HARTFORD – For the athletes in the North Central Connecticut Conference, last week’s NCCC Invitational at Hartford Public High was a sneak peak for Monday’s NCCC championship meet in New Haven.
The NCCC Invitational consisted mainly of league schools along with Bacon Academy and some greater Hartford magnet schools. Ellington was the top team in the boys event with Canton second. On the girls side, Avon beat Stafford by 19 points.
Ellington and Avon are the defending league champions. The Ellington boys are looking for its third NCCC title in four years while the Avon girls are seeking to win its second straight. The Canton boys hope to be in contention but the Purple Knights are the favorites.
Last Saturday’s meet was a good opportunity to see where the athletes stood against their league counterparts.
Canton’s Lucy Tanner and Keith Wilson set new school records at the NCCC Invitational. Tanner set a new record in the 55 hurdles of 9.69 seconds, good enough to capture the event. She also was fourth in the 55 meter dash (8.0 seconds) and ninth in the long jump.
Wilson has already set three new school records this winter. He set a new mark in the 300 meters earlier in January. At the NCCC Invitational, he won the 55 meters with a school-record time of 6.77 seconds. He also had a school-record run of 7.92 seconds in the 55 hurdles, breaking the school records set by David Kucia in 2011. Wilson finished 0.01 of a second behind Enfield’s Tyrik Henry.
Canton had three runners among the top four in the 55 meter dash with Colin Martin taking third (6.93 seconds) and Riley Hollis finishing fourth (6.94).Wilson’s time of 6.77 seconds beats one of the oldest marks in the Warrior record book, set by Jasen Watson (6.82) in 2007 when Watson was one of three Canton runners essentially competing as a one-man team.
Canton’s James Yost won the 1,600 meters in 4:50.21 and was second in the 3,200 meters in 11:10.81. Colin Martin won the 300 meters by 0.04 of a second over Damian Brown of Prince Tech in 38.36 seconds. Riley Hollis was second in the long jump with a leap of 20 feet, 2 inches along with a fifth place finish in the 300 meters.
Martin was third in the long jump and Wilson took fifth. Dean Yost finished fifth in the 1,000 meters.
Avon’s 4×800 relay team (David Buyse, Colin Pritchard, Greg Oberhausen, Eric Kirk) was second, about a second behind Ellington. Canton was third. Avon’s 4×200 relay (Jack Kostal, Frank Campanelli, Evan Edgar, Zach Zweibel) was second, just 0.13 of a second behind Prince Tech that won the event.
Edgar was fourth in the 300 meters, Andrew Suter was fourth in the 3,200 meters and Dan Renwick was fourth in the high jump.
The top finish from Granby was Jared Grier, who was sixth in the 55 meters in 7.04 seconds.
On the girls side, Avon looked sharp. The Falcons won two individual events and two relays. Three girls finished second. Kristen Goldie won the 3,200 meters in 13:13 while Amanda Holtzman captured the 600 meters (1:43.91) by nearly three seconds.
Avon’s 4×200 relay team (Chamiyah Rowland, Tara Shayler, Shilpa Donde, Jennifer Koo) had a comfortable four second victory with a time of 1:56.14, beating Prince Tech and Suffield, respectively. Avon’s 4×400 relay team (Holtzman, Shayler, Maddi McHugh, Koo) also won their event in 4:24.86.
Avon’s Molly Hamel finished second in the 1,000 meters in a close race, finishing just 0.03 of a second behind Suffield’s Lauren Izabel (3:13.84). Avon’s Sara Stokesbury was third. McHugh took second in the 1,600 meters with Hamel fourth. In the high jump, Caroline Rendeiro finished second. Teammate Jamie Lepito was fourth in the shot.
Canton’s 1,600 meter sprint medley relay team won their event with Cassidy Brown, Hannah Bonini, Deidre Kronschnabel and Emily Jarka winning the race. Eliza Chekas took third in the 3,200 meters.
Granby had two winners. The 4×800 relay team (Abigail McMillian, Abby Shtekler, Alexa Cipkas, Katie Pinson) won with a time of 11:36.37.
Cindy Jones won the 1,600 meters by two seconds over McHugh in 5:24.80. Granby’s Pinson was third and Cipkas took fifth in the same event. Lauren Wutka took fourth in the long jump.
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