TA Girls Win Cross Country State Championship
November 02, 2021
On Saturday, more than 1,000 runners from 36 schools across Vermont converged onto the Thetford Academy campus for the VPA’s cross country championship. TA’s teams took on 12 competitor teams in their Div. III races: Craftsbury Academy, Stowe, BFA-Fairfax, Lake Region, Randolph Union High School, Danville, Northfield, Richford, Oxbow, Rice Memorial, and Peoples Academy.
TA’s girls entered the race after a challenging week; one runner had been ill, another injured. By Saturday, though, all six runners in TA’s lineup rallied – healthy, strong, and ready to compete. The Panthers completed the challenging Dan Grossman Woods Trail with three top-10 finishes and TA junior Madelyn Durkee taking second place overall with a time of 20:29:21.
Sophomore Annie Hesser earned eighth with 22:22:15 and freshman Ava Hayden tenth with a time of 22:27.60. Sophomore Charlize Brown completed TA’s scoring in 21st place with a time of 24:46.42. Sophomores Mary Bosco (25:55.52) and Cecilia Luce (28:02.25) finished out the team’s roster, placing 30th and 48th overall. Together, the team’s impressive performance was more than enough to break the Panthers’ 25-year title drought and take first place overall.
A big congratulations to TA’s varsity girls, the 2021-2022 Vermont Division III State Champions! The Panthers also won the A Division of the Southern Vermont League, a competitive league that includes Div. I, II, and III teams. TA’s Madelyn Durkee will represent Thetford Academy in the New England Championships on November 13. To qualify for the New England Championships, one has to run one of the top 25 times across all divisions in the state. Madelyn had the 7th fastest time of the day.
Team roster:
Madelyn Durkee ’23
Annie Hesser ’24
Ava Hayden ’25
Charlize Brown ’24
Mary Bosco ’24
Cecilia Luce ’24
Charlotte Reimanis ’23
Jada Rich ’23
Arianna Cooney ’23
Team managers:
Maddy Thaxton ’24
Abby Egner ’23
Coaches:
Emily SIlver
Joe Deffner
For photos from the event, visit Maple Leaf photos, courtesy of TA’s longtime supporter and volunteer photographer Dan Grossman. Thank you, Dan!