VTHSXC.COM Vermont HS Cross Country Poll Results - Oct. 1, 2018
Boys Overall Top 10
Comments: It was a quiet week at the top of the rankings with several of the best teams opting not to race their varsity runners. #1 Essex remains the undisputed top dog and will look to further cement that position at the Woods Trail Invitational this coming Saturday.
#2 U32 was quite impressive at their home meet but will need to improve at every spot 1-5 if they hope to threaten the Hornets. Andrew Crompton’s 16:28 on the hilly course is noteworthy as it was faster than quite a few overall state champions have run there in recent years. #3 Burlington was idle.
There was a bit of shuffling in the #4-6 spots (CVU, St. Jay, MMU), but these teams and #7 South Burlington and #8 Harwood are all very closely bunched. All of them, except the Highlanders, will face off this Saturday at Thetford. The top seed at Woods Trail should give the truest test to date of where everyone ranks at the midpoint of the season. If Burlington’s Kilburn and SB’s Calcagni make their debuts this will be the only remaining head-to-head for Vermont best teams and individuals until the New England Championships on November 10th in New Hampshire.
#9 Stowe makes its first appearance in the top 10 with a very good run in winning the People’s Invitational with all 5 scores breaking 19. It has been a few years since a D3 team made New England’s. Could this be the year? Stowe appears to have seven strong runners, and that combined with a history of running best at States could make these Raiders a dark horse pick to break the top six overall and earn a ticket to Manchester. No doubt every small school in the State will be cheering for them to spoil the big school party at the end of the year.
Division 1 Boys Top 5
Comments: EHS, BHS, MMU and SB were all off this weekend. St Jay and CVU raced at different locations. Coaches agreed there was no change in the top 5 with so many teams not in action. The Woods Trail Run this weekend will see all of these teams going head to head in the same race. Look for Essex to continue its impressive season as one of the favorites for the team title. BHS will try to rebound from a few off races at Manchester and are always a team to watch. This weekend could finally give some clarity to the St Jay, MMU, SB and CVU group. All of these teams are very tight and are difficult to rank.
The usual names should be back up near the top. Farrington is the safest bet for top D1 Vermonter. Kissam, Summa and Alden have been the closest three so far this year.
Overall the D1 boys are shaping up to have an exciting race this weekend.
Division 2 Boys Top 5
1.U32
2. Harwood
3. MIDD
4. Woodstock
5. Spaulding
Comments: Harwood again seems to be closing the gap to #1 U32, but the Raiders are still comfortably ahead in the rankings this week. The #2 Highlanders young crew set many PR’s at the Meet of Champions in Belfast, ME, with 9th graders Hale Boyden and Carlon Cummiskey both breaking the 18-minute mark for the first time. U32 was impressive on their hilly home course, finishing with all seven in the first 11. Senior Andrew Crompton was particularly impressive, running 16:28, the fastest time recorded on that course in at least a decade. #3 Middlebury moves up a spot, and while they beat #4 Woodstock handily at the U32 Invitational, the Wasps were missing some runners and this will be a tight race when both teams are at full strength. Apologies to a fine #5 Spaulding team who have been previously missing from the rankings as the pollsters neglected to catch that the Red Tide are now running in D2.
Division 3 Boys Top 5
Comments: There is one position change in the rankings this week, as Stowe and Thetford swap places. The Raiders placed an impressive seven under 19:20, with four under 19:00 at the Peoples Academy Invitatonal. Although these times place them firmly atop the rankings at the moment, the Peoples course is well-known to be blazing fast--all but one Stowe athlete ran season bests by more than one minute--so expect to see an adjustment in times come this weekend. Thetford remains in second despite the fact that there have been very few results for their meets so far this year, as they did outpace the third-ranked team from Randolph at Manchester. RUHS ran relatively well at the hilly U-32 Invitational, and remain ahead of Peoples due to their depth over the Wolves. Division 3 coaches routinely look forward to Thetford Invitational as the first opportunity to see all of the contending teams go head to head (and in the case of southern schools, often the first time that there are results available, period.) As such, it wouldn’t be surprising to see some serious shuffling in rankings come next week.
Individually, Randolph’s Kaplan still seems to be on top, but Winooski’s Ali, quiet since the BFA St-Albans Invitational, is also a serious contender. Thetford’s Owen Deffner and Peoples’ Craig and Smith are also in the mix.
VTHSXC.COM Vermont HS Cross Country Poll Results - Oct. 1, 2018
Girls Overall Top 10
Comments: CVU maintains its hold on the #1 spot this week after winning at the Black Bear Invitational in NH. They were once again led by Alice Larson in 2nd place and Ella Whitman in 4th place. In this race teams are allowed to race 9 runners, instead of the normal 7, so the Redhawks brought their top 2 JV runners(Chloe Silverman and Alicia Veronneau) to compete in their first varsity races. They finished in the last 2 scoring spots for the team, 4th and 5th team runners, and helped to display what depth this team actually has. They also helped the team survive a couple of mishaps with runners that are normally in the top 7 for the team. Essex stays at #2 and Burlington stays at #3 after both teams did not race this past weekend. They will be back in action at the Thetford Invitational this weekend but both teams have clearly shown they belong in the top 3. U-32 remains at #4 after finishing 2nd at their home invitational this past weekend. They were led by Lana Page in 3rd place and Shams Ferver in 9th place. St Johnsbury stays at #5 after finishing 3rd at U-32. The Hilltoppers were paced by Rebecca Green in 6th place and Merrick Hemond in 10th place. Harwood remains at #6 but could be poised to move up after a strong 5th place finish at the Festival of Champions in ME. They were led by a great performance by 9th grader Ava Thurston(18:59) and Julianne Young finishing in 22nd place. Middlebury stays in the #7 spot after finishing 5th at U-32 but they did not run their full top 7 so they could be looking to move up also. Colchester jumps into the top 10 after finishing in 4th place at U-32 and finishing in front of a number of teams who were/are ranked in the top 10. MMU and BFA St Albans round out the top 10 this week. This weekend at the Thetford Invitational will provide a chance for teams to show they can do in a head to head situation. There will be 9 of the top 10 teams racing at Thetford this weekend It should be fun!
Division 1 Girls Top 5
Comments: CVU continues to hold down the #1 spot in Division 1 after winning the Black Bear Invitational in NH last weekend. CVU also showed their depth by sending a second group consisting of some of their top JV runners to the U-32 Invitational where they also won that varsity race. Their depth was also highlighted by Chloe Silverman(9th grade) and Alicia Veronneau(10th grade) finishing 4th and 5th on the team at Black Bear in their first ever varsity races. Essex stays in the #2 spot and BHS stays in #3 after both being idle this weekend. Both teams will be back in competition at the Thetford Invitational this weekend. St. Johnsbury stays at #4 after finishing 3rd at the U-32 Invitational. Rebecca Green led the way for them finishing in 6th place overall. Colchester jumps into the 5th spot after a strong showing at U-32 last weekend. They finished 4th overall and they were led by Maelyn Sartwell in 11th place.
Division 2 Girls Top 5
Comments: Harwood has been gaining rapidly on U32, and even though the Highlanders are yet to beat the Raiders head to head, the coaches now give the edge in the rankings to Harwood. While it is hard to compare times in cross country, given the wide disparity in course difficulty, Harwood’s outstanding run at the Maine Meet of Champions sees them garner the top spot. The Highlanders were led by Ava Thurston’s blistering 18:59, a school all-time best, Julianne Young’s very fine 19:47, and some massive PR’s from the black-and-gold’s 9th grade trio in 3-5. Harwood now seems poised to regain their state championship. #2 U32 showed off their team depth as well as a bit of inconsistency in finishing second to CVU’s JV at the Raiders home meet. The #3-5 teams, Middlebury, Woodstock, and MVU, are all unchanged. This promises to be a very tight contest the rest of the year with Harwood, MIDD, and U32 all harboring legitimate title aspirations. Given the intricacies of team scoring, States could see some strange shuffling between who wins D2 and if/how the same teams finish in the race to make New England’s.
Division 3 Girls Top 5
Comments: Division 3 coaches are throwing their hands up in exasperation trying to untangle the web of girls’ D3 rankings. Rice ran a boatload of season-best times at U-32 on Saturday, but those times were matched closely by Northfield’s results from the Peoples Academy Invitational, and Stowe, also racing at Peoples, put together some impressive times as well. Throw in the mysterious Bellows Falls, without any reported results this fall aside from an unofficial list of times from their home meet earlier in the year, and what becomes clear is that this weekend’s meet at Thetford will be a breath of fresh air, with all ranked teams expected to be in attendance.
For this week, there is no actual movement in the rankings, as the Northfield’s and Stowe’s impressive times are somewhat muted by the notoriously fast Peoples course. Bellows Falls remains in second despite their lack of available results, as they are led by freshman phenom Abby Broadley and had three girls under 21:00 at their home meet earlier in the year. After fourth-place Stowe, the quality of teams falls drastically, but Thetford retains fourth based on the results from the Manchester Invitational.
On the individual side, Broadley can expect a serious challenge from former Division 1-favorite Camille Bolduc, who made her own play at the 19:00 mark at Peoples on Saturday.