THETFORD — The Middlebury Union High School boys’ cross-country team finished fifth in Division II to highlight the efforts of runners from MUHS, Mount Abraham, Vergennes and Otter Valley at Saturday’s Vermont championship meet at Thetford Academy.
The Tigers were actually tied for fourth with Woodstock at 95 points, but the Wasps prevailed in a tiebreaker. Harwood (64) edged U-32 (65) for the crown, with Montpelier at 75 in a tight five-way race for the top in the 13-team race. Junior David Dregallo led the Tigers by taking seventh in the D-II field; he covered the 5K course in 18:16.0.
Mount Abraham (255) finished eighth, with senior Chris Carter leading the way in 38th. VUHS did not field a full team. Twelfth-grader Wesley Miedema led a four-strong Commodore contingent by taking 51st. OV senior Emmett Thurston ran alone and took 35th in 19:37.1 — the top finisher not to score team points.
MUHS and Mount Abe, both led by freshmen, dueled for sixth place in the 15-team girls’ field, with MUHS prevailing by just three points, 210-213. Katherine Koehler took 32nd to lead MUHS, while Ally Hoff was 26th for Mount Abe.
The VUHS girls were ninth with 279 points, but senior Paige Stolen posted the top finish among local girls’ runners, taking 17th. Three OV girls ran, with 10th-grader Kendra Stearns taking 40th to pace the non-scoring Otters.
Harwood also won the girls’ race with 29 points, with U-32 (43) and Montpelier (102) next in line.
Harwood’s Sam Nishi won the D-II boys’ race in 16:58.3, while U-32’s Rena Schwartz was first in the girls’ event in 19:49.0.
VERGENNES UNOIN HIGH SCHOOL senior Paige Stolen was the top local finisher among girls at Saturday’s Division II state championship. Stolen was 17th. Photo by Josh Kaufman.
The complete results for each local team’s runners, with the top five scoring, were:
MUHS BOYS: 7. David Dregallo, 18:16; 16. Willem Landis, 18:43; 17. Ryan Biette, 18:43; 27. Chris Garner, 19:09; 28. Haven Tate, 19:10; 36. Henry Ganey, 19:40; 39. Matt Ferguson, 19:44.
MT. ABE BOYS: 38. Chris Carter, 19:43; 50. Jude Bunch, 20:49; 54. Lyn Ackert-Smith, 21:08; 55. Connor Norland, 21:19; 58. Andrew Raymond, 21:36; 64. Peter Foley, 21:49; 72. Aidan May, 22:29.
VUHS BOYS: 51. Wesley Miedema, 20:44.7; 56. Quinn D’Andrea, 21:01.6; 71. Xavier Provencher, 22:02.0; 74. Silas Mullin, 22:13.7.
OV BOYS: 35. Emmett Thurston, 19:37.1.
MUHS GIRLS: 32. Katherine Koehler, 23:54; 35. Indigo Woods, 23:56; 39. Emily Fleming, 24:13; 50. Sophie Marks, 25:14; 54. Maria Wiles, 25:38; 55. Dani Morris, 25:45; 58. Kate Oster, 26:04.
MT. ABE GIRLS:26. Ally Hoff, 23:31; 38. Delaynah Leavitt, 24:07; 44. Emma Radler, 24:53; 48. Laura Sundstrom, 25:01; 57. Yana Tudek, 26:01; 60. Genevieve Chiola, 26:13; 66. Harmony Taggart, 26:58.
VUHS GIRLS: 17. Paige Stolen, 22:55; 52. Sadie Kass, 25:19; 59. Sophia Parker, 26:07; 74. Alyse Beauchemin, 28:20; 77. Olivia Hawkins, 29:02; 78. April Ambrose, 29:25.
OV GIRLS: 40. Kendra Stearns, 24:19.3; 69. Kyla Dodge-O’Shea, 27:01.8; 77. Emma Cijka, 28:04.6.