Boys Earn Second in Cross Country State Championships, Girls Finish Fourth
November 04, 2025
The Panther boys had a great day at the Vermont Cross Country State Championship meet on October 25, finishing second among 11 teams in Division III. The team was down a key scorer due to illness, said Coach Joe Deffner, and the remaining runners “really picked it up and had an amazing race.”
In an interview with the Valley News, he also gave kudos to the team’s top runners. “They pulled it off through really strong races from Ollie Emery, Peter Horan, and Zack Amber.” Ollie, Peter, and Zack finished 6th, 12th, and 15th, respectively. Junior Kit Payson also had an exceptional race, pushing to a personal record and a 23rd place finish.
On the girls side, the Panthers finished fourth out of seven Division III teams. “Their fourth place finish was a good one,” said Deffner. “The team showed amazing progress since August, when a lot of them were new to competitive running.”
This year, Thetford Academy’s cross country team will graduate four seniors, Grace Brown, Mavis Downey, Lula Gage, and Wendell Durham. The seniors were celebrated before their races on Saturday.
