ESSEX – The Craftsbury Academy (CA) track and field team held their own against stacked fields in multiple divisions last week at the Essex High School Vacational.
Freshman Nora Van Gulden posted a personal record in the 1500m, knocking off 15 seconds from her time last week. She followed that up with another personal best in the 800m, with her time of 3:10.46 over three seconds faster than her previous best. Sophomore teammate Arwen Alexander smashed her best time in the 1500m by 23 seconds and also ran her best time in the 800m event.
Sophomore Charger Theo Alexander’s throw of 8.99m in the javelin beat his previous best, good enough for an eleventh-place finish. Harwood’s Gavin Clark-Viola bested the field. Sophomore Kosmos Gletsos secured a top 20 finish in the shot put event with a personal best throw of 8.99m. Junior Diwash Maidali of Essex took home first place honors. Gletsos also posted a respectable sixteenth place finish in the discus event.
“It would be made easy for our relatively small team’s success to potentially go unnoticed given how crowded the field was with athletes from all divisions,” said head coach Kyle Anderson. “All to say, this is a group that’s seeking to improve each and every week! I’m confident we’ll see more personal records like this in the coming weeks.”
Multi-sport star Sophie Beck stole the show in Division III for Peoples Academy (PA), winning both the high jump and 300m hurdles event. She was also tops in her division and third overall in the 100m hurdles, finishing behind Ada Jorschick of Essex. Teammate Kiara Pike also posted an impressive fourth overall finish in the 100m. Dan Palmer finished runner-up for the Wolves in the shot put and teammate Myles Marcoux was best in his division in the 200m.
CA and Hazen Union is scheduled to be back on the track on Wednesday at U-32.
At the Mount Mansfield Vacational on Tuesday, former Hazen Union standout Manny Fliegelmann showed quick transition to Division I with St. Johnsbury Academy, posting his best finishes of the young season. The sophomore teamed up with Daniel Carter, John Thornton-Sherman, and Taum Steen to win the 4X800m relay by over two seconds. He also finished fourth overall in the 800m event with a personal best time. Senior teammate and former Craftsbury Academy champion Charlie Kehler captured his first Division I win, besting the field in the 800m by over a second.
Kehler, Fliegelmann, and the Hilltoppers were back in action on Tuesday for a home meet before traveling to the Twilight Invitational in South Burlington over the weekend.
