Week 3 XC Rankings - 9/20/21


VTHSXC.COM Boys Vermont HS Cross Country Poll Results -Sept. 20, 2021

Boys Overall Top 10

1.U32

2.BFA

3. CVU

4. SB

5. Essex

6. St.Jay

7. Craftsbury

8. Rutland

9. Montpelier

10. Midd/Burlington

Comments:

Despite losing head to head to #2BFA at the Essex Invite three weeks ago, most of the coaches voted U32 #1 this week. While the Raiders were impressive at their home invite this week - four runners under 17 on the slowish course, the return of the world class cyclist Beard twins and the emergence of sophomore Cyrus Hansen- BFA remains the only undefeated team in Vermont. BFA. Led by Jacob Treblay’s impressive 16;00, the boys from Franklin County dropped some fast times in winning the competitive Burlington Invite. Both the Bobwhites and Raiders will get to test themselves against the best in New England this coming Saturday at the Manchester Invite in New Hampshire. Led by Matthew Serivn’s 15:55, #3CVU holds their position and shows they are on the upswing with some fast times last Saturday in Queensbury NY.


The coaches were all over the board in the middle of the rankings with #4 South Burlington, #5 Essex, #6 St. Jay and #7 Craftsbury all getting votes in various positions. The Chargers have a potential low stick in Cormac Leahy and a supporting cast to back him up. They are prohibitive favorites to repeat as State Champs in D3 but look for them to take some big schools down along the way. Coach Geoff Bennett has #4 South Burlington rapidly improving and making it clear they plan to challenge the top 3 before the season is over.


Four teams slot into places 8-10. #8 Rutland led by Brady Geisler has the Raiders thinking big this year. #9 Montpelier is young and led by the most improved runner in Vermont Avery Smart. Burlington makes a first appearance in the rankings at #10, tied with D2 power Middlebury.


The individual race still looks to be Evan Thorton-Sherman by a wide margin but Matthew Severin dropped a 15;55 in New York last Saturday. It's still early to say that “ETS” might have a Green Mountain challenger but if he does it looks to be Severin. After that the challengers seem to be BFA’s Mashtrae, Tremblay, Storm, U32’s Beard’s and Hansen, plus Miklus, Geisler, Leahy and Cilwik. Still, look for Thorton-Sherman to put a scare into the region's best this Saturday in Manchester.


Division 1 Boys Top 5

1. BFA

2. CVU

3. SB

4. Essex

5. St. Jay


Division 2 Boys Top 5

1. U32

2. Montpelier

3. Midd

4. Harwood

5. Mt. Abe


Division 3 Boys Top 5

1.Craftsbury

2. Bellows Falls

3. Stowe

4. Thetford

5. BFA Fx


VTHSXC.COM Girls Vermont HS Cross Country Poll Results -Sept 27, 2021


Girls Overall Top 10

  1. Harwood

  2. BHS

  3. EHS

  4. CVU

  5. SB

  6. MMU

  7. BFA St Albans

  8. Middlebury

  9. Thetford

  10. U-32/St Jay

Comments:

With teams being spread out over several races the top three provided lots of action at the Burlington Invitational. Harwood reclaimed the #1 position in all the coaches rankings. Ava Thurston led the way with a dominating performance winning by over 30 seconds. She was backed up by a great performance by Harwoods 2-5 runners with a 12s spread. Burlington wasn’t far behind with Cunningham and Fairfax leading the way for the Seahorses finishing 3rd and 6th. The Seahorses had an impressive 3-7 gap of 30s but will need to break up the Harwood pack to reclaim the #1 position. Essex Continues to keep the top two teams honest with strong and consistent running from Stewart and Cobb. The Hornets are always in the mix so look for them to continue to close the gap on the top two teams.


CVU raced at the Queensbury invitational in NY and they were led by 9th grader Alice Kredell running a 19:18. The Red Hawks have held the #4 positions all season and will look to cut the gaps to BHS and EHS in the large school race in Manchester this weekend. SB comes in at the #5 position racing well at Catamount and without its #1 runner in Fisher who posted a strong individual result at the Queensbury Invite. MMU won a dual meet over St Jay keeping them in the 6th position. BFA and Middlebury come in at #7 and #8 after a close race at Catamount. Thetford holds down the #9 position. Coaches were split on #10 with U-32 and St Jay. It’s still early and most teams will be racing at the Manchester Invitational this weekend. Expect some shake ups at the largest race since 2019 for most of the teams.


The individual crown currently looks like it will come from the group of Thurston, Hughes, Cunningham and Broadley. Thurston put up the strongest performance of the season for an individual over the weekend followed by Hughes who has two wins over Thurston this season. Cunningham has been in striking distance in both races so far this season. Abby Broadley, winner of the 2020 VT Meet of Champions and one of the top runners in VT over the past several years hasn’t posted a result yet but she will be expected to be in the mix to defend her title.

Division 1 Girls Top 5

  1. BHS

  2. EHS

  3. CVU

  4. SB

  5. MMU

Division 2 Girls Top 5

  1. Harwood

  2. U32

  3. Burr and Burton

  4. Midd

  5. Lamoille

Division 3 Girls Top 5

  1. Bellows Falls

  2. BFA Fairfax

  3. Rice

  4. Hazen

  5. ?? Thetford/Randolph