White River Valley coach David Mattern knew that the improvement of teams across the division coupled with a decline in number of athletes in his own program would make retaining the Division III girls track championship a major battle.

And what a battle it was. The undermanned Wildcats fought off strong challenges from Thetford and underdog Woodstock by the slimmest of margins, clinching the title in the final event of the day to win their second consecutive Division III title on Thursday. The championship also marks the school’s third consecutive title overall, with WRV competing at the Division IV level until the 2022-23 school year.

Amara Calhum-Flowers was the star of the day for the Wildcats, winning both the 100 and 300 meter hurdles before jumping 33’ 5.75” to win the triple jump and clinch the title for the Wildcats.

Just four athletes for White River Valley reached the podium, with Calhum-Flowers being joined by sprinter and jumper Cassandra Armstrong, distance runner Anita Miller, and shot putter Imari Taylor as the team’s point scorers on the day.

Oxbow’s Sophia Hayes finished second in javelin for her team’s best performance. Kemari Wildgoose of Windsor scored her team’s highest points with a third place finish in the high jump.

Thetford challenged well with a strong performance in the running events. Charlize Brown and Ava Hayden combined to sweep first place in the 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500 and 3000 meter runs, and Maya Dixon finished second in both hurdles events.

Woodstock came the closest with an unexpectedly strong performance. The Wasps routinely outperformed their assigned seeds, placing a finisher in the top five in nearly every event and winning all three relay events. Woodstock briefly pulled ahead with just one event to go with a win in the 4x400 relay, but saw the lead snatched back with Calhum-Flowers’s performance in the triple jump.

“Yesterday, I told them we’re underseeded, but that there’s 20 of them seeded 2 through 7,” Woodstock coach Paul Bremel said. “So if they just beat one more girl, then that would get us the points back we needed. But they showed up today and beat a lot more people than expected.”

For White River Valley, this championship is likely the final part of an era of success. With three of their four top athletes graduating and no freshmen joining the team this season, a fourth consecutive title looks unlikely, but Mattern remained proud of his team’s current accomplishments.

“I’ve coached down here for 14 years,” Mattern said. “Last year was the best team I’ve ever seen, we lost a bunch to graduation, we had no freshmen coming in, and we still went and won. I’m proud of this team.”