CVU girls end 49-year drought, St. Johnsbury boys 4-peat at D-I track championships

The Champlain Valley girls — queens of the fall — conquered new terrain on the track oval.

The St. Johnsbury boys — kings of the spring — refused to relinquish their throne.

The CVU girls banked on their supreme depth in distance events to halt a 49-year title drought while the St. Johnsbury boys hung tough for a four-peat during Saturday's Division I high school track and field state championships at D.G. Weaver Athletic Complex.

"We have very happy vibes and we’re super-excited. We know that everybody had a part in this (state title)," CVU's Charlotte Crum said.

Said St. Johnsbury's Emmett Johnson: "We really wanted to continue (the program's) legacy."

After compiling a perfect score for their 19th cross-country crown in 21 years in the fall, the CVU girls stormed to the program's first indoor state title this winter before solving the spring season for their first outdoor championship since 1975. The Redhawk girls totaled 112 points to beat runner-up and defending champion Essex (84 points), flip-flopping 2023's team results.

On the boys side, St. Johnsbury outlasted Essex 126-113. It's SJA's 33rd D-I crown and 35th overall, the most of any track program in state history.

[Editor's note: See below story for full team scores and top-six individual results].

Friday's D-II coverage:U-32 reaches 100 titles in school history in historic track and field sweep

CVU girls, St. Johnsbury boys seize team titles

Lydia Donahue's victory in the 3,000-meter run (10:33.59) led a 1-3-4-5-6 finish and signified the Redhawks' dominance on each track race at 400 meters or above. CVU totaled 71 points across four events — 400, 800, 1,500 and 3,000 — to leg past Essex.

In addition to her 3,000 win, Donahue finished second in the 1,500.

"What I love about this team is, how supportive it is," Donahue said. "We all run year-round and train together."

Alice Kredell (1,500 win in 4:44.76) scored 16 individual points, Mahoune Felix captured the 400 (58.99) and Estella Laird (third in 1,500 and 3,000) and Audrey Neilson (fourth in the 800 and 1,500) provided additional production.

"I feel like we have this mentality of never putting stuff out of our minds," Donahue said. "We always thought it was a possibility, we never counted ourselves out."

CVU also got a first-place medal from Harper Danforth, who won javelin (111 feet) for the third time in four years.

The St. Johnsbury boys were shut out of scoring in the 100, 200, 400 and pole vault but, like the CVU girls, racked up points in the mid-distance events.

Emmett Johnson (800 win, 1:56.81; second in 800) and Andrew Thornton-Sherman (1,500 win, 3:54.67) paced SJA's 46-point output in the 800, 1,500 and 3,000 races.

"(We) have a really great dynamic," Johnson said.

Thornton-Sherman also claimed the 300 hurdles (38.62) for the second straight year, while Kape Clements took high jump (5-10) and the Hilltoppers secured relay wins in the 4x400 and 4x800.

Last week, Thornton-Sherman reset his own state record in the 800. He bypassed the two-lapper Saturday to help SJA win another team championship.

"I really tried to stay in my lane and drive harder than I thought I could and give it all I had," Thornton-Sherman said on edging MMU's Avery Gilbert in a tight 300 hurdles race and finish.

Earlier in the day, Gilbert wowed in his 110 hurdles victory with a time of 14.24.

North Country's Sabine Brueck sets 300 hurdles state record

Who did Sabine Brueck hear in the crowd as she galloped down the straightaway of the 300 hurdles? Her mom, of course.

"I think I heard my mom the loudest," Brueck said.

With mom, Annie, leading the cheering section, Sabine Brueck took down one of the state's most impressive records, breaking former Essex star Katie Polakowski's 14-year mark of 44.38. Brueck's time of 43.96 is the state's new standard.

"I've been working on breaking it since freshman year," the junior Brueck said. "It’s all about the trail leg. That’s been our focus all year."

Brueck also won the 100 hurdles (14.93) in another personal-best performance while finishing second in triple jump (35-9.75) and third in long jump (17-4.25) for a 34-point day. Brueck, last year's Free Press girls athlete of the year, now owns seven outdoor track titles.

Colchester sophomore Brinlee Gilfillan swept the 100 (12.17) and 200 (25.27) for the second consecutive year while adding a runner-up medal in long jump (18-4.5). Another sophomore, Mount Anthony's Ella Palisano, seized wins in the high jump (5-3.75) and long jump (18-5.25).

Tess Adams of Essex also captured a pair of individual crowns in shot put (37-5.25) and discus (124-10).

Burlington's Winslow Sightler, Ahmed Diawara notch double wins

Consistency has been the story this spring for the state's best thrower. And Saturday was no different for Burlington's Winslow Sightler.

The senior eclipsed the 60-foot barrier in shot put at his sixth meet of 2024, heaving his top throw of 60-0.5 on his second attempt of the preliminary round.

Last month, Sightler broke Burlington's school record in shot put, which was set in 1987 by Steve Yates, the former state-record holder. Sightler will chase the state mark of 62-11.5 at next weekend's New England championships. Sightler will also compete at nationals later this month.

"I’ve been working on some stuff at the start of my throw. I’m usually way too fast and I’ve been trying to slow it down at the start," Sightler said. "My trajectory was too low. I need to get a better angle if I’m going to get that record."

Sightler also won discus (167-4) to register shot put and discus victories in consecutive years at states.

"It’s definitely bittersweet," Sightler said of his final meet at BHS. "Winning both is definitely a good way to go out."

While Sightler put a stamp on his Vermont career his BHS teammate, Ahmed Diawara, soared to his first individual outdoor crowns. The junior rocketed out of the blocks and then remained composed in the final meters of the 100 dash (10.88), and then motored to the sprint sweep with the 200 win (22.17).

Diawara, the SeaWolves quarterback in the fall, is within striking distance of both the 100 (10.76) and 200 (22.05) state records.

"Honestly, I always knew I was capable of running the times that I am now. I just had to go out and do it," Diawara said. "I realized I can’t control my competitors. That’s what I’ve been focused on this season, being mentally prepared to run."

Past defeats helped Diawara not tighten up against Brattleboro's Sean von Ranson in the dash's closing meters. Von Ranson finished four-hundredths of a second behind Diawara.

"I've lost so many races and I’ve messed up my final 10 meters so many times, but I trusted myself and I knew I could handle this," Diawara said.

MMU's Raf Campanile pulls off pole vault, long jump double

Raf Campanile is proof that talented, successful athletes are never satisfied. The two-time reigning champion in pole vault switched to a bigger pole ahead of Saturday's meet, hoping to crack the state record.

With just a couple practices under his belt with the new pole, Campanile cleared 14 feet even (two inches off last week's personal-best effort) to secure his three-peat in one of the sport's most technically difficult events.

"On my 14-foot jump it looked like my hip height was 15 feet for sure, so I was super-ecstatic about that," Campanile said.

The pole vault state record is 14-9.

"New Englands is a perfect spot to break the state record," Campanile said.

Campanile also won long jump with a seasonal-best of 20-11.75, and took fourth in javelin. "It was a good day for me," he said.

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DIVISION I TRACK AND FIELD STATE MEET RESULTS

Saturday at D.G. Weaver Athletic Complex (Burlington H.S).

Team score totals

GIRLS: 1. Champlain Valley 112; 2. Essex 84; 3. Burlington 50; 4. St. Johnsbury 49; 5. Burr and Burton 48; 6. South Burlington 45; 7. Mount Mansfield 41; 8. Colchester 37; 9. North Country 35; 10. Mount Anthony 27; 11. BFA-St. Albans 18; 12. Rutland 9; 13. Brattleboro 3.

BOYS: 1. St. Johnsbury 126; 2. Essex 113; 3. Burlington 82; 4. Mount Mansfield 67; 5. South Burlington 49; 6. Champlain Valley 40; 7. Brattleboro 33; 8. Burr and Burton 16; 9. North Country 11; 10. Colchester 9; 11. BFA-St. Albans 8; T12. Rutland, Mount Anthony 2

Girls top-six finishers

100-meter dash: 1. Brinlee Gilfillan, Col 12.17; 2. Mallory Chicoine, MMU 12.36; 3. Sara Sinkewicz, Essex 12.70; 4. Jocelyn Bourget, Essex 12.77; 5. Robin Tashjian, BBA 12.88; 6. Kate Kogut, CVU 13.03.

200: 1. Brinlee Gilfillan, Col 25.27; 2. Mallory Chicoine, MMU 26.31; 3. Finley Barker, MMu 26.69; 4. Sara Sinkewicz, Essex 26.78; 5. Gracie Morris, SB 26.88; 6. Darlene Abiti, Col 26.92.

400: 1. Mahoune Felix, CVU 58.99; 2. Brooke White, SJ 1:00.30; 3. Lola Ide, SJ 1:01.46; 4. Gracie Morris, SB 1:01.60; 5. Finley Barker, MMU 1:02.02; 6. Evangeline Taylor, Rut 1:02.37.

800: 1. Emily Harris, BBA 2:21.29; 2. Amelia Dion, BHS 2:21.31; 3. Alice Kredell, CVU 2:22.19; 4. Audrey Neilson, CVU 2:29.79; 5. Kate Bradford, Col 2:23.95; 6. Noe Jenni, CVU 2:24.33.

1,500: 1. Alice Kredell, CVU 4:44.76; 2. Lydia Donahue, CVU 4:46.02; 3. Estella Laird, CVU 4:46.82; 4. Audrey Neilson, CVU 4:52.47; 5. Kaitlyn Lumbra, BFA 4:56.34; 6. Grace McHenry, BHS 5:02.31.

3,000: 1. Lydia Donahue, CVU 10:33.59; 2. Erin Geisler, Rut 10:34.38; 3. Estella Laird, CVU 10:36.27; 4. Charlotte Crum, CVU 11:03.28; 5. Claire Kim, CVU 11:04.70; 6. Annalise Wood, CVU 11:06.86.

100 hurdles: 1. Sabine Brueck, NC 14.93; 2. Regina O'Leary, SB 15.40; 3. Ada Jorschick, Essex 15.73; 4. Robin Tashjian, BBA 15.75; 5. Lila Brillhart, MMU 15.89; 6. Izzy Laramee, SB 16.05.

300 hurdles: 1. Sabine Brueck, NC 43.96 (state record); 2. Amelia Maier, BBA 46.63; 3. Robin Tashjian, BBA 47.97; 4. Grace Symula, Essex 48.25; 5. Teagan Thurber, Bratt 48.84; 6. Izzy Laramee, SB 49.01.

4x100: 1. Mount Mansfield (Brillhart, Chicoine, Barker, DeJong) 50.22; 2. Essex; 3. Colchester; 4. South Burlington; 5. Champlain Valley; 6. Brattleboro

4x400: 1. St. Johnsbury (Ide, Thomas, Kantrowitz, White) 4:14.00; 2. Champlain Valley; 3. Burr and Burton; 4. South Burlington; 5. Essex; 6. Burlington.

4x800: 1. Burlington (Dion, McHenry, Napolitano, Fairfax) 9:54.16; 2. Essex; 3. St. Johnsbury; 4. South Burlington; 5. Burr and Burton; 6. Champlain Valley.

High jump: 1. Ella Palisano, MAU 5-3.75; 2. Lola Ide, SJ 5-1.75; 3. Nora Cullen, CVU 4-11.75; 4. Lucie Armata, Essex 4-11.75; 5. Kelsey Adams, SB 4-9.75; 6. Emilia Chittenden, SB 4-7.75.

Pole vault: 1. Abigail Kopeck, BBA 10-0; 2. Kate Kogut, CVU 8-11.5; 3. Alisa McLean, SB 8-5.5; T4. Zoe Mui-Jenkins, CVU; Cara Rockwell, MAU 7-11.5; 6. Ada Jorschick, Essex 7-11.5.

Long jump: 1. Ella Palisano, MAU 18-5.25; 2. Brinlee Gilfillan, Col 18-4.5; 3. Sabine Brueck, NC 17-4.25; 4. Isabella Delphia, Essex 16-9.75; 5. Lilyanna Mittelstadt, CVU 16-5; 6. Mallory Chicoine, MMU 16-3.

Triple jump: 1. Brooke White, SJ 37-2.5; 2. Sabine Brueck, NC 35-9.75; 3. Regina O'Leary, SB 36-7.5; 4. Ella Palisano, MAU 36-7; 5. Kelsey Adams, SB 34-11.5; 6. Ada Jorschick, Essex 34-7.75.

Shot put: 1. Tess Adams, Essex 37-5.25; 2. Nadia Sylla, BHS 35-2.5; 3. Vivian Halladay, BHS 34-5.75; 4. Mia LaCasse, Essex 32-0.25; 5. Aiyana Auer, BFA 31-2; 6. Josi Fortin, NC 29-5.25.

Discus: 1. Tess Adams, Essex 124-10; 2. Jane Sitek Shaver, BHS 100-11; 3. Nadia Sylla, BHS 96-7; 4. Adi Crary, MMU 89-3; 5. Mia LaCasse, Essex 88-6; 6. Vivian Halladay, BHS 85-1.

Javelin: 1. Harper Danforth, CVU 111-0; 2. Lauryn Johnson, BFA 104-8; 3. Sara Sinkewicz, Essex 101-3; 4. Aiyann Auer, BFA 98-8; 5. Leah Fitzgerald, BFA 95-6; 6. Vivian Halladay, BHS 90-8.

Boys top-six finishers

100-meter dash: 1. Ahmed Diawara, BHS 10.88; 2. Sean von Ranson, Bratt 10.92; 3. Thomas Meek, Essex 11.22; 4. Avery Rogers, CVU 11.23; 5. Ben Cerreta, Rut 11.29; 6. Anderson McEnaney, CVU 11.48.

200: 1. Ahmed Diawara, BHS 22.17; 2. Desmond Snyder, BHS 22.38; 3. Sean von Ranson, Bratt 22.41; 4. Thomas Meek, Essex 22.67; T5. David Monsengo, Essex; Kelton Poirier, Essex 22.69.

400: 1. Kelton Poirier, Essex 48.82; 2. Jack Cady, Bratt 49.47; 3. Desmond Snyder, BHS 49.78; 4. David Monsengo, Essex 50.46; 5. Caleb Fitzpatrick, BBA 50.55; 6. Quintin Fortier, CVU 50.64.

800: 1. Emmett Johnson, SJ 1:56.81; 2. Austin Simone, SB 1:57.40; 3. Avi Yagoda, BHS 2:01.46; 4. Nathaniel Bernier, SJ 2:03.14; 5. Alan Esposito, NC 2:03.30; 6. Cyrus Goetze, MMU 2:03.39.

1,500: 1. Andrew Thornton-Sherman, SJ 3:54.67; 2. Emmett Johnson, SJ 3:56.93; 3. Dan Knight, CVU 4:00.30; 4. Avi Yagoda, BHS 4:03.02; 5. Jacoby Soter, BFA 4:06.29; 6. Benjamin Holoch, CVU 4:08.03.

3,000: 1. Henry Nasse, Essex 9:09.07; 2. Carson Eames, SJ 9:09.60; 3. Teddy Tremblay, BFA 9:11.94; 4. Moses Andrews, SJ 9:12.83; 5. Joel Thornton-Sherman, SJ 9:15.18; 6. James Steward, Essex 9:18.99.

110 hurdles: 1. Avery Gilbert, MMU 14.24; 2. Sanjin Hadzic, Essex 14.62; 3. Carter Faas, Col 15.10; 4. Wilder Thomas, SJ 15.34; 5. Tucker Hall, SB 15.45; 6. Max Lesny, Essex 15.59.

300 hurdles: 1. Andrew Thornton-Sherman, SJ 38.62; 2. Avery Gilbert, MMU 38.69; 3. Tucker Hall, SB 41.00; 4. Max Lesny, Essex 41.22; 5. Wilder Thomas, SJ 41.64; 6. Sanjin Hadzic, Essex 41.94.

4x100: 1. Brattleboro (Berkson-Harvey, Cady, Holmes, von Ranson) 43.50; 2. St. Johnsbury; 3. Champlain Valley; 4. Essex; 5. Colchester; 6. South Burlington.

4x400: 1. St. Johnsbury (Carter, E. Johnson, O. Johnson, A. Thornton-Sherman) 3:24.60; 2. Essex; 3. Mount Mansfield; 4. Champlain Valley; 5. Burlington; 6. Brattleboro.

4x800: 1. St. Johnsbury (Bernier, Andrews, Leven, Eames) 8:13.32; 3. Burlington; 4. Esex; 5. Burr and Burton; 6. Colchester.

High jump: 1. Kape Clements, SJ 5-10; 2. Jason Pelletier, NC 5-10; 3. Luke Bostic, SJ 5-8; 4. Gregory Maiberger, Essex 5-6; T5. Owen Moriarty, MMU; Baxter Mangrum, BHS 5-6.

Pole vault: 1. Raf Campanile, MMU 14-0; 2. Owen Moriarty, MMU 12-11.5; 3. Carl Laverty, Essex 11-11.75; 4. Alex Kopeck, BBA 11-5.75; 5. Max Lesny, Essex 11-5.75; 6. MacArthur Murad, BHS 11-5.75.

Long jump: 1. Raf Campanile, MMU 20-11.75; 2. Nathan Lyle, Essex 20-10; 3. Avery Rogers, CVU 20-9.75; 4. Cian Nott, SJ 19-9.75; 5. Ben Dossett, BBA 19-5.5; 6. Sanjin Hadzic, Essex 19-4.

Triple jump: 1. Avery Rogers, CVU 40-11; 2. Johnson Jackson, SB 40-10.25; 3. Carson Gordon, BBA 40-6.75; 4. Cian Nott, SJ 40-6; 5. Logan Baker, MAU 39-7; 6. Aidan Brody, SJ 38-7.5.

Shot put: 1. Winslow Sightler, BHS 60-0.5; 2. Alexander Johnson, Essex 55-0.75; 3. Aidan Lybarger, SB 50-2.5; 4. Maxwell Spaeder, Essex 43-11.25; 5. Kymani Mignott, Essex 42-4.75; 6. DIego Perez, SJ 42-4.25.

Discus: 1. Winslow Sightler, BHS 167-4; 2. Aidan Lybarger, SB 166-8; 3. Alexander Johnson, Essex 134-0; 4. Diego Perez, SJ 126-6; 5. Sam Papaseraphim, Essex 117-5; 6. Wade Nichols, CVU 114-6.

Javelin: 1. Aidan Lybarger, SB 145-10; 2. Maximo Dowling, BHS 145-2; 3. Diego Perez, SJ 144-5; 4. Raf Campanile, MMU 144-0; 5. Alexander Johnson, Essex 137-11; 6. Watson Laffoon, NC 126-10.