THETFORD — Highlighted by senior David Dregallo’s top-10 result in the boys’ event, the Middlebury Union High School boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams each placed fifth in Saturday’s Division II championship races at Thetford Academy. The Mount Abraham teams both finished eighth.
Dregallo ran Thetford’s tough three-kilometer course in 17:55.9, good for eighth place behind winner Matt Hynes of Montpelier (16:59.8).
Hynes led the Solons to a tight, 49-52 win over rival U-32 for the D-II title, followed by Harwood (77), Woodstock (96) and MUHS (114) in the competitive event. Sophomore Willem Landis took 22nd in 18:36.7 for the next best Tiger individual finish.
Mount Abe scored 244 points; senior Lyn Ackert-Smith paced the Eagle boys by taking 43rd (20:17.3).
Vergennes fielded a four-man team, one short of the number needed to score. Senior Quinn D’Andrea led the Commodores by taking 48th (20:48.5).
Sophomore Caroline Kimble led the Tiger girls by finishing 12th (22:01.5), and sophomore Isabelle Welker was 22nd (23:06.9). All five Tiger scorers were juniors, sophomores or freshmen.
The Harwood girls (31) posted a solid win over second-place U-32 (55), although U-32’s Rena Schwarz won the race in 19:23.8. Montpelier took third (80), followed by Burr & Burton (102) and MUHS (125).
The Mount Abe girls scored 233 points, with sophomore Ally Hoff leading the way in 33rd (24:14.2). The Eagles’ top three scorers were two sophomores and a junior.
Three VUHS girls ran; junior Sophia Callis (40th in 24:52.2) fared the best.
Otter Valley runners competed in Division III, but both the Otter boys’ and girls’ teams ran four-person teams did not score as a team.
Wesley Smith was the top Otter boys finisher in 24th; he ran 19:57.4. His teammates were Anthony Rovi, 41st, 20:57.8; Haden Gallo, 51st, 21:24.80; and Henry Bart, 97th, 26:16.30.
Otter Kendra Stearns was 24th in the D-III girls’ race with a time of 24:40.50. She was followed by Kyla Dodge-Goshea in 38th place in 26:25.70; Emma Cijka, 57th in 28:03.80; and Brittney Danforth, 72 in 30:15.80.
The complete local results for the boys’ race, with the top five from MUHS and Mount Abe scoring, were:
TIGERS: 12. Dregallo, 17:55.9; 22. Landis, 18:36.7; 25. senior Haven Tate, 18:56.6; 31. junior Henry Ganey, 19:14.15; 32. junior Tobias Broucke, 19:14.8; 36. senior Matt Ferguson, 19:24.1; 39. senior Chris Garner, 19:53.3.
EAGLES: 43. Ackert-Smith, 20:17.1; 50. freshman Roman Mayer, 20:46.3; 53. sophomore Aidan May, 20:54.7; 55. junior Jude Bunch, 21:04.8; 59. senior Eliot Brett, 21:28; 60. junior Andrew Raymond, 21:31.9; 61. junior Will Aldrich, 21:35.8.
COMMODORES: 48. D’Andrea, 20:48.5; 69. freshman Spencer Hurlburt, 22:34.8; 70. senior Xavier Provencher, 22:42.4; 84. senior Silas Mullin, 24:21.3.
The complete local results for the girls’ race were:
TIGERS: 12. Kimble, 22:01.5; 22. Welker, 23:06.9; 31. freshman Kate Wallace, 24:01.8; 32. junior Indigo Woods, 24:06.1; 36. junior Kate Oster, 24:26.6; 41. sophomore Katherine Koehler, 24:56.1; 43. senior Danielle Morris, 25:01.2.
EAGLES: 33. Hoff, 24:14.2; 46. Leavitt, 25:30.6; 53. sophomore Madeline Bernoudy, 26:09.1; 58. senior Harmony Taggart, 26:26.6; 60. senior Laura Sundstrom, 26:32.5; 67. sophomore Aine Alexander, 27:15.3; 70. freshman Claire Alexander.
COMMODORES: 40. Callis, 24:52.2; 73. junior Sophia Parker, 28:32.1; 89. sophomore Elise Martin, 34:36.8.