Middle School Success at XC State Championship Meet
October 30, 2018
Text by Charlie Buttrey, image courtesy Linnea Spelman
A very young but enthusiastic Thetford Academy middle school cross-country team traveled to the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe on Sunday Oct.28 to compete with hundreds of other athletes at the Vermont State Middle School Cross-Country Championships.
Unlike the varsity meet, where schools are placed in divisions based on student body, all of the schools race against each other at this meet, so TA was racing against some schools several times TA’s size. And despite competing with just one 8th-grader on the roster, the TA girls finished in a very strong 5th place.
8th-grader Emma Powers was TA’s top runner, and the 5th-place 8th-grader statewide, finishing in a sparkling 12:28. 7th-grader Ruby Cole was the second Panther across the line, finishing 8th among all 7th-graders in 12:59, and Annie Hesser was the 10th-place 7th-grader, finishing in 13:06. The rest of the girls team finished as follows: McKenna Crance (14:20), Mary Bosco (14:26), Shannon O’Donnell (14:43), Bennett Crance (14:47), Lily Terry (17:47), Saylor Billiau (18:54), Louise Downey (18:54), Margaret Smallwood (20:58), Maddy Thaxton (21:01) and Mavis Downey (21:13).
The boys team did not have a single 8th-grader and only two 7th-graders, and put in a great performance, led by Oliver Greenway, who finished 9th among all 6th-graders in 12:23. He was followed in close order by Noah Branchflower (12:49), Brady Sloop (12:54), Uly Junker-Boyce (13:09) and Dempsey McGovern (13:10). Rounding out the Thetford contingent were Ben Perron (14:11), Levi Breton (14:18), Garrett Spelman (15:48), David Thaxton (15:59) and Oliver Yukica (16:30).
Roar, Panthers, Roar!!