ESSEX — At the Essex Invitational track and field meeting Tuesday, a Vergennes Union High School hurdler, Middlebury Union High School javelin thrower and two MUHS relay teams qualified for the New England Championships. The major meet, which draws top performers from around northern Vermont, had been delayed from Saturday because of bad weather.
MUHS senior James Pecsok’s third-place toss of 144 feet, 2 inches in the javelin earned third place and qualified him for the New England Championships, which will be held at New Britain, Conn., on June 8.
The Tiger quartet of seniors James Hare and Sam Ferguson, junior Max Moulton and freshman Christopher Garner earned fourth place in the four-by-800-meter relay in 8:35.51. Then Hare, Ferguson and Moulton joined with junior Naina Horning to grab sixth place in the four-by-400 relay in 3:40.24. Both also qualified for New Englands.
Also qualifying for the June 8 meet was VUHS senior Jon Welch, who earned fifth place in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.78.
The Commodores also boasted strong performances from senior Eddie Devion, who was 10th in the 800M (2:05.83) and from the four-by-400 relay team of senior Abby Baker and juniors Ruby Dombek, Samara Sausville and Alix Kauffman, which earned seventh place with a time of 4:25.11.
MUHS sophomore Kaitlin Huber qualified for the Division II state meet in the 400M with a time of 66.85.
The Mount Abraham squad was led by senior Amanda Vincent, who got 11th place in the javelin with an 85’5” throw.
All three local high school track and field teams are scheduled to compete at the DII state meet this Saturday at Fair Haven Union High School.