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Graziano takes 8th at national championship meet in discus

Canton High senior Matt Graziano

Canton High senior Matt Graziano

GREENSBORO, N.C. , June 16 – Canton High’s Matt Graziano finished eighth in the discus at the New Balance national outdoor track and field championships Sunday at North Carolina A&T University.

Graziano finished eighth with a throw of 183 feet, 11 inches, two places shy of earning All-American honors. It was achieved on his second throw of the day in the preliminary round. Graziano made the finals but fouled on two of his three attempts.

A week ago, Graziano tied the state record with a throw 189 feet, 1 inch at New Britain’s Willow Brook Park to win his second straight New England championship. Graziano will attend UConn next year and will compete with the Huskies.

It was a competitive field. The seven athletes that finished ahead of Graziano had throws that placed them among the top seven best throws in the discus competition since 1991.

Simsbury’s Chandler Ives finished tied for sixth place in the Emerging pole vault division with a vault of 14-8¼. Standards for the Emerging class are not as stiff as the qualifying standards for the championship competition. Graziano was competing in the discus championship class.

 

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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