VTHSXC.COM Vermont HS Cross Country Poll Results - Oct. 14, 2019
Boys Overall Top 10
Comments:
#1 U32 keeps the top spot despite running shorthanded and poorly at the Manhattan Invite. Inconsistency has plagued the Raiders all season. By contrast #2 CVU young, and steadily improving (winning a “Letter Race” at the Manhattan Invite this week!), is now a likely bet to emerge on top when the season finishes at New England’s in three weeks time. #3Essex remains a force as the Hornets have yet to lose to any Vermont team when at full strength. States 10/26 and New England’s November 9th in CT will give Essex plenty of chances to make their case as the rightful top dog. #4 Burlington ran well in NY this past weekend and remains a solid and dangerous team, well clear of those behind them, and certainly capable of upsetting the top three teams on the right day.
The second tier is a jumble with the coaches all over the board in their voting. #6 Woodstock stays at the top based on their fine run at the Woods Trail Invite. #7St Jay and #8 Thetford are in a virtual tie and Thetford could be the first D3 school in recent history to book a spot to New England’s. The road to New England’s is much more difficult out of small school/D3 but Thetford may have the legs to pull it off this year. #9 Vergennes ran very well in winning the Harwood Invite and #10 Spaulding holds down the final spot over a rapidly improving Highlanders team.
Division 1 Boys Top 5
Comments:
CVU takes over the top spot with a split decision from the coaches. This comes from several strong weekends of racing in a row. They continue to run a very tight pack that will be very difficult for any other VT team to deal with. Essex moves to 2nd but remains the favorite in some coach’s eyes. They have been without their #3 for several weekends. Look for them to bounce back this weekend at Hard’Ack. Burlington runs a strong race staying around 30 points from Essex. The BHS 2-5 pack runs very close together and have been working their way up the field all season. South Burlington remains at #4 after finishing 11th at the Wickham Park Invitational in the seeded race. SB ran without Emmett Edwards and his placing would have most likely moved them much higher in the overall results. St Johnsbury is #5 after finishing 9th in the Varsity E race at the Manhattan Invitational. St J was led by an impressive performance from Evan Thornton-Sherman who finished 3rd individually.
Division 2 Boys Top 5
1. U32
2. Woodstock
3. Vergennes
4. Spaulding
5. Middlebury
Comments:
U32 remains the top team despite fluctuating lineups and results all season. On a good day, the Raiders can run with any team in Vermont and seem well ahead of the rest of D2 but on their, not infrequent, mediocre days ,as in NYC last weekend, they are very beatable. After the top spot, D2 is deeper and more competitive than it has been in a long time. Five teams, #2 Woodstock, #3Vergennes, #4Spaulding, #5 Middlebury and unranked Harwood could all emerge as podium contenders at the State Championships on October 26th. MIddlebury started the year strongly but in the past few weeks have been slightly overtaken by Woodstock, Vergennes and,the revelation of the year, Spaulding.The Crimson Tide’s 1-2 punch of juniors Taite Magoon and David Pouline give the boys from Barre enough firepower to put the scare into D2’s traditional powers. The unranked Highlanders are once again coming on strong at the end of the season, narrowly falling to Vergennes at the Harwood Invite this past Saturday and it would surprise no one to see them on the podium again come States. The D2 Championship race could be a very close affair with 6 teams in the mix and 1st-6th separated by only a handful of points.
Division 3 Boys Top 5
Comments:
Thetford will remain in the #1 spot, still riding high on their superb finish at Woods trail. A trip to New Englands is a possibility if they can run well at home again in a couple weeks. #3 Stowe and #4 Craftsbury raced at #2 Peoples, with the results reflected in the standings. Peoples proved they have a strong team, but Thetford’s dominance over the hills during the second half of this season keep them out of the top spot. Look for Craftsbury to be a serious contender for the state title as well, as they have been performing on the hills as well. #5 Bellows Falls slip due to the head-to-head performances of the other D3 team this week. Look for one last solid race this weekend at St. J, where Peoples, Stowe, and Craftsbury will all face off one last time before states.
VTHSXC.COM Vermont HS Cross Country Poll Results - Oct. 14, 2019
Girls Overall Top 10
Comments:
Some shake up in the top 10 again this week with teams racing all over the Northeast this past weekend. CVU stays at #1 after their 4th place finish in the Eastern States race at the Manhattan Invitational. Alicia Veronneau in 18th, Jasmine Nails 21st and Alice Larson 25th led the Redhawks. Harwood moves up to #2 after a dominating performance at their home invitational. Ava Thurston won by almost a minute over 2nd place and then the impressive 33 second spread from their 2-5 finished off the race. Essex moves back up to #3 after their 6th place finish at Burnt Hills. The Hornets were led by Natalie Preston in 20th place. U-32 falls to #4 after finishing 5th in the Varsity E race at Manhattan. They were led by May Lamb and Lana Page finishing in 23rd and 24th. Burlington falls to #5 after an 11th place finish at Burnt Hills but they were running short handed so they a team to keep an eye on. The remained of the top 10 remains unchanged. BFA St Albans stays at #6 after a 13th place finish at Burnt Hills. St J at #7 won their home meet this week and was idle this weekend. Middlebury stays at #8 after finishing 2nd to Harwood this weekend. Colchester stays at #9 after being idle this weekend and South Burlington holds down the 10th spot after finishing 3rd in the D2 race at Burnt Hills. One more week until all of the confusion should be figured out at the VT State Meet!
Division 1 Girls Top 5
Comments:
CVU continues to hold down the top spot after finishing 4th in the prestigious Eastern States race at the Manhattan Invitational this Saturday. CVU was led by Alicia Veronneau, Jasmine Nails and Alice Larson all finishing in the top 25. Essex moves back up to the #2 spot after finishing 6th at the Burnt Hills Invitational. Burlington drops back to #3 after finishing 11th at Burnt Hills. BHS has not run with their full top 7 in quite some time so it will be interesting to see how they do with all of them together. The continued flip flopping of these 2 teams will probably continue and it will be interesting to see who ends up on top! BFA St Albans stays at #4 after finishing 13th at Burnt Hills. St Johnsbury holds down the #5 spot after a midweek meet at home.
Division 2 Girls Top 5
Comments:
Another week sees another flip flop at the top. This week it is Harwood as the #1 behind their dominating home win over the weekend. The Highlanders have used a trio of rapidly improving freshman (Flint, Rundle, Thamm) to bolster their depth in recent weeks and seem the slight favorite over a very solid #2U32. The Raiders ran a good race in New York City but the coaches, for the moment, give the edge to Harwood. These two teams will meet again head to head this weekend at St.Jay and 10/26 at Thetford for the State Championship. Look for both of them to book their spots to the New England Championships but as to who will win D2 it is anyone’s guess? Behind the top two teams #3 Middlebury is consistent and the deepest of the challengers. #4Burr and Burton and #5 Lamollie round out the top 5 again this week.
Division 3 Girls Top 5
Comments:
All quiet on the D3 front. The ladies of D3 are marshaling their forces for one last showdown, states. None of the top 5 teams will race each other until then, Oct 26 at Thetford. Most teams will keep busy with tune up races with weekend. #2 Rice and #5 Norhtfield will each race at their respective NVAC championship races, while #4 Sharon will race at home.