kyle Odell, MUHS, 98-4; 5. Pat West, MAU, 93-3. 
• High jump: 1. Lossman, MAU, 5-6; 4. Z. Carver, MUHS, 5-0; 6. Grant Baker, MAU, 4-8.
• Javelin: 5. Wright, MUHS, 124-9.75. 
• Long jump: 2. A. Peterson, MUHS, 18-5; 4. Dickinson, MUHS, 17-9.75; 5. Nick Earle, MAU, 16-9.75; 6. Charlie Johnston, MAU, 15-5.
• Pole vault: 1. Lossman, MAU, 11-0; 2. Dylan Bruce, MUHS, 10-6.
• Shot put: 3. Odell, MUHS, 38-5.5; 6. West, MAU, 34-8.25. 
• Triple jump: 1. Lossman, MAU, 36-3; 4. D. Boucher, MUHS, 32-0; 5. C. Johnston, MAU, 31-4; 6. Baker, MAU, 31-1.