photo by Soren Stelma-Leonard
Craftsbury Academy’s Charlie Kehler has come back from injuries to blitz the field in the 3000m at Lyndon Institute.
LYNDONVILLE – Charlie Kehler’s third career individual title for his Craftsbury Academy (CA) track and field team last week probably felt a little sweeter than the rest, as he has fought all the way back from injury from the high school Nordic ski season this past winter.
Kehler captured his first event title of the young season for CA last Tuesday at Lyndon Institute, blitzing the field by nearly six seconds in the 3000m.
Zeb Whitlock of Lamoille finished second. It was the first varsity running competition for the talented junior, who missed most of the Nordic ski season due to injury this past winter.
Kehler also bested the field in the 3000m last season at the North Country Invitational with a personal best time of 9:32.58. He also joined teammates Alan Moody, Alex Califano, Cormac Leahy and Matthew Califano last May at U-32 and North Country, where they continued CA’s dominance in the 4X800m relay with a pair of first place finishes.
The Chargers hold the Division IV state record in the event. Kehler didn’t capture a state title in 2023 for CA but did record a third-place finish in the 1500m and a top five in the 800m at Manchester.
Kehler was equally as impressive as a freshman at CA, winning the 3000m at the North Country Invitational, posting runner-up finishes in the 3000m, 4X200m relay, and 4X800m relay, and capped it off with a trip to the Nike Outdoor Nationals to end the season.
A fully healthy Kehler could be bad news for the rest of the division.
“We still had low numbers in our second meet of the season at L.I., but Charlie had great success in the 3000m in his first race back from injury. Soren Stelma Leonard also had a good competition and we hope to have a bigger squad as we get into the meat of our schedule in May,” said head coach Sarah Hunt.
Sophomore Soren Stelma-Leonord also set a personal record in the 3000m with a fourth-place finish, while freshman teammate Theo Alexander also recorded a personal best in the same event.
Freshmen Kosmos Glestos and Raz Mille also set personal best throws for CA in the shot put event, won by Lamoille’s Marley Begins.
Begins also took home the discus event, where Glestos set another personal record with a twelfth place finish.
Mille performed his best long jump of the season, finishing behind event winner Luc Oliver of Lake Region.
Daisy Roianov and Emma Stout also had personal bests in the discus and long jump events for the Chargers.
Lake Region senior multi-sport star Madison Bowman dominated the discus event. Her throw of 95’10” was nearly 20 feet better than anyone else in the field.
Hunt hopes to have her full squad, including star seniors Matthew and Alex Califano when they’re back in action on May 1, when they travel to U-32.
