RIPTON — Runners from Middlebury, Vergennes and Mount Abraham union high schools posted a half-dozen top-20 finishes at the annual Middlebury Invitational Cross-Country Meet, which was held on Saturday at the Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton.
The event was moved to Rikert from the Middlebury College course to accommodate the visit of the Dalai Lama, according to MUHS officials.
MUHS junior Max Moulton and VUHS senior Shep Carter ran 4-5 in the boys’ race for the top local finishes, and seniors Sawyer Hescock from MUHS and Jared Miedema from VUHS also cracked the top 10 by taking 9th and 10th, respectively.
Tiger senior Nicole Morris finished 18th for the top local performance in the girls’ varsity race, and Eagle junior Natalie May took 20th.
St. Johnsbury and U-32 finished 1-2 in the nine-team field in both the boys’ and girls’ races. St. J won the boys’ event with 39 points, followed by U-32, 67; Rice, 84; Stowe, 111; MUHS, 112; VUHS, 130; and Mount Abraham, 339. Also participating were runners from the Galway and Vermont Commons schools.
In the girls’ race, five teams fielded enough runners to score: St. J, 20; U-32, 54; Rice, 128; Mount Abe, 132; and MUHS, 149.
The top finishers in the boys’ race and all the local runners and their places and times were:
1. Dage Minors, St. J, 18:06.7.
2. Brandon Legendre, St. J, 18:30.7.
3. Samuel Merriman, U-32, 18:37.0.
4. Max Moulton, MUHS, 19:14.3.
5. Shep Carter, VUHS,  19:21.6.
9. Sawyer Hescock, MUHS, 19:46.3.
10. Jared Miedema, VUHS,  19:56.4.
21. Sam Ferguson, MUHS, 20:50.2.
29. Chris Carter, MAU, 21:24.5.
32. Matt Becker, MUHS, 21:42.3.
33. Noah Praamsma, VUHS,  21:46.6.
40. Jarret Lafleche, VUHS,  21:57.7.
42. Seb Crowell, VUHS,  22:08.9.
44. Wesley Miedema, VUHS,  22:15.3.
45. Jesse Barnes, VUHS,  22:15.5 45.
46. Matthew Ferguson, MUHS, 22:15.8.
48. Matteo Palmer, VUHS,  22:24.8.
49. Nikhil Plouffe, MUHS, 22:27.9.
51. James Whitley, MUHS, 22:31.9.
60. Thomas Crowne, MUHS, 23:23.9.
61. Daniel Weinstock, MUHS, 23:29.7.
63. Addison Bolton, MUHS, 23:31.3.
64. Adam Joselson, MUHS, 23:35.2.
65. Jonah Supernovich, MUHS, 23:40.4.
68. Robin Kuhns, MAU, 23:44.5.
69. Merritt Gleason, MUHS, 23:52.0.
71. Lyndon Swinton, MAU, 24:11.3.
81. Silas Mullen, VUHS,  24:59.2.
82. George Mulcahy, MUHS, 25:08.5.
83. Kyle Pecsok, MUHS, 25:12.1.
85. Nick Turner, MAU, 25:20.9.
86. Cullen Jemison, MAU, 25:20.9.
89. Austin Grimm, MUHS, 26:12.3.
90. Miles Waldron, MUHS, 26:21.4.
93. Sam Daniels, MAU, 27:04.6.
94. Henry Koenig, MAU, 27:05.7.
96. Drew MacKenzie, MAU, 27:30.1.
97. Simon Broucke, MUHS, 27:32.5.
104. Jackson Radler, MAU, 29:11.3.
105. Josh Cousineau, MAU, 30:20.0.
106. Eric Mathewson, MUHS, 33:05.7.
The top finishers in the girls’ race and all the local runners and their places and times were:
1. Quinn Bornstein, St. J, 21:25.2.
2. Bethany Mallett, U-32, 22:38.3.
18. Nicole Morris, MUHS, 25:41.7.
20. Natalie May, MAU, 26:02.0.
22. Emily Fleming, MUHS, 26:08.7.
24. Katie Mayer, MAU, 26:19.1.
27. Bakari Olivetti, MAU, 26:33.2.
30. Genevieve Chiola, MAU, 26:35.0.
31. S.J. Grundon, MAU, 26:35.8.
35. Mary Jensen, MUHS, 27:40.9.
36. Taylor Becker, MUHS, 27:46.6.
38. Lexy Doria, MUHS, 28:24.6.
39. Casey Vanacore, MUHS, 28:25.9.
41. Julie Rickner, MAU, 29:00.5.
43. Sarah Sodaro, MAU, 29:01.8.
44. Laura Sundstrom, MAU, 29:05.6.
45. Harmony Taggart, MAU, 29:15.0.
47. CareyAnne Howlett, MUHS, 29:32.7.
50. Katie Lazarus, MUHS, 29:52.9.
51. Michelle Peterson, MUHS, 29:53.2.
52. Gretta Groves, MUHS, 30:41.8.
55. Sharon Palmer, MUHS, 32:19.