Three top 10 finishes for Rajamanickam, Mitchell at Jack Long Invitational

Canton’s Julia Caputo finished sixth in the 1,600 meters at the Jack Long Invitational at Hillhouse in New Haven. (Photo courtesy Bill Brewster)

NEW HAVEN, December 27 – In Connecticut, the indoor track and field season is a series of meets leading up three big meets in late January and February.

There are no dual meets in the indoor track season – just a conference championship meet, a state championship meet and the State Open for those who qualify.

Canton and Avon continued on their preparation for the upcoming championship meets at the Jack Long Invitational at Hillhouse High.

Avon’s Anish Rajamanickam had an outstanding meet with three top 10 finishes, including tying for first place in the triple jump. Canton’s Chelsea Mitchell also had three top 10 finishes including a victory in the triple jump. No team scores were kept.

Rajamanickam tied Clayton Goodrich of Lyman Memorial to win the triple jump with a leap of 40-3 feet. Rajamanickam also set two Avon indoor track records in the 200 and 800 meters. He finished third in the 200 meters with a school record time of 24.51 seconds and took seventh in the 800 with a record time of 2:09.06.

Freshman Jack Martin finished sixth in the 1,600 meters with a time of 4:41.70 and took 12th in the 3,200 meters with a time of 10:34.43.

Other top finishers for the Falcons including Max Raha, who was fifth the long jump (19-1½), Tyler Hinrichs, who was tenth in the 600 meters (1:30.32), just ahead of teammate Hari Patchigolla, who was eleventh with a time of 1:30.91.

Mark Nuziala was 15th in the 1,000 meters (2:52.40) with Thomas Ko earning a pair of top 20 finishes with a 14th in the 55 hurdles (9.12) and a 20th place finish in the 55 dash (7.12 seconds).

The CCC championships are scheduled for January 26 with the boys scheduled to participate in the CIAC Class M championship meet on February 9. Avon was 16th in the CCC a year ago and 25th in Class M.

Avon’s Rhiannon Richmond had a pair of top 10 finishes at the Jack Long Invitational in New Haven. She was fourth in the 1,600 meters and fifth in the 3,200 meters. (Photo courtesy Bill Brewster)

For the Avon girls, Rhiannon Richmond had a pair of top 10 finishes. Richmond finished fourth in the 1,600 meters with a time of 5:31.07 and fifth in the 1,000 meters (3:12.09). Her sister, Gabrielle Richmond, was ninth in the 1,600 meters (5:58.54).

Emma Bush took 12th in the 3,200 meters with a time of 13:22.11 while Ava Calma had a pair of top 20 finishes. Calma was 13th in the 200 meters (29.84) and 18th in the 55 meters (8.24 seconds). Wren Worth was 13th in the 55 hurdles (10.48) and Gabrielle Richmond was 15th in the 1,000 meters (3:28.89).

The Avon girls were 13th in the CCC meet a year ago – their best finish in their three years in the league – and fifth in Class L. The Falcon girls will compete in the Class L meet on February 8.

Mitchell had a great meet for the Canton girls. She won the triple jump with a leap of 33-7½ feet beating Glastonbury’s Mallory Katz by more than a foot. Mitchell was second in the 300 meters with a time of 42.75 seconds, just off the pace set by Glastonbury’s Molly Harding (42.54).

Mitchell was also second on the long jump with a leap of 16-9 feet. Glastonbury’s Selina Soule won that event with a leap of 17-2½.

Other top 10 finishes for Canton came from Julia Caputo, who was sixth in the 1,600 meters with a time of 5:46.91), Emma Gallant, who was eighth in the 3,200 meters (12:44.17) and Helena Winkler, who was ninth in the 3,200 meters (12:45.46). caputo in 1600

Winkler was 12th in the 1,000 meters with a time of 3:23.78 with Maeve Balavender taking 14th in the 600 meters (1:52.82) and Caputo finishing 17th in the 1,000 meters (3:30.14).Kaylia Bailey was 20th in the 55 meters in 8.30 seconds.

The Warriors are the two-time defending NCCC champions, winning last year’s championship meet by one point. They were eighth in Class S a year ago.

Canton freshman Ethan Neeley races at the Jack Long Invitational in New Haven. (Photo courtesy Bill Brewster)

The Canton boys were led at the Jack Long meet by Peter Fuller, who finished second in the high jump with a leap of six feet. He finished behind Weston’s Sam Chicha, who leaped 6-foot-2. Fuller also finished tenth in the long jump with a leap of 18-9 feet.

Brandon LaClair was third in the triple jump with a leap of 40-2½, just a half foot behind Rajamanickam.

Andrew Obrzut finished eighth in the 600 meters (1:30.7) and took eleventh in the 300 meters with a time of 39.40 seconds.

The Canton boys finished third in the NCCC last February and were sixth at the Class S meet.

Canton will return to action next week with opportunities to compete at Wesleyan on January 10, the Yale Invitational on January 11 and the Shoreline Coaches Invitational at Hillhouse on January 12.

Avon returns to action on Saturday when they travel to New Haven for the Elm City Coaches meet.

2018 Jack Long Invitational results