Mascoma runner, Bear boys highlight Woods Trail results

By PATRICK O’GRADY

Valley News Correspondent

Published: 10-06-2024 8:00 PM

THETFORD — Close to 1,000 runners competed at the Woods Trail Run 5K high school cross country meet Saturday at Thetford Academy, with several Upper Valley athletes finishing with strong performances against some of the best runners from New England.

The boys and girls races were divided into five seeds, with top-seeded runners coming from the top qualifiers with the fastest times.

In the boys seed 1 race, Mascoma’s Gunner Currier finished 11th (17:15) in a field of 104, with Thetford’s Brady Sloop coming in 14th (17:18). Hartford’s Bennett Moreno was 33rd (17:48), and Hanover’s Ben Hourdequin (18:14) and Donovan Van Citters (18:22) finished 46th and 53rd, respectively.

In the girls seed 1 race, won by Madeleine Lane of Hopkinton, N.H., in 21:28, Thetford’s Ava Hayden was 32nd (21:28) and White River Valley’s Anya Young 67th (23:15) in the field of 73.

In the team competition, Hanover boys finished 10th among 45 teams posting five-runner scores, with Mascoma 14th, Thetford 21st, Lebanon 30th, Hartford 28th and Woodstock 35th. St. Johnsbury won the meet.

The Hanover girls finished 15th, Lebanon 18th, Thetford 22nd, Woodstock 25th and Hartford 33rd among the 34 scoring. Champlain Valley Union won the girls meet.

Hanover coach Eric Picconi said Woods Trail has tough terrain compared to other venues and runners have to be ready to be humbled a bit.

“It just tests you and lets you know that there is still work to do,” Picconi said. “Add a minute to your best time this season and that is what Thetford gives you — a huge dose of humility. Those individuals in the top 10 or the teams in the top five have earned their stripes.”

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Mascoma had a strong showing in the seed 3 race with Carl Russell winning in 18:43 and teammates Trevor Maheu finishing third (19:18) and Brody Albanese in sixth (19:30)

Mascoma coach Rick Currier said he was proud of his team after it ran in a 5K the previous night in Swanzey, N.H., and was still able to improve on its Woods Trail times from last year.

“Carl, Trevor, Brody and Gunner really stood out with their placements on their seeded races after running last night,” Currier said. “The boys just continue to get stronger. The girls gained a lot of experience running in the big atmosphere, to continue prepping for states.”

Also in the seed 3 boys race, Elliot Brooks of Hartford was 10th (19:49) and teammate Hugh Wendling 13th (19:58). Augustin Ramos-Glew of Lebanon finished 18th (20:07), John Henry Andrews of Claremont Christian Academy was 23rd (20:10) and Karson Rogers of Mascoma claimed 24th (20:12.)

Thetford coach Emily Silver said she and co-coach Joe Deffner were “thrilled” with the nine personal records of the Panther girls who are new to distance running.

“On the boys side, Paul Hesser (55th in seed 3) and Wendell Durham really impressed with patient running and steadily moving up throughout the race,” Deffner said. “Also on the boys side, Brady Sloop ran a personal best of 17:18 on the Woods Trail course in the seed 1 race.”

In the boys seed 2 race, which featured 87 runners and was won by Mychal Reynolds of Merrimack Valley (18:13), Lebanon’s Ian Kiefer was seventh (18:37), Nick Cellini of Woodstock 14th (18:51), Rhys Jones of Hanover 17th (19:00) and Rohan Novosad (19:23), also of Hanover, was 30th. Hanover’s Isaac Fellows finished 49th, and teammate Jesse Bardach was 53rd.

With 59 runners in the girls seed 2 race, Izzy Cellini of Woostock finished 11th (23:04) with Elia Gacia Jurado of Lyndon winning in a time of 21:53. Lebanon’s Olivia Hanna was 13th (23:09) with Matilda Munroe (23:51) and Iris Freeman (23:56) of Hanover finishing 27th and 28th, respectively. Casey Wiedrick of Oxbow (24:01) was 31st, and Laethy Golden of Claremont Christian Academy (24:41) was 41st.

Pippa Shaw of Woodstock was second (24:26) in the seed 4 race, which included 107 runners and was won by Macy McWhinney of Lyndon (24:16). Thetford’s Ella Harvey finished third (24:37), Lucia Carr of Thetford was seventh (24:58) and Sara Smith of Lebanon was ninth (25:00).

In the girls seed 3 race, Cailin Stauth of Hanover was 14th (24:42), Myra McNaughton of Woodstock 16th (24:55), Sylvia Johnson of Hartford 18th (24:59), Alia Butler of Hanover 21st (25:06) and Mimi Al-Nimr of Hanover 27th (25:53).

Other results of note:

Boys seed 4 race, 108 runners: Ian Danen-Lucier, Lebanon 19th; Ian George, Lebanon 20th; Kaen Christie, Lebanon, 21st.

Boys seed 5 race, 152 runners: Alex Boardman, Lebanon, sixth; Logan Martes, Woodstock; eighth, Liam Wheeler, Woodstock, 10th; Micah Sielicki, Lebanon, 14th; Ezra Hector, Claremont Christian Academy, 18th; Giacobbi Lambert, Claremont Christian, 21st; Brayden Cilbrith, Mascoma, 38th; Paul Kidd, Thetford, 49th; Troy Loynds, Mascoma, 52nd.

Girls seed 5 race, 92 runners: Madelyn Atwood, Windsor, sixth; Kira White, Hartford 10th; Ada McNaughton, Woodstock, 11th; Jo Griffin, Lebanon, 29th; Mary Crockett, Thetford, 37th; Isabella Currier, Mascoma, 44th.