Canton boys 2nd in Small Division at Greater Hartford championships

SIMSBURY, May 9 – The Canton High boys track and field team will need a balanced effort if they hope to beat Ellington in its final NCCC dual meet on May 19 and at the NCCC championship meet a week later on May 26 in Granby. Canton and Ellington are the lone undefeated teams left in the NCCC at 10-0.

Canton showed Saturday that they will be tough to beat. The Warriors beat Ellington by 28½ points to claim second place in the Small Division at the 84th annual Greater Hartford track and field championships on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Simsbury High.

Tolland beat the Warriors by 6½ points to win the Small Division title as Canton (124 points) finished second for the third straight year at the event. The Canton girls were fifth in the Small Division while the Avon girls were 13th in the Large Division competition and the Avon boys were 20th in the Large Division.

Will Briggs led Canton by winning the discus with a personal-best throw of 145 feet, 10 inches, which was more than three feet better than Devin Laliberete of Bacon Academy with a 142-1 throw. James Yost finished third in the 1,600 meters with a season-best time of 4:31.71 while teammate Nico Tucillo took fourth in the 400 meters with a time of 57.61.

Dean Yost finished eighth in two events – the 1,600 meters and 800 meters. Cam Daley was ninth in the javelin with a throw of 138-8 and tenth in the 110 high hurdles in 16.73 seconds. Other top 10 finishers included John Solomon (9th, 110 hurdles, 16.71), Dustin Van Kirk (8th, 110 hurdles, 16.65) and Canton’s 4×800 relay team (Maximillian Sparks, Augie Shaw, James Yost, Dean Yost) that took sixth in 8:31.76.

The Warriors had finished second to Bloomfield the previous two seasons. Canton did win the Small Division title at this event in 2011.

For the Canton girls, Lucy Tanner took third in the 100 hurdles with an excellent time of 16.77 seconcds and was eighth in the 300 hurdles in 49.86. Teammates Emily Mitchell was seventh in the long jump (15-6) while Jocelyn Rossito was tenth in the 3,200 meters (12:07.30).

The Avon High girls, who are also undefeated in the NCCC at 10-0, had several top 10 finishers.

Molly Hamel took fourth in the 3,200 meters in a season-best time of 11:26.11 while Jade Yen was fourth in the shot with a throw of 29-3.25 inches. Jamie Lepito took seventh in the shot with a throw of 28-5.75 feet while Jennifer Koo was seventh in the 400 meters with a personal-best time of 1:02.22.

Avon’s 4×800 relay team (Hannah Carpino, Ryley Higgins, Ashley Martin and Madison Sides) took eighth with a time of 10:37.91. Kristen Goldie took tenth in the 3,200 meters with a time of season-best performance of 5:36.60.

Andrew Suter had a season-best time of 10:10.84 in the 3,200 meters to finish tenth and lead the Avon boys. Suter’s time is the tenth best in school history in that event. Zach Bortoff was 12th in the 800 meters with a season-best time of 2:06.08.

2015 Greater Hartford Invitational results (boys and girls)