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Nystrom earns state title in 3,200

Six boys qualify to run at State Open

CANTON, Feb. 14 – Canton senior Erik Nystrom wasn’t one of the pre-race favorites in the 3,200 meter race at Saturday’s Class S indoor track and field championship meet at the New Haven Athletic Center. Four other runners entered in the race had faster times than Nystrom this winter.

But halfway through the race, Nystrom found himself with the leaders as the race spun its way around the gymnasium. “They never broke away. For Erik, it was perfect,” Canton coach Tim O’Donnell said.

In the last 400 meters of the race, Weston’s Steve Piscatelli tried to pull away but Nystrom stayed right with him. In the final 50 meters, Nystrom moved ahead only to see Piscatelli regain the lead. But Nystrom had the last word and sprinted past Piscatelli to become the first Canton athlete to win a state championship in indoor track.

“That was a pleasant surprise,” O’Donnell said. Nystrom’s time of 10:05.56 beat Piscatelli by 0.29 of a second and establishing a new school record, snapping the old record by 18 seconds.

Nystrom’s performance highlighted a stellar effort by the Canton boys who finished seventh in Class S and qualified two individuals and two relay teams for Saturday’s State Open championships. The Canton girls finished tied for 22nd place with a pair of relay teams finishing fifth.

For the boys, Canton’s 1,600 sprint medley team finished second, less than a second behind Rocky Hill. The Warriors 4×400 relay team finished fourth in 3:39.40 and qualified for the State Open with the seventh fastest time.

Brian Magna finished fourth in the 1,000 meters with a school-record time of 2:38.30, also qualifying for the State Open.

“In the past few weeks, the boys have gotten it back together,” O’Donnell said. Magna took fourth in the 1,000 when Old Lyme’s Will Ricker surged in the final lap. Two other runners caught Magna in the last 100 meters but he still ran the seventh fastest time among the six CIAC championship meets. His time of 2:38.30 would have been first in Class M and second in Class LL.

Colin Glasson also made the finals in the shot, finishing eighth with a season-best throw of 42 feet, 3½ inches.

The sprint medley relay team got passed by Rocky Hill in the last 50 meters and finished second, just 1.22 seconds off the pace. “We took the lead early in the last leg and we were looking good,” O’Donnell said. “But (Rocky Hill’s Brian Smith) found another gear and we couldn’t catch him.”

Sennior Chris Hyde ran leadoff (200 meters) with junior Ryan Gallagher on the second leg (200 meters). Senior Dylan Petruskevicious ran the third leg (400 meters) with Magna on the anchor leg (800 meters). Gallagher and Hyde turned in their fastest splits of the year in their 200 meter legs. The relay earned the seventh seed at the State Open.

Canton’s 4×400 relay team was among the leaders on the opening lap but Prince Tech pulled away in the second lap. The same four ran on the 4×4 team expect that Gallagher ran leadoff and Hyde took the second leg.

Girls track
Two relays finish fifth
Two relay teams for the Canton High girls indoor track finished fifth in Saturday’s Class S championships.

The 1,600 meter relay team and 3,200 meter relay team each set school records. High jumper Tyisha Alexander tied her own school record by finishing tied for eighth in the high jump with a leap of 4-8. Shot putter Rachel Schwartzman finished 14th in the shot but broke her school record for the fourth time this year with a throw of 28 feet, 8 inches.

The 3,200 meter relay (4×800) received two outstanding runs from senior leadoff runner Alaina Cassiopo and No. 2 runner senior Frances Klimczak. Senior Katherine Bussiere and sophomore anchor Deanna Nappi also ran well as the team set a school record with a run of 10:27.15, which was a distant six behinds back of Ellington in fourth place.

The four girls on the 1,600 meter relay (4×400) each ran personal bests as the Warriors finished with a school-record time of 4:32.18. They were about a half second behind Haddam-Killingworth in fourth place but about 10 seconds out of third place. Junior Alessandra Summa, Klimczak, Nappi and Bussiere made up the team.

Klimczak finished seventh in the 1,600 meters in 5:46.84 while the sprint medley relay team of Summa, Elyse Minichello, Nappi and Bussiere finished 10th with their best time of the season, 4:48.36.
2009 Class S boys
indoor track
At New Haven
Team results – 1. Weston 57, 2. Prince Tech 43, 3. Northwest Catholic and Bloomfield 36, 5. East Catholic 34, 6. East Catholic 34, 7. Canton 26, 8. Lewis Mills 18, 9. Windham Tech, Griswold and Sacred Heart-Waterbury 16, 12. Holy Cross, Valley Regional, Hartford Classical 14, 15. Career-New haven 12, 16. Old Saybrook 11, 17. Lyme-Old Lyme, Haddam-Killingworth 10, 19. Suffield and Morgan 8, 21. East Hampton 7½, 22. Coginchaug 7, 23. Capital Prep and Thomaston 6, 25. Hyde School 4, 26. Stafford 3, 27. Ellington 1½, 28, Killingly 1

55 Meter Dash: 1. Aaron Radden, Sacred Heart, 6.55; 2. Jonathan; Gentle, Bloomfield, 6.58; 3. Leon Samuel, Capital Prep, 6.72; 4.; Conor O’Brien, Rocky Hill, 6.73; 5. Eric Irizarry, Thomaston,; 6.83; 6. Scott Bradrick, Stafford, J6.83.
19. Luke Talbot, Canton 7.11, 23. Chris Hyde, Canton 7.16
300 Meters: 1. Eric Kennedy, Northwest CA, 35.70; 2.; Christopher Rose, Hartford Cla, 36.14; 3. Rudolph Cowan, A.I.; Prince, 36.19; 4. Jonathan Gentle, Bloomfield, 36.27; 5. Aaron; Radden, Sacred Heart, 36.55; 6. Joshua Walton, A.I. Prince,; 36.64.
600 Meters: 1. Joshua Walton, A.I. Prince, 1:24.45; 2. Sean; Nunan, Morgan, 1:25.59; 3. Christopher Rose, Hartford Cla,; 1:25.65; 4. Rudolph Cowan, A.I. Prince, 1:26.99; 5. Jaquan Prude,; Bloomfield, 1:28.12; 6. Zachary Towne, Old Saybrook, 1:30.47.
1000 Meters: 1. Will Ricker, Lyme-Old Lym, 2:35.32; 2. Andrew; Duarte, Rocky Hill, 2:37.55; 3. James Bloom, Weston, 2:38.20; 4.; Brian Magna, Canton, 2:38.30; 5. Christopher Rodriguez, A.I.; Prince, 2:42.18; 6. Reed Kochanek, East Catholi, 2:47.98.
1600 Meters: 1. Steven Piscatelli, Weston, 4:29.67; 2. Chris; Reynolds, Suffield, 4:31.15; 3. Mike Chemerka, Windham Tech,; 4:42.53; 4. Kevin Dunn, Valley Regio, 4:43.72; 5. Nico Greco,; Northwest CA, 4:47.00; 6. Gabe Olsen, Thomaston, 4:48.85.
3200 Meter Run: 1. Erik Nystrom, Canton, 10:05.56;2. Steven; Piscatelli, Weston, 10:05.77; 3. John Khalil, East Catholi,; 10:11.19; 4. Nico Greco, Northwest Catholic, 10:13.06; 5. Jason Funaro,; Haddam Killi, 10:15.97; 6. Aleksandr Morin, Coginchaug, 10:16.20.
55 Meter Hurdles: 1. Rodrigo Souza, Old Saybrook, 7.83; 2.; Mikkell Noble, A.I. Prince, 8.03; 3. Brendin Beaulieu-Jones, East; Catholi, 8.13; 4. John Stein, Holy Cross, 8.18; 5. Matt; Syzmanski, Stafford, 8.37; 6. Zachary Hajder, Killingly, 8.41.
12. David Kucia, Canton, 9.18
4×200 Meter Relay: 1. Northwest Catholic (Alden Jasper 11,; Trenton Jackson 11, Ryan Siegel 11, Eric Kennedy 11), 1:33.98; 2.; Bloomfield, 1:38.01; 3. Weston, 1:38.61; 4. Career, 1:38.78; 5.; Thomaston, 1:39.59; 6. East Catholic, 1:39.60.
18. Canton (Luke Talbot, Tyler Plourd, James Solomon, David Kucia) 1:43.82
4×400 Meter Relay: 1. A.I. Prince Tech. (Vincent Harrison 12,; Christopher Rodriguez 12, Rudolph Cowan 12, Joshua Walton 12),; 3:33.19; 2. Rocky Hill, 3:35.75; 3. East Catholic, 3:37.43; 4.; Canton (Ryan Gallagher, Chris Hyde, Dylan Petruskevicius, Brian Magna), 3:39.40; 5. Weston, 3:42.40; 6. Haddam Killingworth,; 3:43.20.
4×800 Meter Relay: 1. Valley Regional (Kevin Dunn 11, Darren; Walden 11, Eric Dunn 12, Samuel Haney 12), 8:17.76R; 2. East; Catholic, 8:32.82; 3. Coginchaug, 8:42.04; 4. Northwest Catholic,; 8:44.04; 5. Weston, 8:47.36; 6. Thomaston, 8:47.42.
10. Canton (Sean Murphy, Matt Casey, Erik Nystrom, D. Petruskevicius) 9:08.77
1600 Sprint Medley: 1. Rocky Hill (Colby Donavan 10, Andrew; Duarte 12, Andrew Hodge 12, Brian Smith 12), 3:44.37; 2. Canton (Chris Hyde, Ryan Gallagher, Dylan Petruskevicius, Brian Magna)  3:45.09; 3. East Catholic, 3:45.29; 4. Weston, 3:47.24; 5. A.I.; Prince Tech., 3:49.51; 6. Haddam Killingworth, 3:51.89.
High Jump: 1. Justin Blades, Griswold, 6-02; 2. Greg Warner, Holy; Cross, 6-00; 3. Dovin Crooks, Bloomfield, 5-08; 4. Jeffrey Hall,; Haddam Killi, J5-08; 5. Chris Pfrommer, Haddam Killi, J5-08; 6.; Adrian Ilinski, Lewis Mills, J5-08.
Pole Vault: 1. Tyler Campbell, Windham Tech, 13-06; 2. Joe Pasco,; Lewis Mills, 12-00; 2. Josh Aviner, Weston, 12-00; 4. Brendan; Gustafson, East Hampton, J12-00; 5. Matthew Stephan, Ellington,; 11-00; 5. Nathan Abraham, East Hampton, 11-00.
Long Jump: 1. Michael Orefice, Lewis Mills, 21-02.75; 2. Anthony; Suggs, Career, 21-00; 3. Eric Kennedy, Northwest CA, 20-11.25; 4.; Aaron Radden, Sacred Heart, 20-07.25; 5. John Stein, Holy Cross,; 20-02.50; 6. Justin Prestash, East Hampton, 20-02.
19. Luke Talbot, Canton, 15-9
Shot Put: 1. Daniel Eldon, Weston, 47-03.50; 2. Lamar Gary, Bloomfield, 47-01.50; 3. Kyle Cholewa, Griswold, 46-10; 4. Justen; Wilson, Hyde School, 44-06.75; 5. Michael Figueroa, Weston,; 43-05.50; 6. Anthony Viccaro, East Hampton, 42-10.25.
8. Collin Glasson, Canton, 42-3.5

2009 Class S girls indoor track
at New Haven
Team results – 1. Weston 85, 2. Bloomfield 48, 3. Immaculate 44, 4. East Hampton 42½, 5. Hartford Classical 42, 6. Northwest Catholic 21, 7. Old Saybrook 20, 7. Hyde 20, 9. Capital Prep 18, 10. Portland and Morgan 14, 12. North Branford 11, 13. St. Paul and Haddam-Killingworth, East Catholic 10, 16. Coventry, Ellington, Coginchaug 8, 19. Lyme-Old Lyme 7, 20. Lewis Mills 6½, 21. Griswold 6, 22. Holy Cross and Canton 4, 24. Valley Regional, Woodland 1, 26. Cromwell and Windham Tech ½
55 Meter: 1. Cherish Richardson, Hyde School, 7.38;; 2. Atalya Odems, Hartford Cla, 7.50; 3. Sonnett Bromfield,; Capital Prep, 7.52; 4. Claiborne Jones, Ellington, 7.56; 5.; Kathryn Bobinski, Holy Cross, 7.66; 6. Brittany Cowee, Lyme-Old Lyme  7.90.
300 Meters: 1. Cherish Richardson, Hyde School, 42.12; 2.; Tina Thomas, Hartford Cla, 42.62; 3. Chantelle Deer, Bloomfield,; 42.88; 4. Sonnett Bromfield, Capital Prep, 43.17; 5. Tiffany; Harrison, Bloomfield, 43.20; 6. Kathryn Bobinski, Holy Cross,; 43.53.
600 Meters: 1. Dezarell May, Bloomfield, 1:40.60; 2. Aminah; Foxworth, Capital Prep, 1:43.70; 3. Margaret Sanborn, Weston,; 1:45.12; 4. Rebecca Fine, Weston, 1:45.26; 5. Kara Bucaro,; Weston, 1:45.83; 6. Molly Tower, Lewis Mills, 1:45.90.
1000 Meters: 1. Laura Lindsley, St. Paul, 3:04.67; 2. Megan; MacBryde, Coventry, 3:05.32; 3. Emma Tobin, Weston, 3:11.11; 4.; Jessica Moore, Haddam Killi, 3:12.02; 5. Cora Gingras, East; Hampton, 3:14.26; 6. Meghan Feeney, Northwest CA, 3:15.68.
1600 Meters: 1. Moira Kenny, Immaculate, 5:11.55; 2. Katie; Collins, Immaculate, 5:14.22; 3. Allie Cooper, Portland, 5:21.67;; 4. Jenn Ross, Lyme-Old Lym, 5:28.35; 5. Brittany Carroll, Morgan,; 5:37.16; 6. Allison Gates, Valley Regio, 5:38.80.
7. Frances Klimczak, Canton, 5:46.84
3200 Meters: 1. Moira Kenny, Immaculate, 11:13.44; 2. Katie; Collins, Immaculate, 11:27.01; 3. Kellie Walker, North Branfo,; 11:30.26; 4. Alyssa Selmquist, North Branfo, 12:06.38; 5. Kelsey; Rooth, Portland, 12:15.79; 6. Sarah Griffin, Weston, 12:17.41.
55 Meter Hurdles: 1. Nora Brown, Old Saybrook, 8.82; 2. Emily; Lane, Morgan, 9.15; 3. Elizabeth Plummer, East Hampton, 9.45; 4.; Hannah Blondin, East Hampton, 9.59; 5. Kathryn Bacher, Weston,; 9.65; 6. Alyssa Marti, Woodland, 9.73.
4×200 Meter Relay: 1. Hartford Classical (Tina Thomas 12, Janel; Rease 11, Sarah Wolliston 12, Atalya Odems 11), 1:49.32; 2.; Bloomfield, 1:50.51; 3. Weston, 1:52.89; 4. East Hampton,; 1:53.34; 5. Lyme-Old Lyme, 1:53.91; 6. Holy Cross, 1:54.55.
4×400 Meter Relay: 1. Bloomfield (Tiffany Harrison 10, Chantelle; Deer 10, Tobiann Lascelles 11, Dezarell May 10), 4:06.07R; 2.; Hartford Classical, 4:09.35R; 3. Weston, 4:10.24; 4. Haddam; Killingworth, 4:31.82; 5. Canton (Alessandra Summa, Frances Klimczak, Deanna Nappi, Katherine Bussiere)  4:32.18; 6. Griswold, 4:33.75.
4×800 Meter Relay: 1. Weston (Kara Bucaro 10, Emma Tobin 12,; Margaret Sanborn 11, Sarah Griffin 11), 9:53.67R; 2. Immaculate,; 9:54.03R; 3. Portland, 10:13.35; 4. Ellington, 10:21.09; 5. Canton (Alaina Cassiopo, Frances Klimczak, Katherine Bussiere, Deanna Nappi), 10:27.15; 6. North Branford, 10:37.38.
1600 Sprint Medley: 1. Weston (Erica Litvak 10, Callie Arlo 10,; Catherine Roberts 11, Sarah Griffin 11), 4:27.43; 2. Hartford; Classical, 4:35.29; 3. Bloomfield, 4:35.85; 4. East Hampton,; 4:38.21; 5. Haddam Killingworth, 4:38.41; 6. Lewis Mills,; 4:38.93.
10. Canton (Alessandra Summa, Elyse Minichello, Deanna Nappi, Katie Bussiere) 4:48.56
High Jump: 1. Alexandra Tomasi, East Catholi, 5-00; 2. Lora; Manley, Coginchaug, J5-00; 3. Amanda Falade, Griswold, J5-00; 3.; Emily Lane, Morgan, J5-00; 3. Chloe Palma, Lewis Mills, J5-00; 6.; Cora Gingras, East Hampton, 4-10; 6. Kathryn Mikolinski,; Cromwell, 4-10.
T8. Tyisha Alexander, Canton, 4-8
Pole Vault: 1. Emily Ando, Weston, 11-00R; 2. Erica Litvak,; Weston, 9-06; 3. Julie Sitver, Weston, 9-00; 4. Andrea Galanto,; East Hampton, J9-00; 5. Ann Lupo, Weston, J9-00; 6. Amy Huhn,; Windham Tech, 8-06; 6. Amy Neumann, Lewis Mills, 8-06.
Long Jump: 1. Nora Brown, Old Saybrook, 16-10.25; 2. Hannah; Blondin, East Hampton, 15-09.50; 3. Kathryn Bacher, Weston,; J15-09.50; 4. Cora Gingras, East Hampton, 15-08; 5. Tobiann; Lascelles, Bloomfield, 15-07.50; 6. Sarah Greiner, Griswold,; 15-02.25.
Shot Put: 1. Camille Charles, Northwest CA, 35-00; 2. Kelsey; Marakovits, Northwest CA, 34-11; 3. Michelle Brahen, East; Hampton, 33-02.50; 4. Shemika Thomas, Bloomfield, 32-11.50; 5.; Melissa Martucci, Northwest CA, 31-08; 6. Alexandra DeLorenze,; Westbrook, 31-04.25.

14. Rachel Schwartzman, Canton, 28-8

Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of The Collinsville Press. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 40 years. He was inducted into the New England High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018.

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