Varsity Insider

For high school cross country, there’s only day that matters: the state meet.

While this year’s state championships are more than a month away — Oct. 31 at Thetford Academy — several teams and runners have shined brightly at a pair of early-season invitationals.

Let’s start with the girls:

Essex and CVU are the premier programs. Essex ended CVU’s 5-year reign atop D-I at last year’s state meet. So far in 2009, the programs each have victories at major meets (Essex and BHS invites).

At Burlington, Essex’s impressive pack running out-did CVU’s dependable strategy. The Hornets, led by freshman Rayna Dally, took places 7, 8, 9 and 12, 13. Summer Spillane and Adrienne Devita have been the Redhawks top runners.

Let’s rank them:
Teams:
1. Essex
2. CVU
3. South Burlington
Runners:
1. Hannah Rowe, St. Johnsbury
2. Emily Anderson, Middlebury
3. Jenna Griffith, Colchester

On the boys side, I don’t see much of a challenge for Essex in the D-I race.

Let’s rank them:
Teams:
1. Essex
2. South Burlington
3. Harwood
Runners:
1. Ben Lustgarten, BHS
2. Charlie Klilne, Essex
3. Nick Marshall, MMU

These rankings are subject to change. Give me your thoughts on some up-and-coming teams and runners, particularly in the smaller divisions.

Look ahead: The Manchester, N.H. invitational is Saturday, with Thetford’s Woods Trail Run the following weekend. Those meets bring a heap of talent from across the northeast. Of Vermont’s best, Rowe is the likely candidate to post a victory in one of the elite divisions over the next two weekends.

It’s probably too early to address any clear-cut favorites for cross country titles this fall, but I’ll give it a go:

Div. I girls
Essex and CVU: Essex ended CVU’s five-year reign in a stunner last year. Year in and year out, it’s CVU’s tremendous depth that is off the charts. Expect the same this year with the likes of Summer Spillane, Laura Jackson and Adrienne Devita and a host of well-tuned pack runners. Essex has plenty of returnees – except for last year’s No.1 runner Anna Guthrie. St. Johnsbury has the state’s best runner in Hannah Rowe.
Div. I boys
Essex? It’s tough to say — they return Charlie Kline and Edmo Gamelin and had a impressive JV squad — but lost some of its best runners to graduation after a championship season. CVU is always dangerous, and you never know down south — Brattleboro cooking anything up?

As for the Div. II boys and Div. II girls, the jury is still out. Although, Harwood boys probably are too deep to be dethroned. Burr and Burton girls won last year, and its always a numbers game down there: Will they have enough?

I’ll be at the Essex Invitational on Saturday, so the XC picture will, at least, start to come into focus.

Send me a line at aabrami@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com or call me at 802-660-1848, with any tips or story ideas. Or just leave a comment on this blog on the area’s top runners/teams. We’d love to hear from you.