Craftsbury Nordic skiers run at VT state cross country meets
Finn Sweet racing to 5th place in the Vermont DIII State Championship.Photo: Dan Grossman.
Thetford, Vt. — On a perfect fall day in the famous Thetford Academy woods, current and former Craftsbury Nordic Ski Club skiers competed at the Vermont State Cross Country meet on Saturday for their high school teams. Representing Craftsbury Academy, Burlington High School, Harwood, U-32, North Country, and Green Mountain Valley School, Craftsbury skiers ran hard and dialed in their race readiness for ski season.
Finn Sweet led four Craftsbury Outdoor Sports Academy (COSA) skiers, placing fifth in the DIII Championship. Running the 5k course in 18:27, Sweet led the Craftsbury Academy boys to a 10th-place team finish in its first showing at the state meet in recent memory. Griffin Wright fought through an upset stomach to finish 35th in 20:18 as Craftsbury’s second scorer. In the girls’ DIII Championship, Phoebe Sweet and Adrienne Remick ran strong races to finish 12th and 13th, respectively, clocking in at 22:19 and 22:47.
Elsewhere at the state meet, former Craftsbury skier Rena Schwartz (GMVS) ran to a commanding win by over a minute in the girls’ DI Championship, breaking her personal best on the course with an impressive 18:59 on hilly terrain. Racing to a gutsy second-place finish, Quincy Massey-Bierman finished second in 20:17 for Burlington. Callie Young (North Country) was 27th in the strong field with a time of 21:56, Marika Massey-Bierman (Burlington) was close behind in 31st (22:14), and Claire Ellis (North Country) finished 48th in 23:09. In the girls’ DII Championship, Jordi Kulis (Harwood) was a lucky 13th with a time of 22:50.
In the boys’ challenge race, new Craftsbury skier Greyson Davis (U-32) finished 84th in 21:28. And in the girls’ challenge race, Sydney Kulis placed 62nd for Harwood with a 26:14 and Naia Tower-Pierce was 89th for Craftsbury Academy in 27:56.
Rena Schwartz (GMVS) and Quincy Massey-Bierman (Burlington) went 1-2 in the DI championship. Photo: Paul Bierman.
BKL Comp skiers compete at Vermont middle school states!
Craftsbury BKL was also well-represented at the middle state meet on Saturday at the Trapps Family Lodge in Stowe among over 150 runners in each of the boys’ and girls’ fields. Cormac Leahy, running for Hazen, completed the 3k course in 10:58 for an impressive 10th-place finish overall among fifth through eighth graders, and second among fellow 7th-graders. Charlie Kehler (Hazen) ran a smokin’ 12:36, the 18th-best time among 4th, 5th, and 6th graders and 88th overall. Axel McKenzie was 107th overall for Hazen in 13:25.
In the girls’ race our BKL squad was led by Ani Leahy, who ran a 12:38 to finish 22nd overall and third among 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. Isabel Linton, racing for Coventry, was 73rd overall and 18th in her age group, Ruth Krebs and Mary Jane McKenzie were 96th and 100th, respectively, in the overall results, with Ruth taking 26th in her age group (14:28) and Mary Jane taking 31st in hers (14:33). Emily Linton was 121st overall for Coventry and 38th in her age group.
Great job to all our Craftsbury skiers! Now we just need some snow.