THETFORD — Charlotte Crum, the Division I girls champion, crossed the finish line and belted out, “I did it,” before embracing one of her coaches.
Ben Holoch returned to Thetford Academy one year after racing with walking pneumonia to roar to the Division I boys crown.
Crum and Holoch set the tone. And their Champlain Valley teammates followed suit.
Crum and the nationally ranked CVU girls left little doubt in claiming a four-peat, their 21st team crown in the last 23 years, while Holoch’s Redhawk boys halted St. Johnsbury’s four-year title reign during the Vermont high school cross-country running championships on Saturday, Oct. 25.
The CVU girls, ranked 13th in the nation by the website dyestat, totaled 25 points to runner-up Essex’s 62.
“We are really happy to four-peat and it’s nice to have those numbers on our jackets again,” Crum said.
The CVU boys tallied 47 points to SJA’s 55. It’s CVU’s first title since 2020.
[Editor’s note: For full team scores and top 10 results in each division, see bottom of story.]
“That was the big focus for our team today. We have a really strong young group of runners,” Holoch said. “This year, we had the confidence to get ahead (and win).”
In Division II, the U-32 boys rolled to a 10th straight team crown and the Burr and Burton girls halted U-32’s three-year run for their first championship since 2008. In D-III, the Rice girls seized their first crown in program history following a tiebreaker over Stowe, and the Fairfax boys halted an 18-year championship drought.
CVU’s Charlotte Crum, Benjamin Holoch win first individual titles
Crum toured the challenging, 5K Thetford course in 19 minutes, 15.20 seconds for her first XC state crown. The senior, who finished third in 2024 and fifth in 2023, had a strong finishing kick to headline a 1-2-4-9-11-12-20 CVU finish. Lydia Donahue (19:28.60) was runner-up, Audrey Neilson took fourth and Isabella Gravina-Budis (ninth) was also in the top 10 for the Redhawks.
“I was really happy when I crossed the finish, I couldn’t believe it. I don’t think I could’ve done it without my teammates, my coaches and my parents,” Crum said. “I gave it all I had, I was sprinting for my life.”
The two-time reigning New England champions also used state as a tune-up for this year’s regional championship meet, which is also at Thetford in two weeks. CVU also eyes another national berth in the coming month.
Holoch churned out a 16:32.40 for his victory. Cole Hart (fourth), Treson McEnaney (eighth), Jack Snyder (11th) and Charlie Meisenzahl (25th) were CVU’s other top five that went toward scoring to end SJA’s reign. Hilltopper junior Joel Thornton-Sherman (16:40.00) raced to second place.
“This was my strongest race this season,” said Holoch, a junior.
In D-II, Burr and Burton’s Sydney Remenar won the individual crown (19:47.90), leading a 1-4-9-11-14 finish to deny U-32 a four-peat with a 39-46 team score. Claire Serrano of U-32 took runner-up honors in 20:52.40.
“It’s really exciting to seeing all the hard work pay off,” Remenar said.
Cole Page, fifth in 2024, stormed to the D-II boys crown with a time of 16:51.50. Teammate Ben Warfield took second (16:59.90), with Cody Young (fourth), Oliver Miller (fifth), Oren Winters (seventh) and Calvin Winters (ninth) also finishing in the top 10 for Raiders, who totaled a 19 team count.
In D-III, Green Mountain’s Desi Broadley (20:22.70) repeated, one year after winning the individual crown as a member of Bellows Falls. Gage Magnuson of BFA-Fairfax also went back-to-back with a time of 16:38.80. Magnuson’s Bullets placed four runners in the top 15 for their first crown since 2007.
Magnuson is just the third Fairfax boy to win an individual title, joining Cam Weber (2010) and Jeff Shedd (1980).
Rice’s Deborah Bounds (eighth) and Hazel Rost (ninth) were the Green Knights’ top runners in the program’s first coronation. Rice earned the tiebreaker based on its fourth runner’s higher placement than Stowe’s No. 4 runner.
2025 STATE CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
DIVISION I GIRLS
Team scores: 1. Champlain Valley 25; 2. Essex 62; 3. South Burlington 88; 4. BFA-St. Albans 109; 5. Mount Mansfield 130; 6. St. Johnsbury 153; 7. Burlington 170; 8. North Country 202.
Top 10: 1. Charlotte Crum, CV 19:15.20; 2. Lydia Donahue, CV 19:28.60; 3. Acadia Enman, MM 19:32.10; 4. Audrey Neilson, CVU 19:36.00; 5. Adrianna Bibeau, Essex 19:47.60; 6. Kendal Bowen, GMV 19:59.60; 7. Fiona Repp, MM 20:19.10; 8. Ruth Knox, Essex 20:21.10; 9. Isabella Gravina-Budis, CV 20:33.30; 10. Kaitlyn Lumbra, BFA 20:45.40.
DIVISION II GIRLS
Team scores: 1. Burr and Burton 39; 2. U-32 46; 3. Middlebury 109; 4. Harwood 153; 5. Woodstock 154; 6. Montpelier 160; 7. Missisquoi 174; 8. Hartford 185; 9. Lamoille 190; 10. Lyndon 224.
Top 10: 1. Sydney Remenar, BB 19:47.90; 2. Claire Serrano, U-32 20:52.40; 3. Hailey Porter, Lam 21:00.00; 4. Madelyn Harris, BB 21:00.70; 5. Isobel Koger, U-32 21:11.20; 6. Mary Sluka, Wood 21:14.50; 7. Sylvia Johnson, Hart 21:16.60; 8. Elsie Koger, U-32 21:29.10; 9. Emily Harris, BB 21:32.70; 10. Louisa Orten, Midd 21:48.00.
DIVISION III GIRLS
Team scores: 1. Rice 49 (won tiebreaker); 2. Stowe 49; 3. Peoples 58; 4. Thetford 86; 5. Lake Region 103; 6. Randolph 137.
Top 10: 1. Desi Broadley, Green Mountain 20:22.70; 2. Daisy Jane Berg, Peoples 21:35.10; 3. Anya Young, White River Valley 22:02.00; 4. Selah Majorell, MSJ 22:06.80; 5. Casey Wiedrick, Oxbow 22:17.60; 6. Brinley Hirce, Stowe 22:29.90; 7. Aemilia Terrone, Craft 22:41.00; 8. Deborah Bounds, Rice 23:04.90; 9. Hazel Rost, Rice 23:06.50; 10. Moriah Neider, Rice 23:15.60.
DIVISION I BOYS
Team scores: 1. Champlain Valley 47; 2. St. Johnsbury 55; 3. BFA-St. Albans 83; 4. Burlington 109; 5. Brattleboro 124; 6. Essex 127; 7. South Burlington 145; 8. Mount Mansfield 211; 9. Mount Anthony 232; 10. Colchester 278.
Top 10: 1. Benjamin Holoch, CV 16:32.40; 2. Joel Thornton-Sherman, SJ 16:40.00; 3. Nico Conathan-Leach, Bratt 16:52.30; 4. Cole Hart, CV 16:58.30; 5. Garrett Soter, BFA 17:04.40; 6. Jacoby Soter, BFA 17:05.90; 7. Bjorn Peterson, BHS 17:09.50; 8. Treson McEnaney, CV 17:14.10; 9. Bryan Stocker, SJ 17:18.10; 10. Toby Hurteau, BFA 17:20.20.
DIVISION II BOYS
Team scores: 1. U-32 19; 2. Burr and Burton 62; 3. Montpelier 104; 4. Hartford 116; 5. Harwood 145; 6. Lyndon 207; 7. Middlebury 215; 8. Lamoille 239; 9. Woodstock 244; 10. Vergennes 263; 11. Milton 278; 12. Mount Abraham 292; 13. Spaulding 309.
Top 10: 1. Cole Page, U-32 16:51.50; 2. Ben Warfield, U-32 16:59.90; 3. Isaiah Lewitt, BB 17:03.80; 4. Cody Young, U-32 17:27.70; 5. Oliver Miller, U-32 17:57.30; 6. Hayden Villarreal, BB 18:02.30; 7. Oren Winters, U-32 18:11.90; 8. Zachary Taylor, Lyn 18:14.20; 9. Calvin Winters, U-32 18:17.40; 10. Sebastian Traver Adolphus, BB 18:21.40.
DIVISION III BOYS
Team scores: 1. BFA-Fairfax 41; 2. Thetford 78; 3. Peoples 106; 4. Stowe 106; 5. Lake Region 139; 6. Richford 142; 7. Arlington 196; 8. Rice 208; 9. Randolph 217; 10. Craftsbury 229; 11. Hazen 245.
Top 10: 1. Gage Magnuson, Fair 16:38.80; 2. Nico DeLena, Stowe 17:21.00; 3. Kenny Grey, Fair 17:30.30; 4. Finnegan Barden, Rand 17:59.50; 5. Benjamin Luzader, MR 18:11.30; 6. Magnus Hayden, Peoples 18:18.90; 7. Ollie Emery, Thet 18:28.60; 8. Kaegen Gendron, Rich 18:33.10; 9. Henry Scannell, Fair 18:39.20; 10. Paul Slesar, Stowe 18:43.60.
Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter: @aabrami5.
