The past year was a banner one for Upper Valley high school cross country teams.

Hanover rang up a bunch of honors, with the Bears winning conference and state meets along with a strong showing at New Englands. Thetford was its usual excellent, with both the boys and girls racing to runner-up finishes at their state meet. Mascoma continued to grow into a top squad in its NHIAA division, and the Royals have already shown improvement in opening-week action.

On top of that, several programs emerged as potential growing threats to their competition. The challenge now is for programs to compensate for significant graduation losses and keep running toward success.

Here’s a look the region’s runners:

Hanover

Coaches: Eric Picconi, (11th year), Dorcas DenHartog (14th year).

Last year: Boys won the NHIAA Division II meet, the Connecticut Valley Conference meet, were second in the N.H. Meet of Champions and fourth at the New England Championships. Girls were second in the NHIAA Division II meet, second at the CVC, third at the Meet of Champions and fourth at New England. Individually, Lea Perreard was named N.H. Runner of the Year and Gatorade Runner of the Year.

Leagues: NHIAA Division II, Connecticut Valley Conference.

Returners: Seniors — Nicolas Van Citters, Abe Healey, Rex Gleason, Ryan Faris, Alex Valentino, Andrew Valentino, Nandeesh Jain, Heidi Davis, Iris Freeman, Oliver Greenway, Isaac Novosad, Natalie Wainwright. Juniors — Megan Faris, Lea Perreard, Leigh Eggleton, Lila Muirhead, Mary Westrich, Nathaniel Picconi-Eakin, Will Hanaway, Evan Lewandoski, Olivia Liu, Ben Hourdequin, Gabriel Huyck, Matilda Munroe, Ethan Welder, Millie Larrick, Daniel Aleixo. Sophomores —Aila Butler, Ari Hirschler, Ben Groves, Aria Deeb, Alice Bell, Donovan Van Citters, Sage Freeman, Max Brown, Rohan Novosad, Isaac Fellows, Alistair Craib, Cailin Stauth.

Newcomers: Seniors — Maura Lathrop, Layal Arafa. Juniors — Laia Cubina Lopez, Amelia Bailey-Kellog, Freshmen — Yosh Bardach, Oliver Collins, Alexander Collins, Isabella Orsino, Mimi Al-Nimr, Desmond Greenway, Rhys Jones, Madeline Gentile-Borowitz, Isaac McNaughton, Hannah Eck, Phoebe Orner, Willa Crowther, Sophie Cochran, Sunny Liu, Will Roane, Lucille Dent, Joy Cheng.

Outlook: New year, same story for the Bears. Both the girls and boys teams are deep and talented and perhaps just as impressive are the 17 freshmen, portending continued strength in the years ahead.

“There is no dropoff from last season,” coach Eric Picconi said. “They will start and hopefully end the season as strong as the coaches expect. There is a solid core of experienced runners who will be lifted by some genuine talented and determined newcomers. We look forward to a long season of fun running.”

Hartford

Coach: Dan Talbot (first year).

Last year: Boys won the Southern Vermont League championship, with Bennett Moreno finishing second, and were ninth in the Vermont Division II state meet. Girls did not place in the state meet and had a fourth place finish by Geneva Durgin in the Southern Vermont League Championship.

Returners, boys: Seniors — Bennett Moreno, captain, Hugh Wendling. Juniors — Graham MacLaury. Sophomore — Elliot Brooks.

Newcomers, boys: Sophomores — Cam Brackett, Jayden Forbes. Freshmen — Dexter Maxell Crosby, Scott McSherry, Cooper Warren.

Returners, girls: Seniors — Geneva Durgin, captain. Junior — Jaxon DalPra.

Newcomers, girls: Seniors — Nika DuMoulin. Juniors — Lyla Metheny. Sophomores — Sylvia Johnson, Kathryn Summarsell. Freshmen — Aria Smith, Scarlett Brooks, Maddie Carbino, Kira White.  

Outlook: First-year coach Dan Talbot has his top two girls returning and three of the top seven boys back this year.

“With our top two runners returning and eight newcomers, this team has a ton of potential.” coach Dan Talbot said. “The girls hope to compete for the SVL-B team title this fall. The boys hope to defend their SVL-B title and with several new runners and lots of promise, the team will look to improve on last year’s 9th place finish at the state meet.”

Lebanon

Coaches: Kevin Lozeau (11th year), Heidi Caldwell (second year).

Last Year: Boys placed 14th in NHIAA Division II state meet; girls placed fifth in the state meet and qualified for the Meet of Champions

Leagues: NHIAA Division II, Connecticut Valley Conference.

Returners, boys: Seniors — Marco Getchell, Reeve Green, Tomas Kennelly, Doyen Kodiweera, Orr Rabkin, Augustin Ramos-Glew, Palmer Susco, David Zhou. Juniors — Alex Boardman. Sophomores — Koen Christie, Alistair Smith, Will Wilson

Returners, girls: Seniors — Amalia Mladek, Sophia Mladek. Juniors — Annie Hanna, Sarah Smith. Sophomores — Mallory Eshbaugh, Jo Griffin, Ollie Hanna

Newcomers. boys: Juniors — Gabriel Herring; Sophomores — William Beirne-Freiman, Ian Danen-Lucier, Ian George, Micah Sielicki; Freshmen — Ian Kiefer, Payton Maynard, Calvin Ramos-Glew.

Newcomers girls: Juniors — Reagan DiDomenico, Sarah Joudeh, Jaskirat Kaur, Ella Reichert; Sophomores — Ella Dannehy, Kristen Higgins, Harper Pool; Freshmen — Lydia Kennelly, Evie Pilchik.

Outlook: The Raiders have increased numbers this year with a good turnout of newcomers, including several upperclassmen. and the girls return all but one runner, who graduated.

“Led by seniors Doyen Kodiweera and Augustin Ramos-Glew, the boys will look to utilize some of the new talent to help improve upon their 14th place finish at the state meet from last season,” coach Kevin Lozeau said. “The girls, fresh off of an MOC qualification from last year, have seen an influx of many talented young athletes. With the Hanna sisters running well already, they look ready to compete for a top three finish at states to improve upon their performance from 2023.”

Mascoma

Coach: Rick Currier (second year).

Last year: Boys were third in the NHIAA Division III state meet, 17th at the NHIAA Meet of Champions. No girls competed last year.

League: NHIAA Division III.

Returners: Seniors — Brody Albanese, Brayden Cilbrith, Gunner Currier, Trevor Maheu. Sophomores — Karson Rogers, Carl Russell.

Newcomers: Seniors — Emma Colburn, Troy Loynds, Avery McDermott; Juniors — Joanna Behle; Sophomores — Izzy Currier; Freshmen — Blake Howard, John Runnion-Bareford.

Outlook: Mascoma coach Rick Currier is excited for the season as the Royals return the entire boys team from last year and will look to compete for a state championship.

“Two time All State runner Gunner Currier will lead the way for us, but he’s not alone, with Brody Albanese, Trevor Maheu, Carl Russell, and Karson Rogers all having the ability to place in the top 25 at states,” coach Currier said.

Adding to the veteran squad is last year’s number six runner, Brayden Cilbrith, Troy Loynds, who took last year off, and newcomers Blake Howard, John Runnion-Bareford, Avery McDermott.

Currier hopes to begin building a girls program with Emma Colburn and newcomers Izzy Currier and Joanna Behle.

Newport

Coach: Tyler Whipple (first year).

Last year: Placed 19th at NHIAA Division III state meet and seventh at Connecticut Valley Conference championship.

Returners: Juniors — Bryce Palmer, Mike Bohn.

Newcomers: Juniors — Travis Avery, Lukas Pitta. Sophomore — John Wilkinson, captain. Freshman — Bentley Waterman. Eighth grade — Max Huot, Kellan Zullo. Seventh grade — Alex Couitt

Outlook: Coach Tyler Whipple takes over a team with a small roster but he sees Meet of Champions potential.

“This year we look forward to getting three athletes to the MOC and finishing a little stronger as a team at states and CVC,” Whipple said. “Our team is training for 2025 and looking two to three years ahead at this point and hope to be in contention for a divisional state title in said time.”

Oxbow

Coach: Katherine Chobanian. (first year; also coached from 2011-2017).

Last year: No team scores. Casey Wiedrick placed 23rd at the state meet.

Leagues: Northern Vermont Athletic Conference, Vermont Division III.

Returners, girls: Juniors — Casey Wiedrick, Miley Chen.

Returners, boys: Sophomores — Benjamin Nelson, Seamus Fleming.

Newcomers: Freshmen — Jake Danis.

Outlook: Though the team is small, the Olympians have solid talent in Casey Wiedrick and freshman Jake Danis, who was fifth in the NVAC Mountain Division Middle School Championship last year and will be Oxbow’s top runner for the boys.

“The majority of our focus will be on individual results,” coach Katherine Chobanian said. “Casey and Jake show promise to place well at the state meet this year. This is a rebuilding year and I hope we can get back to the numbers needed to compete as a team again in the near future.”

Thetford

Coaches: Joe Deffner (31st year), Emily Silver (22nd year).

Last year: Boys and girls finished second in the Vermont Division III state meet. The boys were also third in the Connecticut Valley Championship and first in the Southern Vermont League championship. The girls were fourth at the CVC and second at the SVL.

Leagues: Southern Vermont League, Vermont Division III.

Returners, boys: Seniors — Miguel Kutter-Walker, Connor Gaine, Brady Sloop, Ramona Spelman, Liam Murphy, Hardy Payson, Oliver Ransom. Juniors — Wendell Durham. Sophomores — Paul Hesser, Paul Kidd.

Newcomers: Sophomores — Aiden Otterman, Kit Payson. Freshman — Olivier Derrendinger.

Returners, girls: Senior — Ava Hayden. Junior — Lucia Carr.

Newcomers: Seniors — Alicja Perdrizet, Ella Harvey. Juniors — Grace Brown, Lula Gage, Aylhea LaBadie. Sophomores — Omi Mali-Stremlau. Freshmen — Mary Crockett, Veena Wang, Maddie Piecuch, Ember Colby

Outlook: Coaches Joe Deffner and Emily Silver see a nice mix of experience and youth for both the boys and girls teams.

“The boys have a strong core of senior veterans anchored by Brady Sloop,” Deffner said. “They should be competitive in October. On the girls side, we have a very young and enthusiastic group with experienced leadership from Ava Hayden. It will be fun to watch their progress.”

White River Valley

Coach: David Mattern (fourth year).

Last year: Girls were eighth in the Vermont Division III state meet and won the Southern Vermont League championship.

Leagues: Vermont Division III, Southern Vermont League.

Returners: Seniors — Madelyn Gibson, Hannah Collins. Juniors — Anya Young, Julia Bowen. Sophomores — Liam White.

Newcomers: Seniors — Hayden Mabey. Freshmen — Ravi Young.

Outlook: The Wildcats said goodbye to one of the top runners in the division, senior Anita Miller, but coach Dave Mattern expects some strong finishes with his small squad

“We have a smaller team this year, but it’s a hard working group and I expect we’ll see some great performances,” Mattern said.

Woodstock

Coaches: Martha Perkins (24th year), Abbie Castriotta (third year).

Last year: Girls were fifth in the Vermont Division II championship and the boys were eighth.

Leagues: Vermont Division II, Southern Vermont League.

Returners: Seniors — Owen Courcey, Edwin Lynds, Myra McNaughton, Izzy Cellini — Juniors: Bethany Thorburn — Sophomores: Nick Cellini, Logan Martes, Liam Wheeler, Lucia Beckwith, Pippa Shaw.

Newcomers: Seniors — Addison Richardson; Juniors — Zach Peterman; Sophomores — Rose Wood, Zara Kahn; Freshmen — Shawn Harriman, Josh Peterman, Aurora Hensel-Whalen, Bella Martes, Ada McNaughton, Ruth Stallard.

Outlook: The Wasps graduated six runners last year and with a large crop of newcomers. the team has “an all-new feel and energy,” coach Martha Perkins said.

“Conceivably, the Cellini siblings (Izzy and Nick) may lead in their respective races, bolstered by charismatic captains (Owen) Courcey, (Myra) McNaughton and (Edwin) Lynds, and a flock of newcomers who have already shown great heart, spirit, energy and teamwork,” Perkins said. “Time and the trails ahead will tell with Woodstock XC.”

Windsor’s athletic director did not respond to email messages.