WOODFORD — The Middlebury Union High School girls’ and boys’ Nordic ski teams each took third place in Division II in the two-day state championship meet, which concluded on Tuesday at Prospect Mountain in Woodford.
The Tigers’ efforts were highlighted by top-10 individual finishes by seniors Mac Groves and Lydia Allen and freshman Sophie Hodges in both the freestyle races in Craftsbury and the classic races on Tuesday in Woodford.
Groves was third in the freestyle 5-kilometer race on Feb. 21 and second in Tuesday’s classic race, while Hodges was second and Allen took fourth in the freestyle 5K last week, and Allen finished second in Tuesday’s classic 5K while Hodges was fourth.
The Tiger classic relay teams — consisting of Allen, Hodges, junior Kate DaPolito and freshman Julia Rosenberg on the girls’ side and boys’ team members Groves, junior Max Livingstone-Peters, senior Micah Lynch and sophomore Oliver Clark — both finished third behind overall winner Woodstock and runner-up U-32 on Feb. 26.
On Thursday, the Tiger freestyle relay teams each finished third, with freshman Dorothy Punderson joining Allen, DaPolito and Hodges on the girls’ team.
Woodstock swept both the boys and girls’ titles. The Woodstock boys scored 88 points, followed by U-32 (126), MUHS (210) and Harwood (215). The Tigers finished one place ahead of Harwood in both relay events, allowing them to overcome the Highlanders’ points lead after the individual 5K races.
On the girls’ side, Woodstock won with 104 points, and BFA-Fairfax rallied from fourth place after the freestyle events to finish second with 143, just ahead of MUHS at 146. Fairfax won the relay race to complete its comeback.
Given the loss of several top skiers from the 2012 team, especially the girls’ squad that won the D-II title, Coach Matt Trueheart said the Tigers performed well at the state meet, especially on Tuesday.
“The Middlebury skiers pulled out all the stops for the races yesterday, and it showed. Everybody put forward their strongest effort and raced well on the rolling, hilly course. Seniors Mac Groves and Lydia Allen finished off their high school racing careers in style,” Trueheart said.
Trueheart was also pleased that many of his younger skiers competed so well.
“I was happy to see all of our skiers leave it all out on the course and put a strong finish on what’s been a very strong season for the Nordic team,” he said. “We have several first-time skiers this year, they picked it up quickly, and (we) had a few of them racing in the state championships, which as a coach is fantastic to watch.”
Otter Valley had a handful of skiers who competed as individuals, but the program lacked the numbers to score as a team this season.
FREESTYLE RESULTS
With the top four skiers scoring for the Tigers, the full freestyle results for MUHS and OV skiers on Feb. 21 were (skiers from MUHS except as noted):
GIRLS’ 5K: 2. Hodges, 18:35.8; 4. Allen, 18:47.5; 18. DaPolito, 20:23.8; 24. Rosenberg, 21:29.1; 31. Nathalie Ingersoll, 22:29.4; 38. Dorothy Punderson, 23:39.1; 40. Emily Kiernan, 23:44.1.
GIRLS’ RELAY: 3. MUHS, 37:03.4 (Allen, DaPolito, Rosenberg, Hodges). 
BOYS’ 5K: 3. Mac Groves, 15:25.4; 15. Livingstone-Peters, 16:47.6; 28. Lynch, 17:58.9; 36. Clark, 18:40.5; 49. Ronnie Metcalf, 19:42.3; 59. George Mulcahy, 21:25.7; 62. Nate Mylott, OV, 21:31.7; 71. Isaac Roberts, OV, 22:41.6.
BOYS’ RELAY: 3. MUHS, 30:59.1 (Livingstone-Peters, Clark, Lynch, Groves). 
CLASSIC RESULTS
The full classic results for MUHS and OV skiers on Feb. 26 were:
GIRLS’ 5K:  2. Allen, 19:58.7; 4. Hodges, 20:26.1; 21. Punderson, 23:30.9; 22. DaPolito, 23:32.4; 26. Kiernan, 23:57.9; 31. Rosenberg, 24:24.5; 32. Ingersoll, 24:32.9; 41. Julia Vorsteveld, 25:34.2; 44. Louisa Jerome, OV, 26:12.6; 55. Joanna Keith, OV, 30:11.2.
GIRLS’ RELAY: 3. MUHS, 37:03.4 (Allen, DaPolito, Punderson, Hodges). 
BOYS’ 5K: 2. Groves, 15:57.3; 16. Livingstone-Peters, 18:20.7; 31. Lynch, 19:54.1; 33. Mylott, OV, 20:03.3; 34. Clark, 20:04.9; 54. Roberts, 21:51.6; 59. Metcalf, 22:02.4; 60. Bo Tran, 22:23.9; 61. Mulcahy, 22:34.0; 64. Bob Avery, 22:47.5; 72. Andrew Jerome, OV, 26:46.1; 75. Elyas O’Classen, OV, 29:14.0.
BOYS’ RELAY: 3. MUHS, 35:49.5 (Livingstone-Peters, Clark, Lynch, Groves).
Andy Kirkaldy may be reached at [email protected].