NEW HAVEN, Feb. 1 – For the fourth straight year, the Canton High boys track and field team finished second at the NCCC indoor track and field championship behind Ellington on Monday night at the Floyd Little Athletic Center at Hillhouse High.
Canton’s John Solomon won the 55 meter hurdles and the high jump while teammate Will Briggs won the shot. Six other teammates finished in the top six of individual events and the Warriors had three relay finishes in the top four.
But it wasn’t enough as Ellington won the NCCC championship for the fifth straight year, 115-93 over the Warriors.
On the girls side, Canton had a pair of relay teams win NCCC titles for the first time as the Warriors finished fifth with 59 points – the second-highest number of points that the Canton girls have ever scored in this competition. Ellington also won the girls championship with a 116-95 win over Granby.
Solomon beat teammate Dustin Van Kirk in the 55 hurdles, winning the race in 8.49 seconds with Van Kirk slightly behind in 8.57 seconds. Solomon continued his strong efforts in the high jump with a meet-winning leap of 5 feet, 10 inches. That is just behind his school record leap of 6 feet at the Bacon Academy Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 30.
Solomon also took third in the 300 meters with a time 37.50 seconds.
Once again, Canton was dominant in the shot put, taking three of the top six places. Will Briggs won with a throw 42 feet, 8 inches followed by Will Carlson (42-5) in second place and D.J. Clement (38-7) in sixth place. Canton has won the shot put event in five of the last six years, only losing it in 2014.
Stephen Oliver tied his own indoor school record in the pole vault with a leap of 11 feet, going enough for second place. He also leapt 11 feet at the Bacon Academy Invitational.
Jake Whittingslow was fifth in the 600 meters with a time of 1:27.87 while Van Kirk was sixth in the long jump with a leap of 18 feet, 9 inches.
Canton’s 1,600 meter sprint medley relay (Bradley Connolly, Matt Pickett, Chaz Williams, Whittingslow) was second with a time of 3:56.30, more than four seconds off the pace set by race winner Suffield in 3:52.20.
Canton finished fourth in the 4×800 relay (Noah Campbell, Andrew Obrzut, Aidan O’Donnell, Peter Royer) with a time of 9:28.51 and the 4×400 relay (Connolly, Zach Oliver, Van Kirk, Whittingslow) with a time of 3:46.30.
The Canton girls earned championship victories in the 4×200 relay (Katahdin Whitney, Elizabeth Raynor, Emily Michell, Lucy Tanner) and in the 1,600 meter sprint medley relay (Raynor, Amber Harraden, Sophia Langou, Abby Briggs).

Senior Abby Briggs set a new school record in the 600 meters at the NCCC championship meet. (Photo courtesy Bill Stewart)
In the 4×200, the Warriors finished in 1:54.79, just ahead of second place Windsor Locks (1:55.06). In the sprint medley relay, Canton won with a time 4:42.69, over five seconds faster than runnerup Stafford (4:48.05).
Amber Harraden set a new school record in the shot put with a throw of 30 feet, 4 inches to finish second and qualify for the upcoming Class S championship meet. She broke the record set by Allie Summa (29-0) at the NCCC championships in 2010.
Lucy Tanner finished fourth in the 55 hurdles with a time 9.46 seconds while Briggs was fourth in the 600 meters with a school record time of 1:46.27 seconds. Briggs broke her own record of 1:48.00 set at the Snowflake Invitational last winter.
Tanner (300 meters, 46.20) and Cameron McCauley (1,600, 6:08.96) each finished sixth in their respective events.
Canton’s 4×800 relay team (Briggs, Campbell, Raynor, Harraden) was third in 4:35.80 while the 4×800 relay team (Campbell, Lilly Grabowski, Anna Holland, McCauley) was sixth with a time of 12:41.38.
The Warriors will participate in the Last Chance Qualifier this weekend in Hartford, giving athletes one more opportunity to qualify for the upcoming Class S championship meet in New Haven on Friday, Feb. 12.
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.


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