White River Valley senior Cassandra Armstrong won four individual events to lead the Wildcats to the VPA Division III Track and Field State Championship on Thursday, and the White River boys dethroned Thetford Academy, winners of six straight outdoor Division III state titles.
“I couldn’t be happier for the kids, “ said White River Valley coach Dave Mattern in a phone interview. “As a coach, at the end of the season, you just hope the kids have a good day if not their best and we had a lot of personal records and school records.”
Armstrong won the 100 and 200 meter races, the 300 meter hurdles and pole vault at Thursday’s state meet at Burlington High School and the Wildcats finished ahead of Peoples, 116-98.
Imari Taylor added two first place finishes in the shot put and discus.
“Imari did what Imari has been doing all year long,” Mattern said about her two wins. “Cassie always does well but I was even surprised at how she did.”
In the 300 hurdles, which Armstrong has only run a handful of times this year, Mattern was hoping for maybe a second place.
“But she went after it,” he said, and set a new D-III state record.
Armstrong also took time off her best in the 100 and 200 meters.
“It was a pretty amazing day for her,” Mattern said.
On the boys side, while he was not scoreboard watching – just adds to the stress, Mattern said – he believed the title could come down to the last event, the triple jump.
He was prescient.
WRV’s Allen Wedge, Isaac Wimett and Greyson Russ placed second, third and fourth for a total 18 points in the triple jump, which was won by Thetford’s Sebastian Perdrizet.
“Sebastian, he is just a beast,” said Mattern, noting that Perdrizet out-jumped second place by more than six feet and set a new state record in all divisions of 47 feet 7 inches.
Going into the meet, the White River boys were projected about 10 points behind Thetford and the girls about 10 points behind defending champion Peoples, Mattern said.
“We knew we had a chance, and we have better depth for the boys than we had in the past,” Mattern said.
For the Wildcats girls, the 4 by 100 relay team of Addison Isham, Allie Durkee, Josie Noel and Sadie Armstrong and the 4 by 400 team of Durkee, Liberti Bollman, Sadie Armstrong and Noel placed second. Also scoring points for the Wildcats were Sadie Armstrong (fifth, 400 meters), Isham (fourth, 100 meter hurdles, third high jump), Durkee (fourth pole vault), Olivia Tuller (third shot put, fourth discus, sixth javelin), Audrey MacKenzie (third, discus) and the 4 by 800 team of Lacey Parkman, Lizzie Brown, Aislin Peter and Lilian Miller took third.
Though the White River Valley boys had only one first place finish, (Jack Hughes, 300 meter hurdles), they were consistent across all events, piling up points with many finishes second through fourth.
George Roda was third in the 1,500 and fourth in the 3000. Isaac Kinsley took second in the 110 meter hurdles, third in the 300 hurdles, and third in the discus. Hughes was second in the long jump and 200 meters and third in the 100 meters. Wedge was third in the long jump and second in the high jump and triple jump, Samuel Armstrong was second in the pole vault for the Wildcats.
Kinsely set a personal record in the discus by 15 feet and shaved almost a second off his best time in the 110 hurdles, Mattern said. Roda improved his best time in the 1,500 by five seconds to finish ahead of three runners from Thetford.
Perdrizet, a junior, also won the 100 and 200 meters and long jump. He had the state record in the long jump at a May 7 meet at Hanover High with a leap of 23 feet, 7.5 inches. His third state record this year was on May 19 at a Southern Vermont League meet when he ran 15.17 seconds in the 110 meter hurdles.
The Wildcats and Panthers battled it out in the relays with Thetford’s David Thaxton, Zac Amber, Daniel Mann and Emmett Terry winning the 4 by 100 and White River’s team of Matt Bangerter, Bradley Howe, Wedge and Wimett taking third.
It was the same in the 4 by 400 with Terry, Mann, Jay Hill and Amber of Thetford finishing first and William White, Jacob Benoit, Russ and Kinsely of White River in third. In the 4 by 800, Thetford’s Jay Hill,Jesse Martin, Tannery Hardy and Zac Amber were second with Bradley Howe, William White, Jacobe Benoit and Elijah Zitterkopf of White River third.
Other results: Thetford boys : Emmett Terry (second 100 meters, third 200 meters), Ollie Emery (fourth 1,500), Daniel Mann (second, 300 hurdles), David Thaxton (fourth 300 hurdles), Connor Sloop (fourth shot put, second discus, fourth javelin), Jacob Phelps (fourth discus). Girls: Julia Bonnett (fourth, javelin), Londyn Oshoniyi (fourth shot put)
Oxbow girls: Casey Wiedrick (fourth 800 meters, third 1,500), Margaret Williams (second, shot put, discus)
Windsor girls: Natalie Ranney (second, 800 meters, third 1,500) Audrey McFarland (first triple jump, second, long jump. Boys – (Austin Tetrault (second, shot put)
Sharon Academy boys: Noah Malloy, ( first 110 hurdles, high jump, second 400 meters, third pole vault) Phoenix Colburn (third pole vault)
Results: Boys- White River Valley 138, Thetford Academy 127, Green Mountain Union 64, Sharon Academy 46.33, Bellows Free Academy 40, Paine Mountain 33, Peoples Academy 27, Stowe 18, Long Trail 16, Randolph Union 12, Windsor 8 (12th). Girls – White River Valley 116, Peoples Academy 98, Green Mountain Union 63, Bellows Falls Union 38, Stowe 33, Windsor 33, Thetford Academy 32, Oxbow 26, Enosburg Falls 24, Bellows Free Academy – Fairfax 17
