Sports

Local Roundup: Hilltoppers on the rise

By James Biggam
TIMES ARGUS
ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt. — Track and field powerhouses from all four divisions fought through cold conditions as Division I St. Johnsbury flexed its muscles by prevailing by over 100 points for both boys and girls.

The Hilltopper girls (156 points) ran away with a 101-pint victory over D-III opponent Lake Region, which placed second in a field of 13 teams. Defending D-IV champ Northfield finished third and reigning D-II champ U-32 was eighth.

St. Johnsbury’s boys squad was untouchable while racking up 215.08 points. Second-place Lyndon (71.33) delivered a strong early-season showing after finishing sixth at last year’s D-II championships. The Vikings will attempt to end a 20-year title drought later this spring. U-32 competed without some key athletes and placed 10th out of 13 boys teams. Richford walked away with a fifth-place result in the boys competition, edging D-IV rival Craftsbury by half a point. Another D-IV title contender, Northfield, finished ninth.

The St. Johnsbury duo of Jaden Thomson and Hale Boyden were multiple winners in the boys action. Thomsen crossed the line in 11.5 seconds to prevail in the 100-meter dash. He won the 200-meter competition in 23.7 seconds. St. Johnsbury’s first-place 4×100 relay team finished in 46.9 seconds, featuring Thomson, Andrew Bugbee, Alejandro Orozco Kuri and Ozzy Alsiad Ahmad.

Boyden won the 3,000-meter race in 9 minutes, 16.2 seconds. He teamed up with Kai Liljequist, Ryan Callaghan and Carson Eames to win the 4×800-meter relay in 9:03.6.

Lamoille’s Noah Burnham and Lyndon’s Logan Currier were also two-time winners. Burnham excelled in hurdles, prevailing in 17 seconds in the 110-meter event and posting a winning time of 44.3 seconds in the 300. Currier took home top honors in pole vault (3.51 meters) and triple jump (11.17 meters).

Lake Region’s Cole Alexander won the 400 in 53.4 seconds. St. Johnsbury’s Andrew Thornton-Sherman was the 800 winner in 2:03.4, while Craftsbury’s Cormac Leahy triumphed in the 1,500 (4:21.1).

Lyndon’s Josh Walker served up a winning throw of 12.55 meters in shot put. Teammate Bryon Noyes set the standard in discus with a heave of 40.45 meters. Quinn Murphy kept St. Johnsbury in the driver’s seat by winning javelin (42.36 meters). Fellow Hilltopper Tobias Kamann cleared the bar at 1.78 meters to finish first in high jump. Lake Region’s Governor Robb led the way in long jump (5.59 meters). St. Johnsbury won the 4×400 relay in 3:49.3, thanks to speedy efforts by Gerardo Fernandez, Alejandro Orozco Kuri, Aidan Brody and Andrew Bugbee.

U-32’s Ginger Long, Lake Region’s Paige Currier and St. Johnsbury’s Hannah Angell and Desiree Mendez were two-time winners in the girls event. Long raced to victories in the 1,500 (5:19.4) and 3,000 (11:54.1). Currier won long jump in 4.33 meters and helped fuel a 4×100 victory in 56.6 seconds along with teammates Madison Bowman, Erica Thaler and Nevaeh McCaffrey.

Angell snagged victories in shot put (8.29 meters) and discus (23.78 meters). Mendez won the 100 hurdles in 17.3 seconds and competed for the winning 4×400 relay team (4:34.4) alongside Hazen Fay, Katie Ryan and Wisteria Franklin.

Montpelier’s Lexy Shannon won the 100-meter dash in 13.9 seconds. Peoples Academy sprinter Katie Prive was first in the 200 (28.9 seconds). Northfield’s Rebecca Dupere finished the 400 with a winning time of 1:05.8, while Craftsbury’s Anika Leahy emerged victories in the 800 (2:42.4). Nordic skiing and cross-country running standout Maggie McGee triumphed for Lamoille in the 300 hurdles (52.9 seconds).

Oxbow’s Sophia Hayes threw the javelin 32.98 meters to place first. Richford’s Carly Archambault won high jump in 1.37 meters, while Lyndon’s Jamie Fenoff won pole vault in 2.21 meters. The triple jump winner was Craftsbury’s Ida Eames (9.36 meters). St. Johnsbury’s first-place 4×800 relay squad finished in 11.35.2. Ryan, Franklin, Fay and Victoria Rodriguez raced for the Hilltoppers.

The Northfield girls recorded a winning score of 124.5 points during last year’s Division IV championship. The Marauders were trailed by runner-up White River Valley (116) and third-place Craftsbury. White River captured the D-IV boys title with 90 points. Northfield (76) won a close battle for second in front of Craftsbury (73), West Rutland (71), Green Mountain (71) and Arlington (70).

The U-32 girls prevailed at the D-II championships with 107 points, while Burr and Burton (75) and Rice (69) rounded out the podium. The Raiders claimed their seventh boys title in eight years by piling up 133 points. Bellows Falls, the 2019 champs, finished second with 83 points.

The battle for Division I girls supremacy featured a close battle between four teams. Mount Mansfield (111.33 points) snapped St. Johnsbury’s streak of five titles in a row by locking up a narrow victory over the Hilltoppers (98 points). Essex (84) and CVU (82.33) were close behind. The D-I boys showdown was also a nail-biter, with St. Johnsbury (120.7) outlasting second-place Essex (105). Third-place CVU (75.5) was followed by fourth-place Mount Mansfield (72.4).

The Thetford girls and boys are both two-time defending champs in D-III. The Panthers posted a winning score of 192 points on the girls’ side to easily overpower runner-up Windsor (72). Thetford cruised to the boys title by accumulating 171 points, while Windsor (122) was second).

jamie.biggam @timesargus.com

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