THETFORD — The Middlebury Union High School boys’ cross-country team on Saturday finished fourth in Division II at Thetford Academy to highlight local runners’ efforts.
Senior Max Moulton finished 10th to lead the Tigers, and David Dregallo (16th) and Sam Ferguson (18th) also cracked the top 20.
Ryan Biette finished 21st and Chris Garner took 29th to round out the Tigers’ five scorers.
Otter Valley fielded only four runners and did not score as a team, but junior Connor Gallipo also posted a top-20 finish by placing 19th.
Junior Chris Carter led Mount Abraham by taking 35th as the Eagles finished eighth out of 14 scoring teams, and senior Matteo Palmer paced the Vergennes boys by finishing 45th as the Commodore boys took 10th.
Harwood’s Sam Nishi finished first in the 5K course and Highlander runners took four of the first five places as their team cruised to the D-II title. The complete boys’ team scores were: 1. Harwood, 20; 2. U-32, 55; 3. Montpelier, 74; 4. MUHS, 92; 5. Woodstock, 164; 6. Burr & Burton, 174; 7. Milton, 234; 8. Mt. Abe, 247; 9. MVU, 267; 10. VUHS, 292; 11. Fair Haven, 300; 12. Springfield, 305; 13. Lyndon, 320; 14. Mill River 390.
On the girls’ side, Eagle senior Natalie May led area runners by finishing 25th in the 5K race. The Eagles were eighth out of 12 scoring teams. Freshman Indigo Woods led the Tiger girls by placing 48th; the MUHS girls were 11th.
Two OV girls competed as independents. Freshman Maria Wiles fared better, finishing 65th.
Harwood made it a sweep of the D-II team titles, although Woodstock’s Carmen Bango won the individual title in dominant fashion by almost a minute.
The girls’ team scores were: 1. Harwood, 34; 2. Woodstock, 66; 3. Milton, 92; 4. U-32, 95; 5. Montpelier, 145; 6. Burr & Burton, 178; 7. MVU, 179; 8. Mt. Abe, 185; 9. Lamoille, 247; 10. Springfield, 267; 11. MUHS, 278; 12. Hartford, 306.
The places and times for area boys’ runners were:
10. Max Moulton, MUHS, 18:07.4.
16. David Dregallo, MUHS, 18:45.7.
18. Sam Ferguson, MUHS, 18:54.2.
19. Connor Gallipo, OV, 18.59.7.
21. Ryan Biette, MUHS, 19:04.9.
29. Chris Garner, MUHS, 19:19.8.
31. Henry Ganey, MUHS, 19:23.2.
35. Chris Carter, Mt. Abe, 19:37.8.
43. Emmett Thurston, OV, 20:12.6.
45. Matt Becker, MUHS, 20:19.2.
47. Matteo Palmer, VUHS, 20:35.1.
48. Eliot Brett, Mt. Abe, 20:44.4.
49. Wesley Miedema, VUHS, 20:45.9.
50. Jacob Scarborough, OV, 20:47.4.
56. Connor Norland, Mt. Abe, 20:58.5.
60. Jesse Barnes, VUHS, 21:23.5.
62. Lyn Ackert-Smith, Mt. Abe, 21:32.7.
63. Robin Kuhns, Mt. Abe, 21:34.0.
64. Nick Turner, Mt. Abe, 21:34.4.
78. Silas Mullin, VUHS,           22:52.6.
79. Quinn D’Andrea, VUHS, 22:53.1.
88. Jude Bunch, Mt. Abe, 23:11.9.
89. Kage Zhang, OV, 23:23.9.
97. Xavier Provencher, VUHS, 24:47.9.
The places and times for area girls’ runners were:
25. Natalie May, Mt. Abe, 23:50.7.
26. Genevieve Chiola, Mt. Abe, 23:51.1.
41. Laura Sundstrom, Mt. Abe, 25:11.9.
47. Delaynah Leavitt, Mt. Abe, 25:35.2.
48. Indigo Woods, MUHS, 25:38.4.
53. Sarah Sodaro, Mt. Abe, 25:57.9.
57. Bakari Olivetti, Mt. Abe, 26:02.1.
58. Alison Cherrier, MUHS, 26:18.5.
59. Danielle Morris, MUHS, 26:23.0.
62. Kiley Pratt, Mt. Abe, 26:39.7.
65. Maria Wiles, OV, 26.54.1.
67. Michelle Peterson, MUHS, 27:01.6.
73. CareyAnne Howlett, MUHS,             27:52.7.
75. Emma Cijka, OV, 28.06.5.
80. Greta Groves, MUHS, 29:37.8.
Andy Kirkaldy may be reached at [email protected].