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By James Lidington

Isle of Wight Academy

The Isle of Wight Academy cross country teams finished undefeated seasons with a recent meet at Kenston Forest School in Blackstone.

Pierce Cutler was the top overall boys finisher, completing the 3-mile course in 19:12. Teammate John Butler finished sixth at 19:57, eighth-grader Jayce Joyner was 12th at 22:19, and Brett Landen was 17th at 22:54.

Isle of Wight took the top three spots in the girls’ race. Lorraine Upton was the girls winner, completing the course in 22:07. Hannah McClain finished second at 22:35, and Olivia Upton finished third at 24:15. The Chargers’ Petra Cutler finished just shy of the medal platform; she placed fifth at 24:58. Isle of Wight’s Reese Upton finished 11th at 27:11.

“We … ran a slightly shorter course,” Isle of Wight Cross Country Coach Margarita Castillo said. “(We) had enough girls to form a team and, in true Charger spirit, they finished in first place with 22 points.”

She added that the school was one boy short of the team minimum at the March 24 meet, but those that attended worked hard and set some personal-best times.

The Chargers also claimed the top spot in boys and girls races in a meet March 10 at Windsor Castle Park, setting five personal and five course records.

Jack Powell, Joseph Askew and Pierce Cutler finished in the top three spots with times of 18:44, 19:03 and 19:26, respectively.

Butler was fifth at 20:03, Zach Gist was 10th at 21:09, Landen was 13th at 22:39, and Joyner was 15th with a time of 23:38.

Lorraine Upton and McClain claimed the top two spots in the girls race, completing the 3.1-mile course in 21:54 and 23:03, respectively. Eighth-grader Hailey Whitley finished third at 24:08; Olivia Upton, fourth, 24:53; Petra Cutler, fifth, 25:15; Alex Wilson, sixth, 25:17; Molly Johnson, eighth, 26:19; and Reese Upton, ninth, 28:06.

The girls team claimed the top four spots at a meet at Southampton Academy March 5, also claiming the girls team title.

Lorraine Upton finished first at 21:49, McClain finished second at 22:29, Olivia Upton placed third at 24:19, and Whitley placed fourth at 24:35.

Four other Charger girls runners — Johnson, Wilson, Cutler and Reese Upton — also finished in the top 10.

Powell took the top spot in the boys’ race, completing the layout in 18:51. Askew and Cutler rounded out the top three, in that order. Gist was fifth at 20:17 and Butler sixth, at 20:19, setting the stage for Isle of Wight to claim the team title.

Isle of Wight was the top finisher in both boys and girls divisions in a meet Feb. 24.

The Chargers’ girls team had 17 points; its next-closest competition was Southampton Academy with 70 points.

Isle of Wight’s boys team notched 25 points, followed by Brunswick Academy with 55 and Southampton with 57.

The Charger baseball and softball teams are scheduled to begin their seasons April 13 at Tidewater Academy.