ESSEX — Many members of the Middlebury Union High School track and field team on Saturday qualified to compete at the upcoming New England championship meet, which will be held on June 11 in New Britain, Conn.
Before then, athletes from MUHS, Vergennes and Mount Abraham will head to U-32 High School in East Montpelier this Saturday for the Vermont Division II Championship Meet, with athletes from each school expected to excel in several events. 
Qualifying on Saturday for the regional meet from MUHS were:
•  Hannah Buttolph, who won the girls’ high jump at 5’-2”. She is the defending D-II champion in the event.
•  Wyatt Norris, who was second in the boys’ 400-meter race in 50.77, a new school record.
•  The Tiger girls’ four-by-100-meter relay team of Chloe Kane, Gretta Groves, Kiana Plouffe and Megan Townsend, who finished third in 51.28, a new school record in the event.
•  The Tiger boys’ 4×400 team of Henry Ganey, Josh Girard, James Whitley and Norris, who were third in 3:38.22.
•  Townsend, who was third in the girls’ 100 in 13.39.
•  Helen Anderson, who was fourth in the girls’ 400 in 63.50.
•  Ganey, who was fourth in the boys’ 800 in 2:02.74.
•  David Dregallo, who was fourth in the boys’ 3000 in 9:14.98.
•  The Tiger girls’ 4×400 team of Caroline Kimble, Buttolph, Anderson and Kane, who took sixth in 4:28.50.
Norris also took second in the boys’ 200 in 23.30, while Kimble was eighth in the girls’ 800 in 2:29.01.
Three Mount Abraham athletes placed in the top 10 on Saturday, led by Emma Radler, who took second in the girls’ pole vault at 9’-0”. Jackson Counter and Finn Clements both fared well in the javelin, Counter taking fifth at 146’-5”, and Clements finishing ninth at 141’-2”. Many other Eagle athletes, including champion hurdler and triple jumper Lydia Pitts, did not compete on Saturday.
VUHS Coach Brad Castillo said there are no Commodores heading to the New England meet, but he has eight runners heading to Saturday’s state meet. Sprinter Megan Rooney, sprinter and middle distance runner Caroline Johnston and middle distance runner Sadie Kass will represent the VUHS girls’ team.
On the boys’ side, distance runners Wade Mullin, Spencer Hurlburt and Zeke Palmer will run as individuals, and Quinn D’Andrea will join them on a 4×800 relay team.
LAST WEEK’S MEET
Prior to Saturday’s meet in Essex, the Tigers on May 24 hosted a five-team meet at the Middlebury College track, where the MUHS girls’ and boys’ teams both finished second to Division I South Burlington. The Tiger boys defeated Missisquoi, Fair Haven and Poultney; the Tiger girls beat Missisquoi, Fair Haven and Rochester.
Wyatt Norris had an outstanding day for the Tigers, claiming victories in the 200 and 400, running a school record 51.07 in the 400 in the process. Ganey won the 800 and the quartet of Tristan Durante, Ben Balparda, Garrett Troumbley and Damien Morris winning the 4×100.
The Tiger girls’ winners were Kane (200), Anderson (800), Koehler (3,000), Plouffe (long jump) and Buttolph (high jump).
TIGERS JULIA VORSTEVELD, left, and Katherine Koehler near the halfway mark in the 800-meter race at a May 24 meet in Middlebury.
Photo courtesy of Terry Norris