BURLINGTON – The Craftsbury Academy (CA) track and field team posted several personal bests for their young squad and the Peoples Academy (PA) girls team captured the Division III state title last week at Burlington High School.
Soren Stelma-Leonard led the Chargers last Thursday with a personal best time and a fifth-place podium finish in the 1500m event. The CA junior also ran his best time of the season in the 800m finishing eighth, with Thetford Academy’s Brady Sloop sweeping both events to claim the titles. Freshman Nora Van-Gulden posted a strong ninth place finish in the 800m for the Chargers behind state champion Ava Hayden of Thetford.
Owen McKibbin finished just outside the top 10 in the 400m with a personal record, breaking the one-minute barrier for the first time in his young Charger career. McKibbin qualified for the state finals in both the 200m and 800m events. Sophomore teammate Theo Alexander ran his best time of the season in the 400m and qualified for the 800m final. Thetford’s Luke Miller took home the state title in the 400m.
Sophomore Natalie Hill wrapped up a stellar season for the upstart Chargers, qualifying for the discus event and finishing fourteenth. Hill claimed her first regular season title earlier this spring for CA. Laura Kamel of Bellows Falls bested the field to win the state title. First year head coach Kyle Anderson loved the improvements he saw in his young team throughout the course of the season. “Moving up to Division III for the first time this season, the qualifying standards were much tighter, but our athletes stepped up and showed they were ready to compete at this level. This team worked tirelessly all season to seek out an opportunity to compete at DIII States. Arwen Alexander, Kosmos Gletsos, Raz Mille and Kilie Burnor also improved every week for us this season and were close to qualifying for states. Overall, we had a great season, and the team is already looking ahead to next year. We’re all looking forward to growing our team and being strong competitors next season,” said Anderson.
Thetford Academy dominated the field to claim the boys team state championship 164.5 – 65.5 over White River Valley. On the girls side, Peoples Academy outlasted Bellows Falls 104-99 to capture the team state title. Multi-sport star Sophie Beck led the way with individual titles in the 110m hurdles and 300m hurdles. She also joined teammates Anabelle McClain, Adele Marcoux, and Peyton Bliss to capture the 4x400m relay event. Karra Pike, Ellia Speers, Sadie Baranyay, and Gianna Mickels took home the title in the 4x100m relay and Baranyay also captured the title in the long jump. Sage Norsworthy capped off a sensational day for the Lady Wolves with a state title in the triple jump event.
