Cross-Country teams finish strong with double wins at Rice, Barre
October 30, 2020 | By John Kerrigan
Harwood Cross-Country went into the final week of the season with strong momentum that carried both boys and girls teams to double victories ahead of the state championship.
On Tuesday, Oct. 20, both teams traveled to Rice Memorial High School in South Burlington where the Harwood Boys defeated Division I powerhouse Essex and the girls dominated both Rice and Colchester.
The trip to Chittenden County was only the third meet of the COVID-19 shortened season.
The boys defeated a formidable Essex team, 31-33; host Rice scored 71. Harwood runners claimed seven of the top 11 spots. Carlton Cummiskey led Highlanders with a third-place finish despite having gone almost ¼ mile off course. Senior Luke Groom placed fourth, Rye McCurtain was sixth, Tyler Silveria seventh. Vincent Spina, 11th, and Ebbe Lillis, 12th, had strong races considering they also made a wrong turn.
Harwood Girls placed 10 runners in the top 11 easily defeating host Rice and neighboring Colchester. Ava Thurston broke 19:00 minutes for the first time this year. Ava was in a close race with pre-race favorite Emily Bloom of Rice. Ava surged away from Emily the last 1/4 mile. Following Ava was sister Julia Thurston in third place with a string of teammates on her heels: Britta Zetterstrom fourth, Charlie Flint fifth, McKenna Paxman sixth, Caelyn McDonough seventh, Anlu Thamm eighth, Maisie Franke ninth, Hazel Lillis 10th, and Mackenzie Greenberg 11th.
Worth mentioning was this was a breakout race for McKenna who has been nursing an injury all season. She finished as a strong fifth-place.
Boys nip Spaulding, girls score rare shutout at Websterville
Oct. 23, two days after the Rice meet, Harwood Cross-Country traveled to Barre to run the Millstone trails, terrain much different than the level Rice course.
Several of the Highlander boys were a little tired from the Tuesday race and from hiking up and biking down Sugarbush on Wednesday. But despite their fatigue, they scored an upset victory over host Spaulding.
Carlton Cummiskey led the Harwood runners with a second-place finish. Ebbe Lillis and Vinnie Spina managed to stay on course this race, finishing fourth and fifth respectively. Luke Groom finished strong in seventh. Highlanders Rye MacCurtain, Tyler Silveria, and Mason Berry also took 12th, 13th and 14th places, sealing the one-point victory for Harwood.
Harwood Girls accomplished a rare shutout, dominating the first seven places in this order: Ava Thurston, Julia Thurston, Britta Zetterstrom, Charlie Flint, McKenna Paxman, Caelyn McDonough, and Anlu Thamm.
In addition, four other Highlander runners had outstanding performances in this meet: Hazel Lillis finishing ninth, Mackenzie Greenberg in 10th, Jill Rundle 13th, and Aliza Levey 14th.
Both teams delivered a solid effort proving that they could show up a little tired but still perform well.
The next event for Harwood Cross-Country is the Vermont D-II championships scheduled for Saturday at Thetford.
John Kerrigan is Harwood’s Cross-Country head coach. Special thanks to Bob Cummiskey and the Zetterstrom family for photo submissions.