ESSEX — Athletes from the Mount Abraham, MUHS and VUHS teams competed in the major Essex Invitational Track and Field Meet on Saturday, an event that draws athletes from all divisions from around the state.
No team scores are kept; the meet serves as the final opportunity for athletes to perform well enough to qualify to compete in the New England championship meet.
Several athletes posted top-10 results while achieving that goal, notably VUHS junior Jon Welch, who was second and sixth in two boys’ hurdling events.
Eagle senior Brooke Lossman also earned a result good enough to qualify while taking fourth in the girls’ pole vault and 15th in the javelin, while her junior teammate Amanda Vincent was ninth in the girls’ javelin.
MUHS senior Stuart Guertin was sixth at 3,200 meters, an event that does not have a qualifying standard listed at the Vermont Principals’ Association website.
VUHS junior Eddie Devino took ninth at 800 meters in a qualifying time, as did Tiger junior James Hare at 400 meters while taking 10th.
Other athletes had already met the New England standards earlier. Also posting results good enough to quality on Saturday were senior Houston Cote, junior Asa Learmonth and sophomore Ian Bachand from Mount Abe; juniors Nicole Morris and James Pecsok and sophomore Sam Ferguson from MUHS; and senior Julian Hattler and juniors Austin Beamish and Lane Kessler from VUHS.
Local girls’ individual results were:
•  100m: 38. Kensey Hanson, MAU, 14.24.
•  800: 22. Morris, MUHS, 2:38.01.
•  4×400 relay: 12. MUHS, 4:43.66 (Elise Biette, Lexy Doria, Dominique Powers, Morris); 15. VUHS, 4:54.57 (Tia Hunt, Sammy Kepes, Paige Stolen, Samara Sausville).
•  4×800: 13. MUHS, 11:14.81 (Biette, Mary Jensen, Morris, Powers).
•  High jump: 19. Powers, MUHS, 4-4.
•  Pole vault: 4. Lossman, MAU, 8-6.
•  Triple jump: 38. Lili Knutson, MAU, 26-3.50.
•  Shot put: 39. Vincent, MAU, 23-5.
•  Discus: 15. Lossman, MAU, 82-10.
•  Javelin: 8. Vincent, MAU, 93-10.
Local boys’ individual results were:
•  100: 52. Pecsok, MUHS, 12.91.
•  200: 19. Learmonth, MAU, 24.72.
•  400: 10. Hare, MUHS, 53.70; 14. Learmonth, MAU, 54.07.
•  800: 9. Devino, VUHS, 2:05.11; 20. Hattler, VUHS, 2:10.36.
•  3,200: 6. Guertin, MUHS, 10:06.47; 18. Neil Guertin, MUHS, 10:49.52; 19 Griffin Wood, MUHS, 10:49.85.
•  110 hurdles: 2. Welch, VUHS, 16.03; 12. Beamish, VUHS, 17.49.
•  300 hurdles: 6. Welch, VUHS, 43.84; 12. Kessler, VUHS, 44.67; 30. Ferguson, MUHS 47.74; 44. Pecsok, MUHS, 50.49.
•  4×400: 10. VUHS, 3:44.61 (Kessler, Hattler, Devino, Welch); 12. MUHS, 3:46.92 (Ferguson, S. Guertin, Hare, Addison Bolton).
•  4×800: 5. MUHS, 8:27.22 (Ferguson, S. Guertin, N. Guertin, Hare).
•  Long jump: 22. Beamish, VUHS, 18-4.50.
•  Triple jump: 24. Henry Koenig, MAU, 35-3.50.
•  Shot put: 23. Bachand, MAU,  37-6.0.
•  Discus: 25. Bachand, MAU, 99-0.
•  Javelin: 11. Cote, MAU, 129-10.