THETFORD — The Middlebury boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams each ran to third-place finishes in Saturday’s Division II state championship races hosted by Thetford Academy, while the Vergennes boys earned their best result in years, taking fifth in D-II just five points out of third place.
Tiger senior Jack Christner finished ninth in the boys’ 5-kilometer race, and teammate Thomas Nevins, a sophomore, was close behind in 12th. Sophomore Ben Huston led the VUHS boys by taking 14th. Freshman Noah Engvall led the 14th-place Mount Abraham boys by finishing 36th.
Junior Mary Ann Eastman paced the Tiger girls by finishing seventh. Emma Beauchemin, an 11th-grader, led the non-scoring Commodore contingent with a 31st-place effort, and 9th-grader Ruby Markowski led the non-scoring Eagle girls by placing 48th.
In D-III the Otter Valley girls took 10th out of 12 teams, with McKenna White’s 42nd-place effort leading the way. The OV boys were 11th out of 16 teams, with Parker Todd pacing the team in 41st. Bellows Falls (14 points) easily won the D-III girls’ crown. Thetford (28) edged Stowe (43) for the boys’ title.
COMMODORE BEN HUSTON leads teammate Wade Mullins during Saturday’s 5K D-II State Championship race at Thetford Academy. They combined with Spencer Hurlburt, Gabe Praamsma and Erich Reitz to claim fifth place as a team.
St. Albans Messenger photo/Josh Kaufmann
U-32 (23 points) won the D-II boys’ title, followed by Harwood (69), and MUHS (119). Spaulding and VUHS tied with 124 points, but Spaulding earned fourth place on a tiebreaker. Woodstock was well behind in sixth at 150. The Eagles finished with 342 points.
The girls’ D-II race was tighter at the top. Harwood won with 46 points, followed by U-32 (66), MUHS (84) and Woodstock (106) in an 11-team field.
The individual winner and local results from the D-II boys’ race were:
1. Andrew Crompton, U-32, 16:53.5; 9. Christner, MUHS, 18:25.5; 12. Nevins, MUHS, 18:37.3; 14. Huston, VUHS, 18:56.5; 21. Wade Mullin, VUHS, 19:09.8; 24. Spencer Hurlburt, VUHS, 19:29.0; 25. William Carpenter, MUHS, 19:32.5; 26. Gabe Praamsma, VUHS, 19:43.0; 35. Nathaniel McVeigh, MUHS, 20:11.8; 36. Engvall, Mt. Abe, 20:11.8; 38. Elvis McIntosh, MUHS, 20:20.5.
Also, 39. Erich Reitz, VUHS, 20:21.1; 50. Chris Therrien, VUHS, 21:01.3; 56. Luke Bergmans, VUHS, 21:35.9; 61. Gabe Cason, MUHS, 22:05.9; 67. Liam Davison, Mt. Abe, 22:24.1; 74. Dawson Philips, Mt. Abe, 23:28.5; 85. Ryan Adams, Mt. Abe, 24:19.6; 86. Hunter Caleb, Mt. Abe, 24:19.7; 87. Brewer Atocha, Mt. Abe, 24:20.9; 97. Gavin Kouwenhoven, Mt. Abe, 27:25.9.
MOUNT ABE FRESHMAN Noah Engvall, wearing mittens to fight off the cold and snow flurries during Saturday’s race in Thetford, notices MUHS freshman Nathaniel McVeigh catching up with him.
St. Albans Messenger photo/Josh Kaufmann
The individual winner and local results from the D-II girls’ race were:
1. Ava Thurston, Harwood, 20:23.8; 7. Eastman, MUHS, 21:37.9; 15. Malia Hodges, MUHS, 22:41.7; 18. Fairley Olson, MUHS, 23:15.3; 31. Beauchemin, VUHS, 24:21.8; 32. Maisie Newbury, MUHS, 24:26.1; 35. Grace LeBeau, VUHS, 24:34.2; 36. Kate Wallace, MUHS, 24:38.3; 37. Ashley Cray, VUHS, 24:43.6.
Also, 42. Marin Howell, VUHS, 25:10.3; 48. Ruby Markowski, Mt. Abe, 26:00.5; 55. Sofia Stefani, MUHS, 26:34.6; 80. Izzy Emmons, Mt. Abe, 32:26.2; 83. Jordyn Shepard, Mt. Abe, 34:37.8; 85. Emmaline Heilman, Mt. Abe, 43:53.7.
OV’s finishers in the girls’ D-III race were: 42. White, 25:59; 49. Sarah Calvin, 26:49; 59. Gracie Coolidge, 27:58; 62. Madilyn Morgan, 28:52; 85. Brittany Corey, 34:06.
OV’s finishers in the boys’ D-III race were: 41. Parker Todd,  20:50; 43. Liam Murphy, 20:56; 52. Joseph Cijka, 21:32; 82. Hayden Gallo, 23:56; 95. Tamar Foster, 27:28; 103. Mickeen Hogan, 28:37.