EAGLE SENIOR NORMAN Benoit, left, and Commodore sophomore Grey Fearon were the top runners for their teams at Saturday’s state championship cross-country meet in Thetford.
Photo by Joe McVeigh

THETFORD — The Middlebury Union High School girls’ and boys’ cross-country teams finished second and third, respectively, in Division II at Saturday’s championship meet hosted by Thetford Academy. 

Three Tiger girls placed in D-II’s top 10 — sophomore Beth McIntosh in fifth, freshman Mary Harrington in sixth and sophomore Ava Schneider in ninth — but U-32 dominated the race. The Raiders won with 27 points to the Tigers’ 81. MUHS led a tight pack of Harwood (94) in third, Burr & Burton (99) in fourth and Lyndon (127) in fifth in the field of 10 scoring teams.

McIntosh and Harrington ran top-25 overall times when the results for female runners from all three divisions were combined. Thus, they qualified to compete as individuals in the New England championship meet on Nov. 12 in North Scituate, R.I.

Led again by sophomore Kayla Friend, who took the 25th scoring position, the Mount Abraham girls finished ninth with 227 points. Vergennes did not field a scoring girls’ team.

The Tiger boys were in a closer race. U-32 (52) edged Montpelier (54) for the victory, with the Tigers (75) not too far back in a 13-team scoring field. All five Tiger scoring runners cracked the top 20, led by sophomore Baker Nelson in 12th and junior Baxter Harrington in 13th. Burr & Burton (112) and Harwood (120) rounded out the top five.

VUHS, led by sophomore Grey Fearon in 27th, finished eighth in the boys’ race with 227 points, and senior Norman Benoit paced the 10th-place Eagles (270) by finishing 25th among scoring runners. 

SOPHOMORE BETH MCINTOSH, right, and freshman Mary Harrington finished fifth and sixth, respectively, for the second-place Tiger girls in D-II at Saturday’s state championship cross-country meet in Thetford.
Photo by Joe McVeigh

Addison County’s top finisher was Lincoln resident Estella Laird, a sophomore at Champlain Valley Union. She came in fourth for D-I girls’ champion CVU in 20:14.4, about 21 seconds off the winning time. Laird and her team qualified for the New England meet. 

Otter Valley did not send scoring teams to compete in D-III, but two OV boys and two OV girls ran as individuals. 

The best result came from Luke Calvin on the boys’ side: He finished 19th overall in D-III in 20:06.9. His teammate Baker Larock finished 68th overall in 23:50 in the same race. 

On the girls’ side in D-III, OV’s Sara Loyzelle was 20th overall in 25:24.3, and teammate Kelsey Adams finished 28th overall in 26:22.8.  

GIRLS’ RESULTS

U-32’s Ginger Long won the D-II girls’ race in 20:38.9. The female runners by school, with the top five scoring, and their scoring placements (except as noted) were: 

MUHS: 5. Beth McIntosh, 21:24.4; 6. Mary Harrington, 21:24.6; 9. Ava Schneider, 22:20.6; 16. Seina Dowgiewicz, 23:05.5; 45. Ari Graham-Gurland, 25:50.7; 46. Mahina Elchibekova, 25:50.9; 58. Sarah Benz, 28:55.2. 

MOUNT ABE: 25. Kayla Friend, 23:45.6; 47. Isabella Shea, 26:05.3; 49. Maisy Hill, 26:27.9; 50. Ruby Jean Hall, 26:29.6; 56. Emily Fritz, 27:55.5.

SOPHOMORE KAYLA FRIEND paced the Mount Abraham girls at Saturday’s state championship cross-country meet in Thetford.
Photo by Joe McVeigh

VUHS: 59. Torrey Hanna, 26:46.6; 67. Jasmine Little, 28:19.6; 78. Zoe Reid-St John (non- scoring placements).

BOYS’ RESULTS

Montpelier’s Avery Smart won the D-II boys’ race in 16:55.6. 

The male runners by school, with the top five scoring, and their scoring placements were: 

MUHS: 12. Baker Nelson, 18:24.3; 13. Baxter Harrington, 18:43.8; 15. Kaden Hammond, 18:58.4; 16. Ben Seaton, 19:00.6; 19. Matias Citarella, 19:13.4; 30. Ethan Spritzer, 19:42; 34. Matthew Berg, 19:58.6.

VUHS: 27. Grey Fearon, 19:37.1; 32. Calvin Gramling, 19:48.5; 45. Calder Rakowski, 20:25.7; 47. Carter McGuire, 20:40.0; 76. Chance Koenig, 23:38.9.

MOUNT ABE: 25. Norman Benoit, 19:33.6; 54. William Iliff, 21:33.9; 60. Elliot Senecal, 22:22.4; 61. Dustin Lavigne, 22:30.7; 70. Morgan Barnes, 23:03.4; 71. Owen Reynolds, 23:09.2; 77. Ryan Cross, 23:41.