State records fall, Vermonters excel at national track and field championship meets
St. Johnsbury's Andrew Thornton-Sherman and Essex's Scarlet Stimson reset state records in the 800-meter run to headline a contingent of Vermont athletes at the New Balance Nationals track and field championships in Philadelphia this past weekend.
In a season-long battle with Essex's Kelton Poirier, Thornton-Sherman, a sophomore, toppled Poirier's boys 800 mark in the championship division at nationals on Sunday, lowering the Vermont Division I and overall state record from 1 minute, 52.38 seconds to 1:51.84 to claim 25th overall out of 81 runners.
Thornton-Sherman also joined forces with teammates Andrew Bugbee, Jaden Beardsley and Gerardo Fernandez to claim runner-up honors in the championship division of the 1,600 sprint medley relay.
The St. Johnsbury quartet ran a 3:25.63 to finish less than a second away from a national title to earn All-American recognition.
According to the Caledonian Record, Bugbee and Beardsley opened with 200-meter legs, followed by Fernandez's 400 and Thornton-Sherman's 1:51.34 split for the final 800 meters.
More: Essex's Poirier won the 800 at New Englands in rare Vermont performance. We explain why.
Stimson, an Essex senior, established a new standard in the girls 800 for D-I, capturing second in the rising stars division with a time of 2:13.04. She narrowly edged the old record, set by Champlain Valley's Autumn Eastman in 2013 (2:13.06).
Other Vermonters who competed at nationals in Philadelphia include:
• Burlington's Winslow Sightler: 13th in championship shot put (57-1.5)
• BFA-St. Albans' Kaitlyn Lumbra: 16th in freshman mile (5:19.71).
• St. Johnsbury's 4x200 relay: Bugbee, Beardsley, Wilder Thomas and Alejandro Orozco Kuri took 41st in championship race (1:30.74).
• St. Johnsbury's 4x800 relay: Thornton-Sherman, Fernandez, Charlie Krebs and Carson Eames took 34th in championship race (7:57.84).
• St. Johnsbury's distance medley relay: Krebs, Bugbee, Eames and Nathaniel Benier placed eighth in rising stars race (10:34.59).
• Essex's Kelton Poirier: The New England champion took 63rd in championship 800 (1:55.68).
• Essex's Tess Adams: 27th in championship discus (124-4).
• Mount Anthony's Ella Palisano: 41st in championship high jump (5-0.5).
• CVU's Harper Danforth: 46th in championship javelin (98-4).
• BFA-St. Albans' Lauryn Johnson: 26th in rising stars javelin (99-8).
• Essex's Genevieve Brzoza: 26th in rising stars long jump (17-0.75)
• BFA-St. Albans' Porter Hurteau: 40th in rising stars mile (4:25.41).
• Essex's Luke Miklus: 51st in rising stars mile (4:29.35).
• BFA-St. Albans' Jacoby Soter: 59th in freshman mile (4:44.93).
• CVU's Audrey Neilson: 28th in freshman mile (5:27.61).
South Burlington's Larkin nabs 10th in decathlon nationals
Competing in Eugene, Oregon, in the Nike Outdoor Nationals, South Burlington senior Vaughn Larkin finished 10th overall in the decathlon competition.
Larkin broke South Burlington school records for pole vault (13 feet, 1 inch) and for overall decathlon point total (6,090 points).
Over the 10 events, Larkin finished in the top 10 in four of them, including a fifth-place showing in the 400 (51.04) and sixth in the 1,500 (4:44.74).
In VT decathlon, Larkin, Guerino snag Day 1 leads
South Burlington's Larkin appeared unfazed from his cross-country return trip from Oregon and posted a Day 1 score of 3,151 through five events during Monday's opening day of the 47th Vermont high school decathlon state championships at Burlington's D.G. Weaver Athletic Complex.
Essex's Kayla Guerino tallied 2,633 points to take the pole position ahead of teammate Genevieve Brzoza (2,361).
Girls decathlon results (through Day 1)
Top 10: 1. Kayla Guerino, Essex 2,633; 2. Genevieve Brzoza, Essex 2,361; 3. Charlize Brown, Thetford 2,283; 3. Amara Calhum-Flowers, White River Valley 2,115; 5. Sydney Schoenbeck, Rivendell 2,098; 6. Cassandra Armstrong, White River Valley 2,092; 7. Ada Jorschick, Essex 2,086; 8. Madelyn Durkee, Thetford 1,982; 9. Lila Brillhart, Mount Mansfield 1,942; 10. Tela Harty, Bellows Falls 1,844.
Boys decathlon results (through Day 1)
Top 10: 1. Vaughn Larkin, South Burlington 3,151; 2. Benjamin Dossett, Burr and Burton 3,074; 3. William Hughes, BFA 3,033; 4. Ulysses Junker-Boyce, Thetford 2,963; 5. Raf Campanile, Mount Mansfield 2,926; 6. Eben Mosher, Green Mountain 2,921; 7. Chase Gardner, Randolph 2,884; 8. Avery Gilbert, Mount Mansfield; 9. Jordan Davis, Hartford 2,797; 10. Caden Colburn, North Country 2,792.
The two-day meet wraps Tuesday. For full results, visit 802timing.com.
Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @aabrami5.
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont H.S. track and field: State records fall at national meet
