by Ken Brown
MONTPELIER – The Craftsbury Academy (CA) track and field team represented their division well last week in competing against some of the best Division I and II programs in the state last week at U-32 High School in Montpelier and the Twilight Meet at South Burlington.
The Chargers put their talents on display last Thursday at the home of the two-time defending Division II girls’ and boys’ track and field state champions. Powerhouse Division II teams Spaulding, Montpelier, Lyndon Institute, and Lake Region were also competing, with U-32 maintaining their dominance over the field. CA holds the Division IV boys’ state record in the 4X800m relay event and continued to shine last week with Alan Moody, Silas Hunt, Alex Califano, and Charlie Kehler dusting the second place U-32 team of Cody Young, Andrew Mckinstry, Bennett Clark, and Oren Winters by over 23 seconds.
Matthew Califano also showed strong form for the Chargers in the 300m with a runner-up finish to U-32’s Cyrus Hansen. Roean McLellan claimed CA’s second runner-up finish of the day in the discus event, won by U-32’s Ed Sayers. Moody also had a solid fourth place finish in the 400m, with Montpelier’s Ronald Riby-Williams besting the field. Kehler also finished fourth in the 1500m for the Chargers and Hunt finished eleventh, with U-32’s Sargent Burns taking home the title.
Dalton Gravel claimed a sixth-place finish in the javelin event, behind Lake Region’s Lincoln Racine. Gravel also recorded a fourteenth-place finish against a deep field in the 100m, with Riby-Williams winning his second title of the afternoon for the Solons. Cole Van Winkle capped off a strong day for CA’s boys’ team with a pair of seventh place finishes in the 200m and long jump events. U-32’s Drew Frostick and Lyndon Institute’s Aiden McKenzie bested the field in each event.
On the girls’ side, Sadie Skorstad, Adelina Augsberger, Rachel Bjerke, and Anika Leahy earned a runner-up finish for CA in the 4X400m relay behind U-32’s Greta Little, Ginger Long, Claire Serrano, and Isabel Moustakas. Skorstad finished off her stellar day with a pair of third place finishes in the 400m (Madison Beaudoin U-32) and the long jump won by U-32’s Greta Little. Anika Leahy posted a sixth-place finish in the 1500m event behind U-32’s Ginger Long and Augsberger finished seventh in the 200m, with Montpelier’s Ruby Connell taking home the title.
The Chargers ended a busy week on Saturday with some impressive finishes against the deepest fields of the young season at the Twilight Meet at South Burlington High School. Cormac Leahy finished sixth for CA out of 79 runners in the 1500m, with CVU’s Matthew Servin besting the field. Roean McLellan also posted an impressive sixth place finish in the discus event that fielded 63 competitors, won by Hartford’s Jordan Davis. CA’s Sadie Skorstad, Adelina Augsberger, Rachel Bjerke, and Anika Leahy ran their best time of the season in the 4X400m, finishing sixth out of 17 teams. Madison Beaudoin, Greta Little, Claire Serrano, and Isabel Moustakas won the event for U-32.
“Wednesday’s event was rescheduled to Thursday and we had originally approached the meet with the intention of being fresh for Saturday. We had some ups and downs on Thursday highlighted by our boys’ 4X800m relay team continuing to gun for new personal records and Matthew Califano setting a new school record in the 3000m. Our girls’ 4X400m relay team’s strong week has put them as the top-ranked team in Division IV. Roean McLellan also set a new school record in the discus on Saturday. Looking forward we’re striving to get some new events in for our girls’ team to allow for some more diversity at states,” said head coach Jess Barber.
The Chargers were scheduled to be back in action on Tuesday at North Country Union High School.
