VERMONT STATE MEET

Champlain Valley Union Girls, St. Johnsbury Boys Dominant In Vermont

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

Consistency and tradition were the emerging themes on Saturday at the Vermont High School State Championships. 

On Thetford Academy’s challenging 3.1-mile course, the Champlain Valley Union girls proved to be the standard of success in Division I as they claimed their third straight Division I title and 20th overall in the last 22 years. The team placed three in the top five to score 27 points.

Green Mountain Valley's Estella Laird won the race in a time of 19 minutes, 16.7 seconds. 

St. Johnsbury repeated as DI boys champions with 23 points as senior Emmett Johnson paced the team with a first-place finish (16:23.18). All five runners were in the top eight. BFA-St. Albans was second with 79 points. 

Champlain Valley and St. Johnsbury are both regionally ranked among the top five in the Northeast. 

It was all U-32 once again in Division II action. In the girls race, U-32 senior Ginger Long finished in 19:35.9 to claim her third individual state crown and led her team to a state title with 31 points. Burr and Burton finished second with 44 points.

The U-32 boys easily secured the program’s ninth consecutive team title with 48 points as five runners placed in the top 13. The race was won by Montpelier’s Jay Borland, a senior, in 16:52.6. 

In DIII, the Stow girls and boys swept the team crowns. The girls won their second consecutive title with 46 points. Bellow Falls Union sophomore Desi Broadley won the race by more than a minute in 19:56.3. 

The Stowe boys had to work a little harder for their hardware as they held off Bellows Free Academy, 52-53. While Bellow Free Academy junior Gage Magnuson won the race (17:12.4), Stowe secured the 3-4-5 spots. 

Team Champions 

DI - St. Johnsbury boys 23 points; Champlain Valley girls 27 points 

DII - U-32 boys 48 points; U-32 girls 31 points 

DIII - Stowe boys 52 points; Stowe girls 46 points