MIDDLEBURY — Middlebury Union High School athletes won 11 events on this past Wednesday, including a sweep of all six relay races, when they hosted an invitational meet at Middlebury College’s Dragone Track.
Vergennes athletes placed in the top six in seven events at a meet also attended by Champlain Valley, Essex and Missisquoi.
The CVU boys scored 215 points to win the meet, with the Tigers edging Essex for second, 168.5 to 166.5. Missisquoi (33) and VUHS (25) rounded out the field.
The Essex girls won with 225.99 points, followed by CVU (162.5), MUHS (133), MVU (56) and VUHS (13.5).
 Although not credited because of a scoring glitch that did not include the fastest girls’ 100-meter heat in the final results, Tiger junior Chloe Kane won both the girls’ 100- and 200-meter races. Kane also ran on the winning four-by-100-meter relay team. Junior Helen Anderson prevailed in the girls’ 800.
On the boys’ side senior Damien won the 200, Ross Crowne prevailed in the 800, and Josh Girard won the triple jump and came in second in the long jump; all three set personal bests in each event.
Coach Ed Blechner was pleased to see his veterans do well, but also noted that younger athletes like sophomore Nanja Horning and freshmen Anthony Garner, Isabel Olson and Annie Lapiner were among those who placed in events.
“We’ve got some younger kids who are doing really well,”  he said.
At times the talented Tiger relay teams have let miscues slow them, but Blechner hopes Wednesday is evidence of progress.
“We’ve made some mistakes that have hurt us, dropping the batons, false starts, that kind of thing. But hopefully we’ve put that behind us,” he said.
With the Division II championship meet not far off, Blechner said it is time for the entire team to buckle down and see how well it can perform.
   VERGENNES UNION HIGH School sophomore Olivia Hutchins just misses clearing the bar during the high jump competition in Middlebury last Wednesday.
“I’m just hoping in the next couple of weeks we put things together for the state meet,” he said.
VUHS coach Brad Castillo’s team was coming off a strong performance at Fair Haven this previous weekend. His reliable senior trio of runners Sadie Kass and Megan Rooney and thrower Brandon Cousino all performed well on Wednesday, although Rooney’s exact placing in the 100 was lost in the timing glitch.
He is also happy that younger athletes such as sophomore distance runners Wade Mullin and Spencer Hurlburt, both of whom placed in an individual race and joined to finish second in a relay, continue to develop.
“We have some fantastic standouts,” Castillo said. “And things are starting to piece together for some of the younger ones, which is fantastic.”
He seed to program making progress.
“We’re in a good space for the next couple of years to take some big steps,” Castillo said. “I’m definitely happy with where it’s going.”
BOYS’ RESULTS
Winners and local top-six finishers in boys’ events were:
• 100: : 1. Trent Holmes, MVU, 11.4;3. Garner, MUHS, 11.7; 4. Ben Balparda, MUHS, 11.8; 5. Morris, MUHS, 11.9.
• 200: 1. Morris, MUHS, 23.5;2. Girard MUHS, 23.7; 3. C.J. Bryant, MUHS, 24.1. 6. Balparda 24.4. MUHS,
• 400: 3. Henry Ganey, MUHS, 53.05; 4. CJ Bryant, MUHS, 53.40.
• 800: 1. Crowne, MUHS, 2:07.9;3. Thomas Maron, MUHS, 2:09.9; 4. Mullin, VUHS, 2:10.6.
• 3000: 1. Tyler Marshall, CVU, 8:45.5 3. Hurlburt, VUHS, 11:13.34.
• 300 Hurdles: 1. Declan Trus, CVU, 47.12; 5. Matthew Ouellette, MUHS, 52.31; 6. Franklyn Wolff, MUHS, 52.36.
• 4×100 Relay: 1. MUHS, 47.22 (Tristan Durante, Balparda, Garner, Morris).
• 4×400: 1. MUHS, 3:51.2 (Girard, Crowne, Jakub Kraus, Ganey).
• 4×800: 1. MUHS, 9:47.65 (Julian Schmitt, Kraus, Tobias Broucke, Maron); 2. VUHS, 9:53.97 (Hurlburt, Ben Praamsma, Erich Reitz, Mullin).
• Shot Put: 1. Breyer Sinor, Essex, 41-07.0; 2. Horning, MUHS, 37-01.0; 3. Cousino, VUHS, 33-07.
• Discus: 1. Sinor, Essex, 142-10; 2. Horning, MUHS, 92-09.
• Javelin; 1. Jayden Grant, CVU, 122-08; 3. Camden Schnoor, MUHS, 111-10; 4. Horning, MUHS, 109-05.
• Pole Vault: 1. Michael Baker, Essex, 12-0; 6. William Carpenter, MUHS, 8-0.
• Long Jump: 1. Cole Casale, CVU, 20-04.5: 2. Girard, MUHS, 19-07.
• Triple Jump: 1. Girard, MUHS, 39-0.5; 6. Connor Harris, MUHS, 29-03.5.
GIRLS’ RESULTS
Winners and local top-six finishers in girls’ events were:
• 200: 1. Kane, MUHS, 27.2; 2. Megan Townsend, MUHS, 28.0; 4. Trinity Bryant, MUHS, 28.9; 6. Kass, VUHS, 29.7.
• 400: 1. Katie James, Essex, 1:02.92; 3. Olson, MUHS, 1:05.38; 5. Georgina Mraz, MUHS, 1:06.75.
• 800: 1. Anderson, MUHS, 2:28.8;2. Caroline Kimble, MUHS, 2:29.0.
• 1500: 1. Ella Whitman, CVU, 5:06.6; 5. Olson, MUHS, 5:12.5.
• 3000: 1. Whitman, CVU, 10:58.9; 6. Kate Wallace, MUHS, 12:42.1.
• 100 Hurdles; 1. Lauren Johnson, CVU, 17.2; 4. Lapiner, MUHS, 20.4.
• 300 Hurdles; 1. Jenna Bourdeau, MVU, 53.29; 4. Lapiner, MUHS, 1:03.93.
• 4×100: 1. MUHS, 51.47 (Kane, Kiana Plouffe, Bryant, Townsend).
• 4×400: 1. MUHS, 51.47 (Olson, Georgina Mraz, Ailey Bosworth, Kimble).
• 4×800: 1. MUHS, 10:52 (Olson, Katherine Koehler, Bosworth, Kimble).
• Discus: 1. Allison Kloeckner, CVU, 101-10; 5. Emily Pottinger, MUHS, 68-10; 6. Rosemary Maheu, MUHS, 67-2.
• High Jump: 1. Yasmine Nsame, Essex, 4-4; 3. Olivia Hawkins, VUHS, 4-2
• Long Jump: 1. Sade Hankey, Essex, 15-10.5; 3. Plouffe, MUHS, 15-3.5.