Knights Cross Country has success at home meet
Randolph Center, VT - Vermont State University Randolph hosted the first meet of our season team at home on Saturday, September 9. The Knights also hosted a high school meet earlier in the day, the home meet for both Randolph Union High School and White River Valley High School
"Our first meet as a University went well." reported Coach Dunkle. Leading the Knights was Sophomore Trevor Kipp of Brattleboro Vermont. Trevor finished top 20 in the field of 82 runners from 8 different colleges and universities. "His time compared well with the first race here last year," said coach Dunkle, a season in which Trevor became the first All-American on the Vermont Tech team. Following Trevor was Norman Benoit (Bristol, VT) running his first Collegiate race on what is likely one of the toughest XC courses in Vermont. Rio Coursen (Putney, VT) finished 3rd for the team, taking 2 minutes from his last year's course time. Following Rio was Elijah Boucher (Putney, VT). Elijah took a whopping 9 minutes from his first race time last year on the same course. "Elijah has worked hard to improve his technique and running efficiency. He has become an important part of the lead group for our program" said coach Dunkle on Monday. Thomas Transue ( Rutland, VT) ran well in his first collegiate race. Harrison Herbert (Rutland, MA) rounded out the team in his first cross-country race.
"In all," reported Dunkle, "this year's team looks great. I think that all the team members will be under 40 minutes in the 8K race by seasons end with the top 2 men under 30 minutes and the top 5 all under 35 minutes. We have some tough training ahead."
This years Maple Syrup Challenge had 9 teams from Middlebury College, St Michael's College, Norwich University, Paul Smith's College, Word of Life Bible Institute, SUNY Canton, Vermont State University Randolph and Lyndon, and NHTI. Thank you once again the Lake Champagne campground for use of their trails and the campers for cheering on the runners.