TA News

On Saturday, November 9th, Brady Sloop and Ava Hayden represented Thetford Academy at the 89th Annual New England Interscholastic Cross Country Championships.  Brady and Ava qualified for this event by finishing in the top 25 (across all divisions) at the Vermont State Championships held at Thetford Academy on October 26th. Following the state meet, Brady and Ava spent the next two weeks continuing their training. Their training included both primary workouts and maintenance runs, but with the regular season now over for the rest of their teammates, they only had each other for company.

The New England Championships rotate between the participating states of Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Maine. This year, the host state was Connecticut and the host site was Wickham Park in Manchester, Connecticut. (Next year, the host state is Vermont and TA will be the host site.) 

Driven by their Chauffeur, Joe Deffner, Brady and Ava traveled to Connecticut in style in the school’s new minivan on Friday morning.  Arriving the day before the race allowed them to do a course preview and plan their race strategy for Saturday. Staying in a nearby hotel also meant that they could get a good night’s rest!

Their strategy must have worked as Brady finished an impressive 94th out of 256 of this very fast race, covering the 5K course through the rolling hills in a blistering 16:55. Brady’s time represented the fastest time on the Wickham course by a TA runner since 1999. Once Brady finished his race, it was Ava’s turn. Ava did not disappoint, finishing 108th in a field of the 253 fastest girls in New England. Ava crossed the finish line in 20:28, averaging 6:36 per mile. 

These TA captains had much to be proud of, capping off their careers on a beautiful day for cross country. Now it’s on to indoor track season and continued excellence for the two of them.