The Avon High boys indoor track and field team finished sixth in Class M — their highest finish since 1982. (Photo courtesy Courtney Fusco)
NEW HAVEN, February 15, 2020 – Jack Martin and Max Raha became the first Avon athletes to win an indoor track and field state championship in 38 years on Saturday at the CIAC Class M championship meet. They helped the Falcons finish sixth, the best finish since the program was revived in 2010.
Martin won the 1,600 meters with a school record time of 4:19.82, beating Tolland’s Alec Suter (4:20.88) and Tolland’s Killian McNamee by a second. With his time, Martin earned the top seed for Saturday’s State Open championships in the event.
In the long jump, Raha had the top leap in qualifying with a jump of 20-7¾ feet. On his second jump of the finals, he extended his lead to 20-10. Torrington’s Ranger Pascual improved throughout the competition but couldn’t catch Raha. Pasqual finished second with a leap of 20-8¾.
They are the first state champions in indoor track for the Falcons since 1982 when Brad Geyer won the long jump with a Class S meet record leap (at the time) of 21-8 feet and Jeff Hyman won the 3,000 meters with a time of 8:52.26. Avon finished fourth in Class S in 1982.
Tyler Hinriches and Avon’s 4×400 relay team also qualified to run in Saturday’s State Open championships. Hinrichs finished fourth in the 600 meters at Saturday’s Class M meet with a time of 1:25.59 to earn a spot in the State Open.
Avon’s 4×400 relay team (Hinrichs, Hari Patchgolla, Anish Rajamanickam and Martin) finished fourth with a school record time of 3:35.45.
The Falcon 4×200 relay team (Rahah, Jack Donlin, Patchgolla and Rajamanickam) also finished fourth with a school-record time of 1:36.4.
Thomas Ko finished fourth in the 55 meter dash with a time of 6.81 seconds, a new senior class record in the program.
Avon’s sprint medley relay team (Raha, Donlin, Hinrichs, Rajamanickam) finished sixth with a time of 3:50.90. The 4×800 relay (Carver Morgan, Alvin Guo, Nicholas Alphonso, Daniel Carvalho) was eighth with a time of 8:56.43.
The Avon girls finished 25th in the field at the Class M championship meet, led by Marenn Ek, who was fifth in the 1,600 meters with a time of 5:34.78.
Wren Worth was tenth in the 55 hurdles with a time of 9.77 seconds while Gabrielle Richmond was 13th in the 1,000 meters with a time of season-best time of 3:24.61.
2020 Class M indoor track and field results
