NEW BRITAIN, June 16 – Canton High senior Cam Daley is fifth after day one at the CIAC decathlon competition at New Britain’s Willow Brook Park.
Daley finished second in the 400 meters and third in the shot put. A year ago, he was tenth after the first day but did well on day two to finish sixth with a school record score of 5,385 points. Competitors will compete in the 110 hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,600 meters on day two beginning at 11 a.m.
Daley won the Class S title earlier this month in the 300 hurdles and was third in the 110 hurdles. He was also fifth in the javelin at the Class S meet.
Canton sophomore Dustin Van Kirk is also competing. Van Kirk is 23rd after day one with 2,639 points. His best performance came in the shot when he finished 20th with a throw of 34 feet and three inches.
In the girls heptathlon, Canton’s Lucy Tanner is 23rd with 1,906 points. She qualifies to compete on day two with the final four events. Amber Harraden didn’t finish among the top 32 to earn an invitation to compete on day two. But Harraden did finish sixth in the shot with a throw of 28 feet, 6.5 inches.
Daley had a good day Tuesday under cloudy skies and occasional rain. He began the competition by taking 24th in the 100 meters in 12.14 seconds. Van Kirk was 15th in 12.02 seconds. In the long jump, Daley was 17th with a leap of 18 feet, 8½ inches. Van Kirk was 31st with a leap of 17-6¾.
In event three, Daley took third in the shot with a throw of 41 feet, 1 inch. In the high jump, Daley took 11th clearing 5-6. Van Kirk was 22nd, clearing 5-4¼. In the final event of the day, Daley finished strong. He took second in the 400 meters with a time of 51.79 seconds, less than a second behind Windham Tech’s Damon Vega in 51.03 seconds. Van Kirk was 34th in 56.48 seconds.
Vega leads the decathlon with 3,362 points followed by Fermi’s Bailey Raymond with 3,226 points.
Tanner is competing in the heptahlon for the third straight year. Her best finish was 26th a year ago with 2,942 points. Tanner’s best performance came in the 100 hurdles where she was 15th in 17.83 seconds. She was 30th in the 200 meters, 22nd in the high jump and 41st in the shot.
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 30 years.


High School
2025 NCCC Winter Tournaments

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