ESSEX — A number of Middlebury, Mount Abraham and Vergennes union high school athletes competed in this past Saturday’s Essex Invitational, the last meet before this coming Saturday’s state championship meets. The local teams will head to Fair Haven for the Division II meet.
The Essex meet is a major event that drew dozens of teams, including many from Division I. The best efforts from the local contingent were a third place earned by MUHS senior Max Moulton in the 800 meter race (1:59.99) and fourth places earned by two Tigers, senior Jake Trautwein in the boys’ javelin (143 feet, seven inches) and sophomore Hannah Buttolph, whose leap of five feet, one inch in the high jump was just an inch lower than the winner’s.
Caroline Cote’s 11th-place toss in the girls’ javelin provided Mount Abe’s high-water mark, and Chris Castillo led VUHS by taking 12th in the boys’ long jump.
The complete results for local girls’ competitors were:
•  High jump: 4. Buttolph, MU, 5-1; 12. Amelia Bruhl, MA, 4-7; 13. Danielle Morse, MU, 4-4.
•  Triple jump: 18. Julia Vorsteveld, MU, 29-10.
•  Shot put: 14. Ally Stearns, V, 29-3.
•  Javelin: 11. Cote, MA, 83-0.
•  100-meter hurdles: 17. Sofia Wolak, MA, 18.32.
•  100: 29. Katherine Townsend, MU, 14.06.
•  1,500: 27. Anna Roy, MU, 5:27.61.
•  4-by-100 relay: 14. MUHS, 56.31 (Townsend, Kiana Plouffe, Michelle Peterson, Gretta Groves); 12. VUHS, 47.95 (Ruby Dombek, Samara Sausville, Sammy Kepes, Alix Kauffman).
•  400: 21. Kaitlin Huber, MU, 66.51; 23. Kauffman, V, 66.67.
•  300 hurdles: 14. Wolak, MA, 53.24.
•  800: 26. Paige Stolen, V, 2:39.60.
•  200: 19. Townsend, MU, 28.88; 35. Kauffman, V, 30.69.
•  3,000: 29. Roy, MU, 12:18.45.
•  4×400: 7. MUHS, 4:34.62 (Vorsteveld, Buttolph, Katherine Moulton, Townsend); 8. VUHS, 4:35.12 (Dombek, Sausville, Stolen, Kauffman).
The complete results for local boys’ competitors were:
•  Discus: 12. Trautwein, MU, 108-5; 20. Ian Bachand, MA, 95-1.
•  Long jump: 12. Castillo, V, 18-8.75; 31. Nick Turner, MA, 17-7.25.
•  Triple jump: 18. Castillo, V, 36-10.
•  Shot put: 13. Trautwein, M, 39-5.5; 16. Jordan Stearns, V, 37-10.5; 21. Nick Beauchamp, M, 35-11; 24. Bachand, MA, 35-5.
•  Javelin: 4. Trautwein, M, 143-7; 10. Chris Grier, M, 130-0.
•  100-meter hurdles: 18. Chris Carter, MA, 19.55.
•  100: 22. Nathan Peck, MU, 12.19; 39. Sebby Crowell, V, 12.59; 51. Wyatt Norris, MU, 12.74.
•  1,500: 44. Chris Garner, MU, 4:49.68.
•  4-by-100 relay: 9. MUHS, 47.21 (Peck, Naina Horning, Norris, Trautwein); 12. VUHS, 47.95 (Crowell, Liam Godfrey, Stearns, Castillo).
•  400: 12. Horning, MU, 54.51.
•  300 hurdles: 35. Carter, MA, 47.83; 45. Julian Bunch, MA, 48.96.
•  800: 3. M. Moulton, MU, 1:59.99; 13. Sam Ferguson, MU, 2:05.60.
•  200: 15. Peck, MU, 24.11; 36. Crowell, V, 25.16; 48. Norris, M, 25.84.
•  3,000: 21. David Dregallo, MU, 9:52.36; 39. Henry Ganey, MU, 10:29.65; 41. Matt Becker, MU, 10:31.71; 46. Chris Garner, MU, 10:44.37; 47. Nikhil Plouffe, MU, 10:47.36; 50. James Whitley, MU, 10:52.07.
•  4×400: 7. MUHS, 3:42.11 (Horning, Peck, Ferguson, Moulton).