VERMONT STATE MEET

Champlain Valley Union Girls Win 19th State Championship With Perfect Score

By Doug Binder of DyeStat

The No. 30 Champlain Valley Union girls ran to perfection at the Vermont high school cross country championships and collected their 19th team title. 

Junior Alice Kredell won the race in 19:49.3 on the challenging Thetford Academy course in warm conditions. It was nearly identical to the same time she ran to win the race last year. 

But as a team, CVU went 1-2-3-4-5 and the non-scorers placed ninth and 10th. 

Behind Kredell, Estella Laird, Audrey Neilson, Lydia Donahue and Charlotte Crum were part of the perfect score. There are no seniors in the top seven. 

Essex was second for the second straight year, with 84 points. 

In a much tighter boys team race, St. Johnsbury held onto its title with 64 points. Essex scored 67 points and Champlain Valley Union was third with 68. 

Carson Eames led St. Johnsbury with his individual win in 16:56.1, edging out Porter Hurteau of Bellows Free Academy (16:59.0).

U-32 swept the Division 2 titles with the boys posting 23 points and the girls 52. It was the boys team's eighth straight state title. 

Cyrus Hansen (16:56.6) and Taggart Schrader (17:27.6) went 1-2 for U-32 and all five scorers finished in the top 11. 

Ginger Long won the Division 2 girls race for the second straight year, clocking 20:33.3. She was 84 seconds clear of second place. 

Craftsbury's boys retained the Division 3 title with 43 points, holding off a Thetford team that had three of the top seven, including race winner Ben Mattern (17:51.0). 

Stowe unseated Thetford in the girls Division 3 race, with 39 points. Stowe put six in the top 19 of the race and three of them were freshmen, including winner Leila Griffith (20:55.9). 

Team Champions 

DI - St. Johnsbury boys 64 points; Champlain Valley girls 15 points - RESULTS

DII - U-32 boys 23 points; U-32 girls 52 points - RESULTS

DIII - Craftsbury boys 43 points; Stowe girls 39 points - RESULTS