It was a busy weekend for Harwood cross-country, with three meets over four days. “In order to compete in all the races we had to move the JV runners up to varsity for a couple races. They had to really step it and they sure did!” said coach John Kerrigan.
It started Friday evening, September 23, at the Randolph Invitational at Vermont Technical College, where the Highlanders stunned the central Vermont varsity with a first place and second place.
Leading the way for the girls’ one-point victory over Burr and Burton was Katie Ferguson with sixth place in 23:44. Behind her were Hannah Clark (12th, 25:14), Nicole Cutler (16th, 25:32), Sydney Kulis (17th, 25:36), Ciara Mead (20th, 25:48), Alex Pendo (23rd, 26:12), and Anna Schmeltzer (32nd, 27:16).
The boys were led to their second-place finish by Riley Powell in eighth place (19:59). He was followed by Cam Alberghini (9th, 20:02), Jonas Merchant (20th, 20:55), Chris Cahalan (22nd, 20:57), John Henry Bond-Bardes (25th, 21:07), Riley Hebert (31st, 21:51) and Walker Caffry-Randall (32nd, 21:34).
“This is unbelievable,” said Kerrigan after the meet. “Without their top runners, the girls finished first and the boys finished second against other schools’ varsity. The girls’ victory was a squeaker for sure, but that’s why every runner is important. Alex was our sixth runner tonight so her finish wasn’t figured in our total, but she was ahead of the fourth and fifth runners from Burr and Burton, which bumped them each back a space and gave us the victory. Without her, we’d have been second.
“The same thing happened in the boys’ race with Riley (Hebert) and Walker both finishing ahead of the fifth runner from Middlebury giving the boys a second-place finish, only nine points behind first place Lyndon (Institute).”
On Saturday, September 24, the top runners headed to New Hampshire for the Manchester Invitational, where the Small Schools Division is thought of as the New England Small School Championship.
In the field of 28 teams, the girls placed third and of nearly 200 runners the girls had four runners in the top 25, led by Erin Magill in sixth place (19:26). Freshman Julianne Young had an outstanding performance in her first varsity race, placing 20th (20:51). She was closely followed by teammates Anneka Williams (23rd, 20:56) and Phoebe Sweet (24th, 21:02). Finishing up the scoring for Harwood was Lily Clark in 48th (21:46).
The boys finished fifth out of 32 teams. Noah Eckstein led the scoring with a ninth-place finish (16:50) followed by Daniel Bevacqui (28th, 17:27), Anthony Palmerio (33rd, 17:37), Colin Fennelly (17:50) and Finn Sweet (79th, 18:22).
“I know some of the senior girls were disappointed,” Kerrigan lamented. “They really wanted the victory this year. But everyone ran hard and we were only 11 points behind Maine Powerhouse Greely (the first-place team). In fact, our fourth runner beat their fourth runner by 20 places.”
“The HU boys ran well and appear to be closing the gap on a strong U-32 squad that won the race,” Kerrigan continued. “It was Finn’s first race as varsity and his first really big race. He looked great today and I think he’ll be moving up through the ranks.”
Monday the JV runners ran as varsity again at Lyndon Institute. Results were not available at press time.
This week the Highlanders will be traveling to Belfast, Maine, for the Festival of Champions where they will be competing with over 75 teams.
