MIDDLEBURY — Division I Burlington on this past Wednesday won both the boys’ and girls’ sides of a track and field meet hosted by Middlebury Union High School at Middlebury College, but the Tigers and the visiting Mount Abraham and Vergennes teams, all D-II squads, had highlights.
Burlington won the girls’ meet with 145 points, with MUHS (52) edging Mount Abe (46) for second and VUHS in third (9). The already small VUHS team was shorthanded because several students, including steady point-scorers, were on a school language trip.
On the boys’ side, the Seahorses racked up 141 points, with the Eagles in second (63), MUHS in third (36) and VUHS in fourth (23).
First-year coach Emily Marquart of the host Tigers said a number of her athletes fared well, even if her team does not have the numbers to compete against a big team like Burlington.
“It is certainly a challenge for the team to go against larger, D-I schools, as we do not have the depth on the team this year,” she said. “But individually we have a solid number of athletes who are continuing to improve their performances and successful try events this year that they have never previously tried.”
The Tigers’ only first-place finisher was senior newcomer Dominique Powers, who won the girls’ triple jump. Powers, a talented Nordic skier, was also second in the high jump and ran on the Tigers’ second-place 4-by-800- and 4-by-400-meter relay teams.
Also on the girls’ side, Emily Anderson took second at 400 meters and ran on both those relay teams; Laura Ferguson was second in the shot put, fourth in the discus, and fifth in the javelin; Jade Blodgett was third in the discuss and third in the javelin; and Emily Byers was second in the 100 hurdles.
On the boys’ side, in the 1,500 sophomore Max Moulton was edged out by Seahorse Jake Van Buren by three-hundredths of a second in a dramatic duel. Moulton also took second in the 800 and ran on the third-place 4×400 relay team; and junior James Hare placed second in the 200, third in the 400, and ran on the 4×400 team.
Coach Gabe Hamilton’s Eagles were coming off a strong effort at an earlier Milton meet, and he said the team built on that performance.
“Kids were really motivated to perform in their first local meet,” Hamilton said. “After the boys’ first-place finish and the girls’ second-place finish in Milton last week, there was an added level of confidence that resulted in several PR (personal record) performances.”
On the girls’ side, Amanda Vincent won the discus and placed second in the javelin on Wednesday, Kensey Hanson took second at 100 and 200 meters, Lilly Knudson finished second in the triple jump, and Natalie May was second in the 3,000.
For the Eagle boys, Asa Learmonth returned from an illness to win the 200 and take fourth in the 400; throwers Ian Bachand, Houston Cote and Tom Charnley all scored points; and Henry Koenig was second in the triple jump. The Eagles’ 4×100 team also won when the other squads were disqualified.
The Eagles boast the biggest team locally, and Hamilton said athletes’ hard work and willingness to experiment with new events is paying off.
“It is nice to see points coming from athletes in a variety of events with varying degrees of experience,” Hamilton said. “I think this is where the strength of our team lies, kids not being afraid to try new events and work individually in order to contribute to the team.”
VUHS co-coach Jeff Kauffman saw his team of only about 16 athletes halved by the school trip and academic issues, but still produce some nice results, including junior Jon Welch’s sweep of the hurdling events.
“We are small, but quality,” Kauffman said. “We have excellent veterans and freshmen with a lot of talent.”
Lane Kessler finished on Welch’s heels in the 300 hurdles; the boys’ 4X400 team of Sebby Crowell, Julian Hattler, Welch and Kessler edged MUHS for second; freshman Alley Stearns took third in the girls’ shot; sophomore Samara Sausville was third in the girls’ 400; freshman Paige Stolen was fourth in the girls’ 800; and Hattler, a senior, was third in the boys’ 800.
With a full team, Kauffman expects the Commodores to score points against anybody.
“We have a great group of kids. They have a hunger to continue to improve and compete with top teams in the division and in the state,” he said. “We are doing great work for this early in the season and will continue to improve in preparation for states.”
MILTON MEET
The Eagles and Commodores were coming off an April 12 Milton meet at which they posted some impressive results. The Eagle boys edged the Commodores, 101-99 to win the seven-team meet, and the Eagle girls scored 119 points to finish second behind Milton (143).
The Eagle boys did not win an event, but scored consistently. Throwers Bachand and Tony Sawyer took seconds, as did Daniel Moon at 200 meters and the 4X100 team of Moon, Bobby Lavallee, Alexis Weightman and Jacob Burt.
The Commodore boys couldn’t match the Eagles’ depth, but won five events: Welch and Austin Beamish went 1-2 in both hurdling races, as did Eddie Devino and Hattler in the 800 and Kessler and Crowell in the 400. Welch, Hattler, Kessler and Devino then teamed up to win the 4X400.
Brooke Lossman paced the Eagle girls in Milton, winning the javelin and discus and taking second in the pole vault and long jump. Mariah Clark also won the high jump and was second in the 100 hurdles, while Hanson in the 100 and May in the 3,000 also claimed seconds.
For the VUHS girls in Milton, Abbey Baker and Sausville went 1-2 at 400 meters, and they joined Sammy Kepes and Tia Hunt to win the 4X400.
MIDDLEBURY RESULTS
Point scorers for MUHS, VUHS and Mount Abe on Wednesday were:
GIRLS’ EVENTS:
•  4X800: 2. MUHS, 11:23.3 (Nicole Morris, Elise Biette, Powers, Anderson).
•  100 hurdles: 2. Byers, MUHS, 20.4; 3. Clark, MAU, 20.5.
•  100: 2. Hanson, MAU, 14.1; 4. Clark, MAU, 14.4.
•  4X100: 2. MAU, 1:00.7 (Clark, Becky Johnston, Quinn Gervia, Hanson); 3. MUHS, 1:00.9 (Lexy Doria, Katie Lazarus, Michelle Peterson, Rachel Mathewson).
•  400: 2. Anderson, MUHS, 1:08.4; 3. Sausville, V, 1:11; 4. Bakari Olivetti, MAU, 1:12.8; 5. Doria, MUHS, 1:13.5.
•  800: 3. Biette, MUHS, 2:51.2; 4. Stolen, V, 2:53.2; 5. Morse, MUHS, 2:56.9.
•  200: 2. Hanson, MAU, 31.1; 3. Mathewson, MUHS, 31.5; 5. Sausville, VUHS, 32.5.
•  3,000: 2. May, MAU, 13:49.2.
•  4×400: 2. MUHS, 4:50.4 (Doria, Powers, Morris, Anderson).
•  Long jump: 6. Knudson, MAU, 12-4.5; 7. Lazarus, MUHS, 12-4.5.
•  Triple jump: 1. Powers, MUHS, 27-1; 2. Knudson, MAU, 26-8; 3. Karen Chandler, MAU, 25-9.5; 4. Byers, MUHS, 25-5.
•  Shot put: 2. Ferguson, MUHS, 23-3.5; 3. Stearns, VUHS, 21-5; 4. Lillian Gratton, MAU, 20-0.5; 5. Jazmine Lester, MAU, 19-10.5.
•  Discus: 1. Vincent, VUHS, 70-1; 3. Blodgett, MUHS, 65-0; 4. Ferguson, MUHS, 54-2.
•  Javelin: 2. Vincent, VUHS, 70-11; 3. Blodgett, MUHS, 61-5; Ferguson, MUHS, 60-10.
BOYS’ EVENTS:
•  4X800: 2. MAU, 10:38 (Tyler Jewett, Kevin Sword, Tucker Gratton, Houston Cote).
•  100 hurdles: 1. Welch, V, 17.5; 3. Moon, MAU, 22.4; 5. Silas Pohlman, MAU, 24.7.
•  100: 6. James Pecsok, MUHS, 12.3; 8. Moon, MAU, 12.8.
•  1,500: 2. Moulton, MUHS, 4:22.1: 3. Stuart Guertin, MUHS, 4:39.7; 5. Griffin Wood, MUHS, 4:49.2.
•  4X100: 1. MAU, 54.3 (Moon, Lavallee, Weightman and Jacob Burt).
•  400: 3. Hare, MUHS, 55.2; 4. Learmonth, MAU, 55.4; 5. Guertin, MUHS, 55.9.
•  800: 2. Moulton, MUHS, 2:13.6; 3. Hattler, VUHS, 2:15.5; 4. Cote, MAU, 2:21.9; 5. Wood, MUHS, 2:23.2.
•  300 hurdles: 1. Welch, VUHS, 44.5; 2. Kessler, VUHS, 45.1; 3. Pecsok, MUHS, 48.5; 5. Koenig, MAU, 55.4.
•  200. 1. Learmonth, MAU, 24.0; 2. Hare, MUHS, 24.6.
•  3,000: 3. Gratton, MAU, 12:08.7; 4. Jewett, MAU, 12:17.5.
•  4×400: 2. VUHS, 3:48.5 (Crowell, Hattler, Welch, Kessler); 3. MUHS, 3:48.6, (Hare, Sam Ferguson, Addison Bolton, Moulton).
•  Long jump: 6. Bolton, MUHS, 16-5.25; 7. Ferguson, MUHS, 16-4.5.
•  Triple jump: 2. Koenig, MAU, 34-11.5; 3. Hare, MUHS, 34-8; 4. Casey Moon, MAU, 28-0.5
•  Shot put: 2. Bachand, MAU, 34-3; 4. Duncan Mathewson, MUHS, 31-10; 5. Sawyer, MAU, 31-6.
•  Discus: 2. Bachand, MAU, 92-7; 4. Charnley, MAU, 85-8; 5. Sawyer, MAU, 84-5.
•  Pole vault: 2. Pohlman, MAU, 6-0.
•  Javelin: 3. Cote, MAU, 120-3; 4. Charnley, MAU, 94-1; 5. Lavallee, MAU, 91-11.