Young Harwood XC team runs with Big Dogs at Burlington Invitational
Sept. 17, 2022 | By John Kerrigan 
Harwood's Lincoln Gage and Quinn Smith approach the finish line. Photo courtesy Robert Cummiskey
Last Saturday, a young Harwood Cross Country team competed at the annual Burlington Invitational meet held this year at Hard’ack field in St. Albans in mid-summer conditions.
Temperatures around 90 and high humidity were less than ideal for a 5K race on the flat, open, sunny course that UVM’s XC team uses for training.
Several runners from opposing teams collapsed in the heat and were unable to finish. Harwood Team Captain Charlie Flint stressed staying hydrated through the competition and team members heeded that advice.
Harwood’s team this year is smaller in numbers and younger than in past years with only two seniors on the 24-member roster. Those factors combined with an unfamiliar course kept expectations in check.
The Harwood Girls team finished in an impressive 6th place, just 20 points behind 3rd-place Essex. CVU girls won the varsity race.
Charlie Flint made the podium with a 6th place finish among some of the top runners in the state. Teammates supporting her were Julia Thurston (15th), Maisie Franke (26th), Hazel Lillis (39th) and Libby Spina (56th).
Charlie Flint races ahead of Middlebury and South Burlington competitors at the Burlington Invitational meet on Sept. 10. Charlie finished 6th in the girls varsity race. Photo courtesy Robert Cummiskey
The Varsity Boys placed 10th among mostly Division I teams. Harwood had three sophomores and one junior in their top 4: sophomores Indy Metcalf (28th) and Chris Cummiskey (40th); junior Quinn Smith came in 41st and sophomore Lincoln Gage 49th.
In the JV races, freshmen Chapin Rivers and Pippa Diller had excellent debuts in their first high school races. Chapin finished 28th in the JV Boys and Pippa finished 20th in JV Girls. Both races had over 120 runners each.
Harwood XC competes today U-32 Invitational starting at 10 a.m. in East Montpelier. Both U-32 Boys and Girls teams are ranked among the top 3 in Vermont.
John Kerrigan is Harwood’s Cross Country coach.