Avon girls win first NCCC indoor title, Canton boys finish second

Avon’s Molly Hamel leads Rachael Rosow

NEW HAVEN, Jan. 22 – It’s only been the last few years that runners in Canton, Avon and Granby have had the opportunity to compete in indoor track and field.

They’re taking advantage of the opportunity.

The Avon High girls indoor track team, only in its fourth season, won its first NCCC championship Tuesday night at the Floyd Little Athletic Center at Hillhouse High with three individual champions and three winning relays.

For the fourth time in the last five years, the Canton High boys indoor track team finished at least second at the NCCC championships with three individual champions and two winning relay teams.

And the Granby High girls indoor track team turned in its best-ever performance, taking third, led by Ashley Piccirillo, who won the 1,000 meters and a league champion 4×400 meter relay team. It was the first relay team from Granby to win a league indoor track championship.

Four years ago, Avon resurrected its indoor track and field program. The Avon High boys participated in the 1960s and 1970s. Beginning in 2010, it was the first opportunity for girls to participate as a team in indoor track.

Now, the Falcon girls are league champions after a dominant 110-78 victory over Ellington. The strength of the team comes from a core of runners who won a Class MM state championship in cross country this fall and was second at the State Open.

Sophomore Molly Hamel won the 1,600 meters and was second in the 3,200 meters. Junior Rachael Rosow was second in the 1,600 meters. Maddi McHugh was second in the 1,000 meters while Sara Stokesbury was third in the 1,000 meters. Kristen Goldie was sixth in the 3,200 meters.

Hamel, Stokesbury, Rosow and Goldie won the 4×800 relay by a whopping 16 seconds. McHugh and Stokesbury ran on the winning sprint medley relay.

“They’ve done well,” Avon coach Al Dadario said. “The whole program has really taken off. They did well today. The way we’ve been running this season, I thought we could win tonight.”

The Falcons are getting contributions from other athletes, too, and not just on the track.

Caroline Rendeiro, who played volleyball in the fall, finished second in the high jump with a school record leap of five feet. Chamiyah Rowland, who played on the Class L champion girls soccer team, was second in the 55 meters with a school record time of 7.41 seconds and ran on the winning 4×200 relay and sprint medley relay. Another soccer player, Amanda Holzman, won the 600 meters with a school record time of 1:44.94 and ran on the winning 4×200 relay.

Tara Shayler and Stephanie Koo also ran on the 4×200 relay while Karina Bucci ran on the sprint medley relay, which set a new school record with a time of 4:38.81 and easily won by 11 seconds.

Jade Yen was second in the shot with a throw of 28 feet, 9 inches. Koo was fifth in the 300 meters while Maeve Reiss was fifth in the long jump with a school record leap of 14 feet, 7 inches.

“Running was the key but we were pretty balanced on the girls team,” Dadario said.

The Avon boys had a smaller team and finished eighth in the field of 12 teams.

The 4×800 relay (Mike Oberhausen, Brett Holzman, Connor Wise, Andrew Redlund) and the sprint medley relay (Evan Edgar, Frank Campanelli, Ben Crawford, James Grant) teams each finished third. The 4×800 team set a new school record with a time of 9:17.38, nearly 17 seconds better than the previous record set in 2010.

Evan Edgar (55 meters, 300), Brett Holzman (600) and Wise (1,600) each finished fifth in their respective events.

The Canton boys won a pair of NCCC championships in 2010 and 2011. Head coach Tim O’Donnell was hoping his Warriors could add a third banner but defending champion Ellington was too strong with 122 points compared to 99 for Canton – their highest score outside of their two championship seasons.

“We had opportunities and we didn’t seize them,” O’Donnell said. “We had enough kids turns in good performances. Ellington actually outperformed (their seeds) in many events.”

Keith Wilson set a new school record winning the 300 meters in 36.85 seconds, snapping the old mark set by Jasen Watson in 2007. He also finished second in the 55 hurdles in 8.24 seconds, just 0.02 seconds behind the winner Tyrik Henry of Enfield.

Julian Franklin set a new school record winning the long jump with a leap of 19 feet, 9¾ inches, nipping the old mark set by Kyle Hall in 2010 but a ¼ of an inch. Franklin also took sixth in the long jump.

Matt Graziano, who won a State Open and New England championship in the discus last spring, won the shot for the second year in a row with a throw of 42 feet, 7½ inches.

Wilson, Franklin, Matt DeMarco and Jimmy Spatcher won the 4×400 relay for the Warriors while DeMarco, Keith Loureiro, Riley Hollis and Wyatt Campbell teamed up to capture the sprint medley relay.

James Yost was second in the 1,600 meters and fourth in the 3,200 meters. Deryk Parson took third in the long jump with a leap of 19-1 feet.

The Canton girls had about a dozen athletes and they finished tied for seventh with East Windsor. Sarah Allen had a fine evening by taking third in the 55 hurdles, long jump and high jump for the Warriors.

Allen’s time of 9.84 seconds in the 55 hurdles set a new school record, erasing the old mark set by Tyisha Alexander (10.08) in 2010. Canton teammate Lucy Tanner was a few seconds behind in fourth place in 9.89 seconds.

Anna Waite was fifth in the shot. Canton’s 4×200 relay team of Anna Waite, Lucy Tanner, Taryn Asklof, Morgan Scafuri was fourth in 1:59.02.

The Granby High girls were missing several athletes. Some were home studying for exams while others attended President Obama’s second inauguration the day before. But coach Bob Casey was still thrilled with what the Bears accomplished. Granby scored 56 points to take third – its best-ever finish at the NCCC championships.

Piccirillo won the 1,000 meters in 3:13.79, beating defending champion Maddi McHugh of Avon by less than a second. Piccirillo became just the second girl to win an individual indoor track title for the Bears.

“The 1,000 is her race,” Casey said. “It’s a great race for her because she gets to use her endurance (from cross country) and her speed.”

Piccirillo also ran on Granby’s winning 4×400 relay team that came from behind on the final lap to grab the win. Ellington had a good lead when Piccirillo handed off to anchor runner Shannon Ryan. The Bears still led by about five meters with one lap to go but Ryan got stronger and Ellington’s final runner faded.

Ryan took the lead in the final straightaway and held off a surge from Coventry to allow Granby to win with a time of 4:35.76, just 0.02 a head of the Patriots. Cindy Jones and Alexa Cipkas ran the first two legs of the race for Granby.

Everyone earned points for the Bears. Jones and Ryan were fourth and sixth in the 600 meters, respectively. Cipkas was third in the 1,600 while Katie Pinson was fourth in the 3,200 meters. Ryan and Emily Betterton were fourth and fifth, respectively, in the high jump.

Granby’s sprint medley relay (Emily Betterton, Olivia Deleon, Rebecca Rising, Ashley Piccirillo) was second, only a second ahead of Coventry.

The Granby boys had a smaller team at the meet and they finished tied for sixth. Senior Alex Uhl had an outstanding day. He won the high jump with a leap of 5-10, took second in the pole vault with a season-best leap of 10-6 and finished sixth in the long jump. He qualified for the Class S championship meet in all three events.

Granby’s sprint medley relay of Colin McManus, Jeremy Ray, Christopher Holden and Jeff Turcotte finished fifth.

2013 NCCC Championships
At New Haven
Team results – BOYS: 1. Ellington 122, 2. Canton 99, 3. Enfield 54, 4. Windsor Locks 34, 5. East Windsor 33, 6. Stafford and Granby 23, 8. Suffield and Avon 22, 10. East Granby 12, 11. SMSA 9, 12. Coventry 8

Team results – GIRLS: 1. Avon 110, 2. Ellington 78, 3. Granby 56, 4. Stafford 48, 5. Coventry 42, 6. Suffield 41, 7. Canton and East Windsor 31, 9. SMSA 20, 10. Windsor Locks 4, 11. Enfield 1

Individual results
BOYS 4x200m Relay
1. Ellington A, (Thomas MacKintosh, Andrew Oliwa, Patrick Caruthers, Andrew Parker), 1:38.87; 2. Enfield A, (Michael Casey, Tyrik Henry, Shaquille Jessop, Matthew Buanno), 1:39.08; 3. Canton A, (Keith Loureiro, Deryk Parsons, Riley Hollis, Wyatt Campbell), 1:40.29; 4. Windsor Lokcs A, (Alex Bouchard, Vincent Russo, Chase Dargie, Matt Rodriguez), 1:41.75; 5. East Windsor A, (Kevin Jones, Tucker Rajala, Larry Pagano, Carlos Ceballos), 1:47.01; 6. Suffield A, (Josh Cardin, Alex Champagne, Stanley Guy, Thomas Rigby), 1:47.17

GIRLS 4x200m Relay
1. Avon A, (Stephanie Koo, Chamiyah Rowland, Tara Shayler, Amanda Holzman), 1:52.70; 2. Ellington A, (Kathryne Bergeron, Kelsey Sgarlata, Emily Gerber, Nicole Paparian), 1:53.88; 3. East Windsor A, (Tajha Lewis, Marissa Simonelli, Destiny Hodges, Daisia Walker), 1:57.50; 4. Canton A, (Anna Waite, Lucy Tanner, Taryn Asklof, Morgan Scafuri), 1:59.02; 5. Stafford A, (Marissa Dwyer, Shannon Stuart, Jasmine Murray, Emma Milikowski), 2:03.05; 6. Granby A, (Emily Betterton, Rebecca Rising, Olivia Deleon, Lauren Wutka), 2:03.08

BOYS 4x800m Relay
1. Ellington A, (Jonathan Wing, Timothy Daigle, Neal Hulstein, Joseph Taft), 8:47.12; 2. East Windsor A, (Aaron Graef, Brian Lopuk, Clay Harman, Clayton Odell), 8:51.07; 3. Avon A, (Mike Oberhausen, Brett Holzman, Connor Wise, Andrew Redlund), 9:17.38; 4. Canton A, (Jake Neeley, Dean Yost, Jake Whittinslow, Tyler Steers), 9:26.05; 5. Enfield A, (Shane Spring, Anthony Romei, Kyle Fujio, Ian Turnberg), 9:38.88; 6. Stafford A, (Ben Gluck, Brendan Goodwin, Matt Moore, Shane Kalette), 10:07.81;

GIRLS 4x800m Relay
1. Avon A, (Rachel Rosow, Molly Hamel, Sara Stokesbury, Kristen Goldie), 10:27.98; 2. Ellington A, (Katherine Lee, Emily Lorenzet, Mechelle Prouty, Kayla Sgarlata), 10:43.04; 3. Granby A, (Kelsey Iwanicki, Alexa Cipkas, Cindy Jones, Katie Pinson), 11:07.91; 4. Windsor Lokcs A, (Nancy Montemerlo, Cassie Morrel, Katie Cobb, Rachel Loughran), 11:30.35; 5. Stafford A, (Rachel Gallison, Erica Lawlor, Kaela Maloney, Brianna Reeves), 11:40.20; 6. Canton A, (Lindsey Milligan, Sarah First, Lacey Sullivan, Eliza Chekas) 11:40.85

BOYS 55m Hurdles
1. Tyrik Henry, Enfield 8.22;  2. Keith Wilson, Canton 8.24;  3. Evan Cummins, Stafford 8.28; 4. Dan Manzi, Coventry 8.28;  5. Kevin Jones, East Windsor 8.87;  6. Dave Walker, East Windsor 9.23;

GIRLS 55m Hurdles
1. Jen Bourque, Stafford 9.56;  2. Meg Oliphant, Coventry 9.70;  3. Sarah Allen, Canton 9.84; 4. Lucy Tanner, Canton 9.89;  5. Anna Larochelle, Suffield 9.95; 6. Melanie Byrne, East Windsor 10.06;

BOYS 55m Dash
1. Matthew Buanno, Enfield 6.79;  2. Jehandrae Grant, East Granby 6.92;  3. Matt Rodriguez, Windsor Lokcs 6.94; 4. Patrick Caruthers, Ellington 7.14;  5. Evan Edgar, Avon 7.18; 6. Wilfredo Alicea, Sport and Medical 7.21;

GIRLS 55m Dash
1. Joy Padgett, Sport and Medical 7.37;  2. Chamiyah Rowland, Avon 7.41;  3. Daisia Walker, East Windsor 7.71; 4. Nur Hamideh, Suffield 7.79;  5. Emily Gerber, Ellington 7.93; 6. Stephanie Koo, Avon 8.03;

BOYS 1000m Run
1. Jimmy Clark, Suffield 2:42.39;  2. Spencer Lebel, Ellington 2:43.54;  3. Matt Demarco, Canton 2:44.62; 4. Jordan Dixon, Ellington 2:47.50;  5. Drew Cohen, Ellington 2:48.91; 6. Thomas Rigby, Suffield 2:50.78;

GIRLS 1000m Run
1. Ashley Piccirillo, Granby 3:13.79;  2. Maddie McHugh, Avon 3:14.28; 3. Sara Stokesbury, Avon 3:15.12;  4. Lauren Izabel, Suffield 3:16.30; 5. Anna Chamberland, Ellington 3:16.33;  6. Jennifer Hulstein, Ellington 3:17.75;

BOYS 600m Run
1. Andrew Oliwa, Ellington 1:27.38;  2. Andrew Parker, Ellington 1:27.62;  3. Thomas MacKintosh, Ellington 1:28.99; 4. Jimmy Spatcher, Canton 1:30.38;  5. Brett Holzman, Avon 1:33.89; 6. Augie Shaw, Canton 1:34.34;

GIRLS 600m Run
1. Amanda Holzman, Avon 1:44.94;  2. Kathryne Bergeron, Ellington 1:46.68; 3. Raquel Pouliot, Coventry 1:47.21; 4. Cindy Jones, Granby 1:49.44; 5. Shelby McCormick, Suffield 1:50.34; 6. Shannon Ryan, Granby 1:51.19;

BOYS 1600m Run
1. Neal Hulstein, Ellington 4:46.79;  2. James Yost, Canton 4:47.84;  3. Clayton Odell, East Windsor 4:50.11; 4. Alex Norstrom, Coventry 4:52.95;  5. Connor Wise, Avon 4:58.21; 6. Joseph Taft, Ellington 5:06.06;

GIRLS 1600m Run
1. Molly Hamel, Avon 5:33.10;  2. Rachel Rosow, Avon 5:37.39;  3. Alexa Cipkas, Granby 5:43.40; 4. Kayla Sgarlata, Ellington 5:50.70;  5. Katherine Lee, Ellington 5:58.00; 6. Leah Keenan, Enfield 6:02.64;

BOYS 1600m Sprint Medley RELAY
1. Canton A, (Keith Loureiro, Riley Hollis, Wyatt Campbell, Matt Demarco), 3:58.81; 2. Ellington A, (Ian Chandler, Patrick Caruthers, Drew Cohen, Joshua Weintraub), 4:00.55; 3. Avon A, (Evan Edgar, Frank Campanelli, Ben Crawford, James Grant), 4:16.59; 4. Windsor Lokcs A, (Darien Arnum, Nathan Sheffer, Ago Jimenez, Ryan Podann), 4:32.70; 5. Granby A, (Colin McManus, Jeremy Ray, Christopher Holden, Jeff Turcotte), 4:56.48;

GIRLS 1600m Sprint Medley RELAY
1. Avon A, (Chamiyah Rowland, Karina Bucci, Maddie McHugh, Sara Stokesbury), 4:38.81; 2. Granby A, (Emily Betterton, Olivia Deleon, Rebecca Rising, Ashley Piccirillo), 4:49.00; 3. Coventry A, (Raquel Pouliot, Meg Oliphant, Jessica Beausoleil, Amanda Joslin), 4:50.12; 4. Ellington A, (Kelsey Sgarlata, Emily Lorenzet, Laura Oliwa, Mechelle Prouty), 4:54.88; 5. Stafford A, (Jasmine Murray, Jen Bourque, Shannon Stuart, Rachel Gallison), 4:55.95; 6. Canton A, (Morgan Scafuri, Taryn Asklof, Jenna Janssen, Eliza Chekas), 4:57.63;

BOYS 300m Dash
1. Keith Wilson, Canton 36.85;  2. Matthew Buanno, Enfield 37.97;  3. Andrew Oliwa, Ellington 38.03; 4. Jehandrae Grant, East Granby 39.15;  5. Evan Edgar, Avon 39.25; 6. Andrew Parker, Ellington 39.59;

GIRLS 300m Dash
1. Joy Padgett, Sport and Medical 44.58;  2. Amanda Jacobsen, Stafford 44.88;  3. Nur Hamideh, Suffield 45.22; 4. Emily Gerber, Ellington 46.08;  5. Stephanie Koo, Avon 46.22; 6. Lauren Izabel, Suffield 46.59;

BOYS 3200m Run
1. Neal Hulstein, Ellington 10:11.96;  2. Jimmy Clark, Suffield 10:15.31;  3. Jordan Dixon, Ellington 10:32.48; 4. James Yost, Canton 10:33.30;  5. Spencer Lebel, Ellington 10:36.52; 6. Connor Wise, Avon 10:42.57;

GIRLS 3200m Run
1. Anna Chamberland, Ellington 11:46.29;  2. Molly Hamel, Avon 11:46.77;  3. Jennifer Hulstein, Ellington 12:19.69; 4. Katie Pinson, Granby 13:08.55; 5. Nina Begley, Suffield 13:20.88;  6. Kristen Goldie, Avon 13:24.14;

BOYS 4x400m Relay
1. Canton A, (Matt Demarco, Julian Franklin, Keith Wilson, Jimmy Spatcher), 3:43.20; 2. Enfield A, (Shane Spring, Blake Zimmerman, Michael Casey, Anthony Romei), 3:49.75; 3. Ellington A, (Ian Chandler, Thomas MacKintosh, Drew Cohen, Spencer Plourde), 3:50.61; 4. East Windsor A, (Kevin Jones, Brian Lopuk, Clay Harman, Aaron Graef), 4:06.10; 5. Suffield A, (Thomas Rigby, Josh Cardin, Jimmy Clark, Michael Allan), 4:07.76; 6. Avon A, (Ben Crawford, Andrew Suter, Kyle Jackson, Christian Salhany), 4:13.71;

GIRLS 4x400m Relay
1. Granby A, (Alexa Cipkas, Cindy Jones, Ashley Piccirillo, Shannon Ryan), 4:35.76; 2. Coventry A, (Raquel Pouliot, Meg Oliphant, Amanda Joslin, Erika Trudon), 4:35.96; 3. Suffield A, (Lauren Izabel, Deana Pileika, Shelby McCormick, Elizabeth Rigby), 4:38.80; 4. Ellington A, (Emily Breen, Emily Lorenzet, Laura Oliwa, Kayla Sgarlata), 4:42.97; 5. East Windsor A, (Samantha Couture, Destiny Hodges, Tajha Lewis, Madison Masters), 4:45.03; 6. Canton A, (Eliza Chekas, Jenna Janssen, Morgan Scafuri, Lindsey Milligan), 4:52.40;

BOYS  Long Jump
1. Julian Franklin, Canton 19’09.75″;  2. Matt Rodriguez, Windsor Lokcs 19’05.50″; 3. Deryk Parsons, Canton 19’01.00″;  4. Evan Cummins, Stafford 18’06.00″; 5. Chase Dargie, Windsor Lokcs 18’05.50″;  6. Alex Uhl, Granby 18’04.75”

GIRLS  Long Jump
1. Nur Hamideh, Suffield 15’05.50″;  2. Kelsey Sgarlata, Ellington 15’02.50″;  3. Sarah Allen, Canton 14’09.50″; 4. Amanda Jacobsen, Stafford 14’07.00″;  5. Maeve Reiss, Avon 14’07.00″; 6. Erika Trudon, Coventry 14’04.50″;

BOYS  Shot Put
1. Matt Graziano, Canton 42-7½;  2. Quintin Reed, Sport and Medical 40-3″; 3. Edlay Martins, Stafford 39’05.50″;  4. Kyle Johnson, Ellington 37’10.00″; 5. Matthew Behrens, Granby 36’03.50″;  6. Kyle Murphy, Canton 36’02.50”

GIRLS  Shot Put:
1. Samantha Boudreau, Stafford 30-4″;  2. Jade Yen, Avon 28-9″;  3. Alexis Daley, Ellington 27-7″; 4. Katie Riddell, Coventry 27’06.50″;  5. Anna Waite, Canton 27’03.50″; 6. Patience Turkson, Ellington 26-11;

BOYS  Pole Vault
1. Nathan Sheffer, Windsor Locks 11-0,  2. Alex Uhl, Granby 10-6″; 3. Aaron Graef, East Windsor 8-0″;  4. Brian Lopuk, East Windsor 8-0″; . Dan Manzi, Coventry NM;  . Nathan Peruta, Enfield NM;

GIRLS  Pole Vault
1. Amanda Jacobsen, Stafford 8-6″;  2. Jocelyn Cramer, Coventry 7-0″;  3. Shannon Hendrickson, East Windsor 6-6″; 4. Courtney McFarlane, Suffield 6-0

BOYS  High Jump:
1. Alex Uhl, Granby 5-10″;  2. Tyrik Henry, Enfield 5-8″;  3. Matt Moore, Stafford 5-4″; 4. Taylor Hildebrand, Ellington 5-4″;  5. Ryan Pelletier, Ellington 5-4″; 6. Julian Franklin, Canton 5-2″

GIRLS  High Jump:
1. Marissa Simonelli, East Windsor 5-0;  2. Caroline Rendeiro, Avon 5-0″; 3. Sarah Allen, Canton 4-6″;  4. Shannon Ryan, Granby 4-4″; 5. Emily Betterton, Granby 4-4″;  6. Jessica Beausoleil, Coventry 4-4