State Meet Success, Panthers Make TA Proud
October 29, 2024
At Vermont’s Cross Country State Championship, the competition each year is reliably fierce. In the Panthers’ Division III, Coaches Joe Deffner and Emily Silver had run the numbers and knew it would be tough for TA to beat top teams Stowe and BFA Fairfax. “Looking at the other teams before the race,” Deffner told the Valley News, “we knew we were the underdogs.” But if a couple of things went our way, he added, “we might finish a little better.”
For the boys, the predicted third place proved accurate – a strong finish from the Panthers with a lot of good news in the details. Five of seven of the boys running in the varsity race set personal records. Team captain, senior Brady Sloop, ran right up against (but didn’t quite surpass) Thetford Academy’s school record and earned himself a spot in New Englands. Wendell Durham and Paul Hesser had strong races, finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively, for the Panthers.
The Panther girls outpaced prediction with a surprise second place finish. They ran the race “like there was no pressure on them and took some risks,” Deffner said. Those risks paid off. The girls who ran the varsity race included only two veteran TA runners (Ava Hayden ’25 and Lucia Carr ’26), but new team members Ella Harvey ’25, Maddie Piecuch ’28, Mary Crockett ’28, and Alicja Perdrizet ’25 performed so well that the Panthers exceeded expectations. Team captain Ava Hayden also qualified for New Englands.
It’s not just the runners, though, that make each of TA’s running events run. It’s the incredible team of community volunteers that show up each year to fulfill roles from the parking lot to the finish line, from the concessions stand to the announcers booth. Shout out to each and every volunteer for making this year’s event another signature success for the TA community. We couldn’t do it without you.
Speaking of volunteers, the course’s namesake Dan Grossman volunteered, yet again, to document the race with his camera. For all the pics from the day, visit Dan’s website Maple Leaf Photos. Thanks, Dan!