
Avon’s Rhiannon Richmond finished third in the 1,600 meters at Saturday’s CCC championship meet. (Photo courtesy Bill Brewster).
NEW HAVEN, January 26 – Avon was less than a second from having their first individual champion at the Central Connecticut Conference indoor track and field championship meet.

Jack Martin finished second in the 1,000 meters. (Photo courtesy Avon High cross country program)
Freshman Jack Martin finished second in the 1,000 meters at Saturday’s CCC championship meet at the Floyd Little Athletic Center at Hillhouse High.
Martin just finished behind Hall senior Dylan Rendon, who won the 1,000 meters with a time of 2:39.79. Martin finished with an indoor school record time of 2:39.86.
The Avon High boys indoor track and field team had five top 10 finishes to finish 13th overall in the CCC – their best-ever finish. The Falcons scored 12 points, the most they’ve scored in their four CCC championship meet appearances.
The Avon girls indoor track and field team finished 17th in the field of 32 teams and was led by junior Rhiannon Richmond, who finished third in the 1,600 meters and earned All-CCC honors.
Martin’s season-best time earned the freshman All-CCC honors. He is the second Avon athlete to finish second at the CCC championship meet. Zach Tilsch was second in the long jump a year ago.
Martin also finished tenth in the 1,600 meters with a time of 4:42.98.
Junior Anish Rajamanickham had a great meet with a pair of top 10 finishes and two new school records. He was sixth in the 600 meters with a school record time of 1:26.25. He also finished sixth in the 300 meters with a new school record time of 37.37 seconds.
Rajamanickham was the second Avon athlete to break the school record in the 600 meters in the meet. Junior Tyler Hinrichs broke the school record in the 600 with his time of 1:28.19, good enough for ninth place. Rajamanickham broke it a few minutes later.
Richmond finished in the top five in the 1,600 meters for the second straight year. She was fourth a year ago. This year, she moved up to third with her time of 5:25.44.
Three other Avon athletes finished in the top 15 of their respective events.
Senior Emma Bush was 13th in the 3,200 meters with a time of 12:37.00 with junior Hari Patchigolla taking 14th in the 600 meters with a time of 1:29.48. Sophomore Sarah Lancaster finished 15th in the 1,600 meters with a personal-best time of 5:52.03.
Two relay teams finished in the top 15 for the Falcons.
Avon’s 4×800 relay (Ian Albreski, Daniel Carvalho, Lucas Hester, Alec Purcell) were 14th with a time of 9:25.61 with the 4×400 relay (Tyler Hinrichs, Alvin Guo, Hester, Patchigolla) taking 15th with a time of 3:51.83.
Bloomfield won the CCC boys championship with 112 points followed by Glastonbury (71), Hall (61½), Southington (42½) and Tolland 26. Among the eight CCC West teams, Avon was sixth.
Glastonbury won the CCC girls championship with 108½ points followed by Bloomfield (68), Hall (45½), Windsor (37) and Southington (35). Avon was eighth among the eight CCC West teams.
BOYS CCC West results: 1. Glastonbury 140, 2. Hall 94, 3. Southington 81, 4. Conard 59, 5. NW Catholic 48, 6. Avon 34, 7. Simsbury 29, 8. Farmington 4
GIRLS CCC West results: 1. Glastonbury 170½, 2. Hall 111½, 3. Southington 91, 4. Conard 33, 4. Farmington 22, 5. Conard 21, 6. Simsbury 21, 7. NW Catholic 20, 8. Avon 15.
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 40 years. He was inducted into the New England High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018.

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