Avon’s Kaely Quijano tied her own school record at the Class MM meet Wednesday in the pole vault.
MIDDLETOWN, May 29 – Three individuals and a pair of relays each finished third at the Class MM girls track and field championships to help Avon finish fifth for its best finish in a state championship meet in 17 years.
Maddi McHugh (800 meters), Molly Hamel (3,200) and Kaely Quijano (pole vault) each finished third along with the 4×800 and 4×100 relay teams as Avon finished with 40 points – the most they’ve earned at the state meet in over 20 years.
The Avon High boys finished 21st at the Class MM meet here at Middletown High with 11 points.
McHugh knocked nearly five seconds off her best time of the season in the 800 with a time of 2:18.06. In the 3,200 meters, Hamel was third with a time of 11:44.09. In the pole vault, Quijano tied her own school record that set she a week ago at the NCCC championship meet with another leap of 9-foot-6.
The 4×800 team of Sarah Kate Mascoli, Hamel, Sara Stokesbury and McHugh was third with a time of 9:52.48, 14 seconds behind the top two teams. The 4×100 team of Karina Bucci, Jennifer Koo, Stephanie Koo and Emma Schweitzer was also third with a time of 52.14.
Avon’s 4×400 relay finished fifth with a time of 4:14.91 to earn a spot in next week’s State Open championships in New Britain. The top five finishers in each event qualify for the Open along with athletes that meet the qualifying times.
Other top 10 finishers for the Avon girls included Alannah Noonan, who was sixth in the 100 hurdles (16.89) and Tara Shayer, who ran a quick 27.15 seconds, to finish sixth in the 200 meters. Stephanie Koo was ninth in the 100 meters, just 0.01 of a second away from qualifying for the finals.
It was the best team finish for the Falcons since finishing eighth in 1996 at the Class M meet.
The Avon boys were led by Jake Sartain, who finished fourth in the triple jump with a leap of 41 feet and a half inch. Sartain was also tied for ninth in the high jump with a jump of 5-foot-8.
J.R. Reid was fifth in the long jump with a leap of 19 feet, 11 inches. Sartain was 13th with a jump of 18-3.Cory DiBacco took ninth in the 400 meters with a time of 51.69 while Avon’s 4×400 relay (Evan Edgar, Zach Zweibel, Colin Ponzani and DiBacco) finished seventh.
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