Hard Fought for Second - U-32 Girls' Cross Country Championship

Thetford, Vt. - Burr & Burton Academy U-32’s girls’ cross country team became Vermont’s 2025 state champions at Thetford Academy’s Woods Trail Run this Saturday, with U-32 following in second place.

“I was trying to go out with Sydney (Remenar of Burr & Burton) and stay as long as I could. I knew she was pretty fast, and she ended up being like a minute or something ahead of me, but I think that I really stuck with it,” said U-32 athlete and second place finisher Claire Serrano.

Claire Serrano placed second for U-32 in 20:52.4. She was trailed by teammates Isobel Koger (fifth, 21:11.2), Elsie Koger (eighth, 21:29.1), Mya Gould (15th, 22:55.6), Yael Dorfman (16th, 23:01.5), Grace Cannella (19th, 23:20.6) and Clara Maker (27th, 24:05.4). 

“I'm super proud of our team,” Serrano continued. “We came here and we gave it everything we got, and I am super proud of them. Yeah, it was really nice weather, and so I really enjoyed running today.”

In preparation for the championship race, U-32 visited Thetford’s course and ran repeats of every kilometer.

“Getting another look at it without the burden of competition, without the burden of a race day situation. Athletically they put in the work, they put in the miles, they put in the quality workouts. It’s just the mental game, and it’s beautiful weather,” said Michelle Gullage, U-32 girls’ coach.

This is Gullage’s first season with the team, but that would be hard to tell from the outside. Cross country is a unique space that brings people together through the trials of the race conditions, which are constantly changing.

Gullage and the U-32 boys coach, Seth Jackson, attributed this season to one word: resilience.

“Victories are great, PRs are great. Ultimately, the way that this transfers into life, being a human being, is developing resilience for the ups and the downs,” said Gullage. “You have to plant the seed that they will learn, they’ll figure out down the road.”

Sydney Remenar claimed top individual honors with a time of 19 minutes, 47.8 seconds to help Burr & Burton Academy win the championship for the first time since 2008. The Bulldogs also relied on impressive times from Madelyn Harris (fourth, 21:00.7) Emily Harris (ninth, 21:32.7), Jane McGlinn (11th, 21:57.9) and Elise Hornby (14th, 22:36.7). The non-scoring runners for BBA were Matilda Podgorski (17th, 23:03.2) and Evelyn Martin (26th, 23:47.4).

Going into the race many hear of the elusive Morty’s Monster, a steep section of trail followed by more hills. While coach Jackson claimed Thetford has one of the hardest state championship courses in the country, some of the athletes had a different mindset.

“It’s Morty’s Mouse. It’s just like a little hill we run called Brazier every week, and it’s just a lot more hilly than this,” said Grace Cannella of U-32, “so I think, honestly, the placement of Morty’s Monster is worse than the actual hill.”

Renaming the trek may help an athlete rest at night, but on race day Morty’s Monster is still the same trek. During the race, teammates who weren’t racing did their best to cheer on their peers.

“I think that it was such a good environment, everyone’s cheering. I rounded the corner and just everyone was screaming for Raiders. It was really empowering, and I just felt really good and motivated. I think the rest of the team felt that too,” said Cannella.

During Cannella’s race, she said she felt, “all there because of the cheering. It just brought me to the present, and it was really good.”

With hundreds of athletes competing simultaneously and kilometers of trail being traversed, it wouldn’t be surprising if people were left out from the cheering. But even after running their own competitions, athletes wrapped in blankets sprinted up hills to scream encouragingly the names of their friends and their foes.

Competing for Montpelier were Thea Boyles (25th, 23:46.4), Adele Pritchard (28th, 24:05.9), Phoebe Bakeman (29th, 24:10.6), Chloe Raboin (34th, 24:44.5), Anna Wetherell (48th, 26:22.8), Senait Brett (50th, 26:27.2) and Miriam Serota-Winston (69th, 28:42.2). 

Harwood relied on strong efforts from Pippa Diller (20th, 23:24.1), Victoria Grace (22nd, 23:35.4), Julia Cisz (24th, 23:42.7), Eireann McDonough (44th, 25:44.2), Harmony Devoe (52nd, 26:39.8), Liv Kielich (56th, 26:58.0) and Alexandria Isham (70th, 28:45.90). 

Racing for an incomplete Spaulding squad were Alexis Piascik (51st, 26:29.2), Shayla Thorpe (61st, 27:19.3) and Sydney Schaller (73rd, 31:09.7). 

Each competing athlete found themselves at the same starting line with the same goal - to finish. However, every person started the season at different level and trained the ways that worked for them. Sickness and injuries hampered some while others recovered. Regardless of the athlete, they had to deal with their own Morty’s Monsters to make it to the championship meet.

“Everything has to align in a certain way for championships to be won,” said Gullage. “If you put in the physical capabilities of the team, along with the mental strength, then anything’s possible.”