Mitchell wins three events as Canton girls finish third at NCCC meet; Sparks wins two titles

Canton’s Max Sparks leads the way in the 3,200 meters at Tuesday’s NCCC championship meet in Suffield. Sparks won two events as Canton finished fifth.

SUFFIELD, May 22 – As the conference championship meet approached, the Canton High boys track and field team was in a three-way tie for first place with Ellington and Granby. All three teams went 13-1 in the dual meet portion of the schedule.

Teams earn one point for each team they beat in the dual meet portion of the schedule and one point for each team they beat at the league championship meet. So, Tuesday’s North Central Connecticut Conference championship meet was going to determine the league champion.

On the girls side, Suffield (14-0) was undefeated in dual meets with Ellington (12-1-1) and Canton (12-1-1) right there in contention for a championship.

The Ellington boys won three individual events and the 4×400 relay to beat Granby and East Windsor, 113-83, to win their first NCCC title since 2015. With a strong showing in the field events, Granby tied for second place – their highest finish in the championship meet since winning it more than 30 years ago in 1985. It was East Windsor’s best finish since they won the league championship meet in 2006.

Despite two NCCC titles from Max Sparks and a conference crown from Aidan O’Donnell in the 800 meters, the Warriors finished fifth.

In the girls competition, Suffield had two individual champions and captured two relays races (4×800 and 4×400) to beat Ellington, 130-101 and win their second straight NCCC championship.

Canton senior Jane Frawley swept the 800 meters and 1,600 meters and placed fifth in the 3,200 meters at Tuesday’s NCCC championship meet.

Canton’s Chelsea Mitchell won three individual events, sweeping the 100 meters, 200 meters and long jump while Jane Frawley won the 800 meters and 1,600 meters as Canton finished third with 94 points.

“If you look at the standings coming into the meet, it may seem disappointing to see where we finished but it is a reflection of how hard the kids worked this year to go 12-1-1 (girls) and 13-1 (boys) during the dual meet season,” Canton coach Tim O’Donnell said.

The Warriors simply didn’t have enough athletes to compete for the championship but there they were with a shot when the NCCC championship meet began Tuesday in the rain.

“This was easier,” Frawley joked. “We only had to do three events instead of four.”

In a dual meet, athletes can compete in four events but at the championship meet, they are limited to three events. In the dual meet portion of the schedule, the Canton girls battled to a 73-73 tie with Ellington and outlasted Granby, 79-71.

The Canton boys beat Suffield, 82-63 early in the season, slipped past Granby, 77-73 and topped East Windsor, 84-66.

Canton’s Aidan O’Donnell, running in the 4×400 relay, won the 800 meter title by less than a second.

More photos from Tuesday’s NCCC championship meet

Sparks won the 1,600 meters with a 2.91 second win over Suffield’s Kyle Englander and captured the 3,200 meters, beating Coventry’s Taylor Nev and Englander by eight seconds. Sparks took the lead with about two laps to go and pulled away for his third NCCC outdoor track title.

Aidan O’Donnell outdueled East Windsor’s Deon Sanchez, beating him by 0.07 of a second to win the NCCC title in the 800 meter race with a winning time of 2:01.68.

Canton’s 4×800 meter relay (Matt Barton, Sparks, O’Donnell, Matt Webb) finished third in 8:33.48 while the 4×100 relay (Brandon LaClair, Andrew Obrzut, Michael Cavanaugh, Peter Fuller) finished fifth in 46.73 seconds. The 4×400 meter relay (Obrzut, O’Donnell, Cavanaugh, Webb) was also third in 3:40.98.

James Pelehach was fourth in the discus (116-8 feet) while Fuller was fifth in the high jump (5-10). Brandon LaClair took sixth in the javelin with a throw of 120-6.

Canton’s Jane Frawley, left, and Chelsea Mitchell combined to bring home five NCCC championship medals.

Not only was Mitchell, only a sophomore, the only athlete to win three individual events but she set a new NCCC championship meet record in the 100 meters with a time of 12.37 seconds, breaking the old mark of 12.4 seconds set a year ago by Stafford’s Cassidy Palmer.

Stafford’s Stephanie Brown was second behind Mitchell in the 100 meters with a time of 12.98 seconds while Canton teammate Maya Sutton Hall finished third in 13.14 seconds.

Mitchell wasn’t pressed much in the 200 meters, winning with a time of 25.98 seconds. East Granby’s Schyler Wyse was second in 27.41 seconds. Mitchell also won the long jump by more than a foot with a leap of 17-2 feet.

But Mitchell is prepared to be tested in all three events at next week’s Class S championship meet at Willow Brook Park in New Britain.

Frawley won a hard race in the 800 meters, beating Stafford’s Angelina Gill by 0.18 of a second with a time of 2:27.77 seconds. Frawley added a victory in the 1,600 meters, too, with a three second win over Ellington’s Kathryn Bonanno with a time of 5:26.41. It was her third NCCC outdoor title.

A few minutes after the win in the 800 meters, Frawley was back out on the track in the 3,200 meters, finishing fifth to pick up a few more points for the Warriors.

Freshman Julia Caputo had a nice meet. She was third in the 1,600 meters and second in the 3,200 meters behind Somers’ Kylie Raymond won the race by 46 seconds. Raymond shattered the league championship meet record previously held by Avon’s Claire Smith, who won the race in 11:26.07 in 2009. Raymond beat the record by 28 seconds with her winning time of 10:58.61.

Sutton Hall was also fifth in the 300 meter hurdles for the Warriors while Sara Bowman took fourth in the shot (28-6) and Madeline Archangelo made the finals and finished seventh in the high jump (4-8).

It gets a bit congested during handoffs for the 4×400 relay. Canton’s Andy Obrzut takes the handoff from teammate Matt Webb. Canton finished third in the race.

More photos from Tuesday’s NCCC championship meet

2018 NCCC girls track championships
At Suffield
Team results – Suffield 130, Ellington 101, Canton 94, Granby 75, Coventry 63, Stafford 56, Somers 54, Rockville 32½, Hartford Classical 31, East Windsor 27½, East Granby 26, Windsor Locks 6, Bolton 5, Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy (HMTCA) 1, SMSA 0
Individual events
4×800: Suffield (Haley Young, Katherine Platt, Mary Rusnock, Gabrielle Zeller) 10:28.93, Ellington 10:31.25, East Grnaby 10:32.60, Coventry 10:46.03, Somers 10:55.88, Canton (Julia Caputo, Lexi Neeley, Emma Gallant, Helena Winkler), 11:00.45
4×100: Stafford (Stephanie Brown, Carlie Dreyfus, Tessa Kopec, Jessica Winston) 52.30, Suffield 52.52, Canton (Brooke Shepard, M. Archangelo, Kaylia Bailey, Maya Sutton-Hall) 52.82, Classical 53.69, East Windsor 53.72, Granby 54.27
100: Chelsea Mitchell, Canton, 12.37, new meet record (Old record, C. Palmer, Stafford, 12.40, 2014); Stephanie Brown, Stafford 12.98; Maya Sutton Hall, Canton 13.14; Savanna Macaluso, Ellington, 13.16; Alexis Bergamini, Suffield 13.29; Charlotte Cobb, Windsor Locks, 13.30
200: Chelsea Mitchell, Canton, 25.98; Schyler Wyse, East Granby, 27.41; Vanessa Bobb, East Windsor, 27.60; Savana Macaluso, Ellington, 27.64; Alyssa Bergamini, Suffield 27.88; Stephanie Brown, Stafford, 27.92
400: Bridget Beahn, Rockville, 1:01.74; Emily Bernabe, Suffield, 1:01.97; Alyssa Bergamini, Suffield, 1:02.15; Vanessa Bobb, East Windsor 1:02.30; Paige Anderson, Suffield, 1:04.10; Madison Holden, Ellington, 1:04.53
800: Jane Frawley, Canton, 2:27.77; Angelina Gill, Stafford 2:27.93; Clara Mattson, Ellington, 2:29.48; Kathyrn Germond, Coventry, 2:30.61; Kyleigh Percy, Rockville, 2:32.92; Ashleigh Gentile, Somers, 2:36.98
1,600: Jane Frawley, Canton, 5:26.41; Kathryn Bonnanno, Ellington, 5:29.49; Julia Caputo, Canton, 5:31.62; Karissa Stanio, Suffield, 5:44.70; Irene Swenson, Bolton 5:46.16; Lauren Chickosky, Stafford 5:46.99
3,200: Kylie Raymond, Somers, 10:58.61, new meet record (Old record, Claire Smith, Avon, 11:26.07, 2009); Julia Caputo, Canton, 11:44.55, Gabrielle Zeller, Suffield, 12:05.34; Kathryn Bonanno, Ellington, 12:08.72; Jane Frawley, Canton, 12:10.26; Lia Guerette, Ellington, 12:18.84
100 hurdles: Savanna Macaluso, Ellington, 15.03, new meet record (Old record Nicole Szilagyi, Granby, 15.13, 2017), Tessa Kopec, Stafford, 15.76; Suzanne Pranger, Coventry, 16.83; Karinn Sharp, Suffield, 17.26; Alyssa Sirianni, Rockville, 17.34; Charlotte Cobb, Windsor Locks, 17.56
300 hurdles: Alexis Bergamini, Suffield, 47.09; Suzanne Pranger, Coventry, 47.54; Karinn Sharp, Suffield, 50.01; Oliva Suter, Somers 50.32; Maya Sutton Hall, Canton, 51.93; Marissa Kallenbach, Stafford, 51.95
4×400: Suffield (Paige Anderson, Mary Rusnock, Emily Bernabe, Katherine Platt) 4:19.46, Granby 4:28.74; Coventry 4:30.51, Ellington 4:34.49, Hartford Classical 4:36.03, Somers 4:36.72
Shot: Paige Boyd, Hartford Classical 36-8, Emily Renzoni, Somers, 32-0, Kaitlyn Webber, Ellington, 28-6¾, Sara Bowman, Canton 28-6, Angel Ojide, Ellington 28-5¼, Katherin Platt, Suffield 28-0
Discus: Emily Renzoni, Somers 111-1, Payge Boyde, Classical 102-9, Mackenzie Stahl, Granby 84-3, Abigail Thomas, Granby 82-5, Kaitlyn Webber, Ellington 81-9, Brooke Dutton, Coventry 81-9
Javelin: Mackenzie Stahl, Granby 95-10, Brooke Dutton, Coventry, 95-2, Abby Turbridge, East Granby 93-6½, Hailey Price, Granby 89-10, Caitlin Strzegowski, East Granby 88-10, Karissa Gaughan, Granby 87-8
Long jump: Chelsea Mitchell, Canton, 17-2; Megan Knowling, Ellington, 16-0¾; Morgan Masters, East Windsor 16-0, Isabelle Provencher, Granby 15-3¾; Lauren Roy, Granby 15-3½; Cameron Shaw, Suffield 15-2½
High jump: Megan Knowling, Ellington, 5-6, new meet record (Old record: Three tied at 5-4); Kirsten Krause, Coventry, 5-0, Bridget Beahn, Rockville 4-10, 4. (tie) Lauren Eastwood, Somers 4-10, Isabelle Provencher, Granby 4-10, 6. Tionna Richardson, Classical 4-8
Triple jump: Megan Knowling, Ellington, 33-11¾, Kirsten Krause, Coventry, 32-9½, Karinn Sharp, Suffield 31-5½, Lauren Roy, Granby 31-3¾, Alexis Bergamini, Suffield 31-3, Isabelle Provencher, Granby 30-3¾
Pole vault: Sophie Lupone, Suffield 9-6, Cameron Shaw, Suffield 7-0, 3. (tie) Heather Smyth, Granby, 7-0, Darby Ritchie 7-0, 5. Britney Heyse, Suffield 7-0, 6. (tie) Gracie Schauster, Rockville 7-0, Delani Raina, Somers 7-0

2018 NCCC boys track championships
At Suffield
Team results – Ellington 113, Granby and East Windsor 83, Suffield 73, Canton 62, Coventry 58, Somers and SMSA 45, Bolton, Stafford and Rockville 28, Windsor Locks 19, East Granby 17, Hartford Classical 14, HMTCA 6
Individual events
4×800: Suffield (Jared Share, Camden Miller, Alex Cotnoir, Nathan Davidson) 8:16.75, Ellington 8:19.13, Canton (Matt Barton, Aidan O’Donnell, Max Sparks, Matt Webb) 8:33.48, Windsor Locks 8:37.24, Bolton 8:50.07, Granby 8:50.78
4×100: East Windsor (Donte Ruff, Tristan Garrick, Cameron Carroll, Jahmair Charles) 45.21, SMSA 45.83, Bolton 46.14, Rockville 46.30, Canton (Brandon LaClair, Andrew Obrzut, Michael Cavanaugh, Peter Fuller) 46.73, Windsor Locks 46.79
100: Keith Berrouet, SMSA 11.25; Keon Lawrence, Granby, 11.34; Tyler Allen, Rockville, 11.37; Donte Ruff, East Windsor, 11.40; Jahmari Charles, East Windsor, 11.81; Jaequan Grant, East Granby 13.44
200: Keith Berrouet, SMSA, 22.92; Kyle MacFeat, Stafford, 23.33; Jahmari Charles, East Windsor, 23.42; Donte Ruff, East Windsor, 23.68; Keon Lawrence, Granby 23.72; Tyler Chita, Bolton 23.91
400: Jared Sharp, Suffield, 51.94; Preston Aldrich, Ellington, 52.42; Nicholas Sivo, Ellington 53.75; Jacob Dunham, Granby, 53.85; Kyle MacFeat, Stafford, 54.36; Andrew Obrzut, Canton, 54.36
800: Aidan O’Donnell, Canton, 2:01.68; Deon Sanchez, East Windsor, 2:01.75; Daniel Meanev, Ellington, 2:03.03; Camden Miller, Suffield, 2:04.60; Caleb Tartbell, Windsor Locks, 2:05.14; Michael Barrett, Bolton, 2:07.25
1,600: Max Sparks, Canton, 4:30.01; Kyle Englander, Suffield, 4:32.92; Taylor Ney, Coventry, 4:42.13; Will Lyon, Bolton, 4:44.17; Nathan Davidson, Suffield, 4:44.77; Joshua Stone, Ellington, 4:47.88
3,200: Max Sparks, Canton, 9:50.38; Taylor Nev, Coventry 9:58.01; Kyle Englander, Suffield, 9:58.84; Jack Olender, Ellington, 10:02.07; Charles Brydges, Suffield 10:07.96; Kevin Brudz, Bolton, 10:28.95
110 hurdles: Nicholas Pronovost, Coventry, 14.99; Collin Beahn, East Windsor, 15.79; Joshua Prouty, Ellington, 16.11; Connor Cahill, Ellington 16.53; Jemarre Dudley, Granby, 17.11; Bryan Bushey, Somers 18.34
300 hurdles: Joshua Prouty, Ellington 41.15; Alek Cotnoir, Suffield, 43.35; Collin Beahn, East Windsor, 43.48; Jason Webber, Ellington, 44.29; Martin Resto, East Windsor, 44.83; David Ives, Stafford, 45.41
4×400: Ellington (Preston Aldrich, Nicholas Sivo, Joshua Stone, Daniel Meaney) 3:34.44, Suffield 3:34.54, Canton (Andrew Obrzut, Michael Cavanaugh, Matt Webb, Aidan O’Donnell) 3:40.98, Classical 3:42.54, Rockville 3:44.93; Somers 3:47.73
Shot: Aedan Randall, Ellington, 42-8, John Pintavalle, SMSA 41-5½, Leon Green, HMTCA, 41-4½, Broderick Rheault, Somers, 40-3; Darrien Stephens, Windsor Locks, 39-10, David McArdle, Coventry 37-4
Discus: Broderick Rheault, Somers 133-5, Tristan Garrick, East Windsor, 130-3, Aedan Randall, Ellington, 125-4, James Pelehach, Canton 116-8, David McArdle, Coventry 112-3, Edwin Genece, Somers, 109-0
Javelin: Tristan Garrick, East Windsor, 174-9, Broderick Rheault, Somers 162-3, John Pintavalle, SMSA, 155-8, John Dion, Suffield 154-01, Aedan Randall, Ellington, 126-6, Brandon LaClair, Canton, 120-6
Long jump: Nicholas Pronovost, Coventry 21-9, Andel Smith, Granby 21-0½; Jemarre Dudley, Granby 20-11; Keon Lawrence, Granby 20-3; Spencer MacLeod, Somers 19-3; Justin Lachairite, East Granby 19-1; 8. Brandon LaClair, Canton, 18-9
Triple jump: Andel Smith, Granby 44-2½, Jemarre Dudley, Granby, 42-4, Justin Lacharite, East Granby 40-0, Jacob Krause, Coventry 38-7½, Braedan Shea, Ellington, 38-3, David Stewart, Granby 37-11
High jump: Nick Pronovost, Coventry 6-0, Nick Attando, Rockville 5-10, Cameron Carroll, East Windsor 5-10, Andel Smith, Granby 5-8, Peter Fuller, Canton 5-8, Jarred Griffin, Hartford Classical 5-8
Pole vault: Joshua Prouty, Ellington 12-6, Andrew Napolitano, Stafford 12-0, Dylan Dingivan, Granby 11-0, Michael Dalessio, Somers, 10-6, Joe Lavalla, Suffield, 10-6, Connor Cahill, Ellington 10-0

More photos from Tuesday’s NCCC championship meet