
Avon’s Geoff Kirk twirls to generate power to win the State Open title in the discus. (Contributed photo)
NEW BRITAIN, June 6 – Avon’s Geoff Kirk should get a good night’s sleep tonight. The senior has had a few sleepless nights leading up to the State Open championships. He knew he could be a contender to win in the shot put and discus.
“I knew it was possible,” Kirk said. “I had a few practice throws well over 50 feet (shot) and 160 feet (discus). I knew I could do it. I just needed things to come together and it did.”
Kirk became the first Avon High athlete to win two State Open titles in track and field on the same day by coming from behind to win the shot put and discus. It earned him an invitation to Saturday’s New England championships, which will be here at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium in New Britain.
Kirk’s 20 points enabled Avon to finish ninth – its best finish since taking seventh in 1994. On the girls side, senior Kaleigh Sherman, the Class MM champion, finished third in the javelin while Carly Carpino finished sixth in the long jump with a leap of 16-11¼ feet.
The Canton boys, led by Will Briggs’ second place finish in the discus and John Solomon’s ninth place in the 300 hurdles, finished with eight points. The Canton girls 4×100 meter relay team finished 12th in school record time.
In the discus, Kirk was second after the preliminary round with a throw of 157 feet, two inches. He trailed Briggs, who had a throw of 158-2. On his first throw of the finals, Kirk threw the discus 163 feet and 11 inches to take the lead. He followed that up with a throw of 161-9, giving Kirk the top two throws of the day in the event. Briggs finished second with his throw of 158-2 – nine feet ahead of Bloomfield’s Khyrin Williams in third place.
“I had a pretty solid day,” Kirk said. “I was over rotating a bit so I fixed my start so I ended my rotation in the right spot. I knew it was a good throw once I released it.”
Last week, Kirk won the Class MM title in the discus while Briggs took home the Class S championship.

At the State Open, Geoff Kirk added the shot put to his collection of school records. (Contributed photo)
In the shot, Kirk was third after qualifying round with his throw of 49-9. He fouled on his third and final shot in qualifying and his first throw in the finals. So, Kirk made things simple. Instead of spinning to generate power and momentum to throw the shot, he simply went to the edge of the circle and did a standing throw.
“I have good form,” Kirk said. “I can get power from my legs because I can stay low.” Added John McLaughlin, the Avon High coach who works with the throwers, “He got down low and exploded.”
Kirk let fly a school record throw of 52-1 feet to take over first place. He followed that up with a throw of 49-10½ feet, giving him two of the top four throws of the day in the shot. NFA’s Jvon Brown was second with a throw of 49-11½ and Newtown’s Jack Godfrey third at 49-11.
Kirk’s throw also erased one of the oldest records in the Avon High record book. David Starr threw the shot 51 feet 6 ½ inches 50 years ago in 1966 at the Class S championships. The oldest record left in the record book is Starr’s javelin record, also set in 1966 at the State Open.
Teammate Marek Cierniewski was 18th in the javelin with a throw of 150-10 while Kirk was 22nd with a throw of 144-0. Basically, he passed on the javelin – making just two throws — to focus on the shot and discus.
“This was a fantastic day for Avon track,” McLaughlin said.

Avon’s Kaleigh Sherman finished third at the State Open and will compete in Saturday’s New England championships in New Britain.
Sherman began her scholastic career as a high jumper at Avon but always had an interest in throwing the javelin like her sister Kim. Kaleigh finally began throwing the javelin in April and has exceeded her previous best in all but two meets this year. Sherman took third with a throw of 127-8 feet, just three inches shy of her school record performance last week at the Class MM championships.
“For a first year thrower to take third at the State Open, that is unbelievable,” McLaughlin said. The top six finishers in each event qualify for the New England championships.
Other Avon athletes performed well at the State Open. Riley Abate broke the school record in the 100 meters for the third time this season with her time of 12.72. Abate erased the 12.76 record she set at the CCC Central championship meet two weeks ago. Earlier this year, Abate shared the school record with her mother, Lisa (Battistoni), who set the school record as a senior in 1983.
Avon’s 4×100 meter relay team (Shilpa Donde, Aiyssa Crawford, Gina Lindley, Abate) set the school record in the relay for the third time with their ninth place finish in 50.37 seconds. It broke the mark of 50.40 set at the CCC Central meet.
Carly Regalado, the Class MM champion in the 300 hurdles, took ninth in the event with a time of 47.28 seconds. She was also 24th in the 100 hurdles in 16.43. Ryley Higgins was 20th in the 3,200 meters in 12:05.81.
Avon’s 4×800 relay team (Madison Sides, Ashley Martin, Christina Martin, Higgins) was 23rd with a time of 10:36.72.
Canton’s 4×100 relay team (Sophia Langou, Amber Harraden, Emily Mitchell, Lucy Tanner) set a new school record with their 12th place finish in 50.52 seconds. That beat the record of 50.56 seconds set last week at the Class S championships. Tanner was also 18th in the 100 hurdles in 16.24 seconds.
Canton’s Max Sparks took 12th in the 1,600 meters with his season-best time of 4:31.75. Pole vaulter Stephen Oliver extended his own school record with a leap of 12-6, good enough for 12th place.
NOTES: The last Avon athlete to win a State Open title in track and field was Jeff Cavanaugh, who captured the 1,600 meters in 1994. Kirk is the first Avon athlete to win two track titles at the State Open in the same year. Previous open champions from Avon include David Starr (javelin, 1966); Jeff Hyman (5,000, 1982); Brian Lehihan (3,000 steeplechase, 1984; 5,000 meters, 1985) and Cavanaugh. … The best performance by an Avon athlete at the New England championships is a third place finish by Cavanaugh in the 1,600 in 1994.
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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