BURLINGTON – The up-and-coming Craftsbury Academy (CA) track and field team wrapped up its season last week with several high finishes at the Division III State Championships at Burlington High School.
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The girls 4x800m relay team set the tone for the day for the Chargers, securing a fifth-place podium finish. Nora Van Gulden, Eliza Bunten, Linsey Allen and Aemilia Terrone more than held their own as impressive ninth- and tenth-graders. Sophomores Haven Harty, Avery Maxfield, Elyse Thurber and Gracie Patterson of BFA-Fairfax blitzed the field by nearly 25 seconds to capture the state title.
“Our girls were really able to push themselves in the first relay. They hung with some seasoned runners, and it was a really impressive performance from a young team,” said head coach Kyle Anderson.
Terrone springboarded off of her relay team’s impressive start with a pair of individual podium finishes. She ran her best time of the season in the 1500m, good enough for a sixth-place finish. Green Mountain’s Desi Broadley bested the field by over four seconds to take home the state title. Terrone wrapped up her impressive freshman campaign with a fifth-place finish in the 800m event. MMU sophomore Harper Previs edged Windsor’s Natalie Ranney to take home the title.
“It’s a lot to take on mentally and physically, but Aemilia stayed focused and motivated throughout the day. She’s a strong runner and supportive teammate, clearly ready to step into a leadership role on this team,” said Anderson.
Sophomore Linsey Allen put a cap on a highly successful season for the Chargers in the field events with a seventh-place finish and personal record in the discus. Allen won her first-ever event in the discus earlier this season. Senior Imari Taylor of White River had her best throws of the season to win the state titles in both the discus and shot put. Freshman Eliza Bunten finished just outside of the top ten with her best time of the season in the 800m for CA. Other state qualifiers for the Chargers were Anson Magoon, Eden Boggs, Theo Alexander and Owen McKibben. They teamed up to dominate their heat in the 4x400m relay before ultimately finishing eighth in the finals.
“Our relay runners pushed themselves to set up their next runner for success. They modeled what team running looks like. Linsey is primarily a thrower but has stepped up to help the relay team this year. She knows how to play her part and shows toughness in her races. They all showed how competitive they can be and how they’re motivated by success for the team. All of our athletes and teams were great!!” said Anderson.
White River swept the girls and boys team overall competitions to capture both Division III State Championships. Peoples Academy was runner-up on the girls side and Thetford Academy claimed runner-up honors on the boys side.
