Record-setting performances help Canton girls win 4th straight NCCC title

The Canton High girls track and field team won their fourth straight NCCC championship Saturday in New Haven. (Photo courtesy of Christy Mitchell)

NEW HAVEN, February 1, 2020 – Senior Chelsea Mitchell won three individual events and set league championship records in all three events to help the Canton High girls indoor track and field team win their fourth straight North Central Connecticut Conference championship on Saturday at the Floyd Little Athletic Center on the campus of Hillhouse High.

Julia Caputo swept the 1,000 meters and 1,600 meter races and was a close second in the 3,200 meters as Canton scored in all 15 events and scored 143 points – the highest number of points by a girls team since Tolland scored 167 in 2009.

The Canton boys finished third as Ellington won the NCCC championship for the eighth time in nine years. Peter Fuller won three individual events and set a league championship record in the high jump.

“We were worried that some illness, injuries and unforeseen absences would make our girls team vulnerable, but they all really picked it up,” Canton High coach Tim O’Donnell said. “Many athletes turned in three outstanding performances to provide a somewhat surprising margin of victory.”

Canton won by 35 points with Ellington taking second with 108 points and Granby finishing third with 89½ points – their best finish in the meet since taking second in 2016.

“Scoring in all fifteen events is a real big accomplishment because it speaks to the overall strength of the team,” O’Donnell said. “While outstanding athletes like Julia and Chelsea are a great starting point for points, the fact that every girl competing Saturday medaled (top 6 finish) in at least one event is a testament to their team wide commitment to working hard and competing hard.”

Mitchell was dominant – as she has been in the league during her four-year career. She broke her own NCCC meet record in the 55 meters with a school-record time of 7.19 seconds. In the 300 meters, her school-record time of 41.60 seconds won the league title and erased the meet record set by Sam Willis of Tolland (42.17) in 2007.

In the long jump, Mitchell leaped 19-8¼ to win the event and shatter the meet record set by W. Tagliavini of Suffield (18-2½) in 2005.

In four years at this meet, Mitchell won the 55 meters and 300 meters four times. She won the long jump three times (2018-20). As a freshman, she ran on Canton’s winning 4×200 relay team. She concludes her NCCC indoor meet career with 12 gold medals – the most she could have won.

Caputo won the 1,000 meters and then captured the 1,600 meter race. She ran in the 3,200 meters and nearly erased an 11-second deficit, finishing just 0.47 of a second behind winner Kylie Raymond of Somers, who was running in just that event. Caputo is just the second girl in school history to win multiple events at the league championship meet. Yes, Mitchell was the first girl to do that.

There were plenty of outstanding performances from the Warriors. Hannah Sevigny had a personal-best leap of 4-foot-10 to finish second in the high jump while Megan Ausere and Novalee Dean finished tied second in the pole vault.

Canton had three athletes among the top six in the shot led by Sadie Barker, who was second with a throw of 31-7 feet. Meg Babbitt was third with Julia Lau finishing sixth. Emma Gallant was fourth in the 1,000 meters while Maeve Balavender was fourth in the 600 meters.

The Warriors had two relay teams finish second. The 4×200 relay team (Maya Sutton-Hall, Therese McClain, Joy Shand, Julia Langou) finished tied with Rockville with a time of 1:54.68, just 0.26 of second behind league champion Suffield.

Canton’s 4×400 relay team (Ava Dakin, Schand, Julia Langou, Balavender) also finished second with a time of 4:33.91.

Fuller became the third Canton boy to win three events at the NCCC championship meet. Dustin Van Kirk won three individual events (55 meters, 300, long jump) in 2017 while Keith Wilson won three times (55, 55 hurdles, 300) in 2014.

Fuller set a new school record with a leap of 20-10½ to win the long jump, breaking the record (20-6) set by Van Kirk at the 2017 NCCC championships. Fuller was sharp in the 55 meter hurdles with a winning time of personal-best time of 8.06 seconds, the second-best time in school history. Wilson owns the school record with a time of 7.92 seconds.

Fuller’s leap of 6-7 in the high jump won the event and broke the league championship meet record of 6-6 set by Kris Morin of Stafford more than 20 years ago in 1999. Classical’s Stephen Mallard was second with a leap of 5-10.

“Peter really brought his A game with personal bests in two events and then a 6′ 7″ (leap in the) high jump,” O’Donnell said.

Hasani Shirley finished fourth in the 55 meters with a personal-best time of 6.98 seconds while Adam Obrzut was fifth in the shot with a throw of 39-5½. Canton had two medalists in the pole vault with Brandon LaClair taking third with a leap of 10-6 and J.R. Rottkamp finishing fourth after clearing nine feet.

The Canton 4×800 relay (Ryan Nickerson, Gabe Mower, Liam O’Donnell, Thomas Purcell) team finished third. All four had season-best times in their 800 meter legs.

Canton returns to the track for the NCCC Last Chance qualifying meet on Saturday at Hartford Public. The Warriors will be competing in the Class S championships on Friday, Feb. 14 at the Floyd Little Athletic Center beginning at 4 p.m.

The State Open will be Saturday, Feb. 22 in New Haven beginning at noon.

NCCC Indoor Track and Field Championships
At New Haven
GIRLS INDOOR TRACK
Team results – 1. Canton 143, 2. Ellington 108, 3. Granby 89½, 4. Suffield 69, 5. Rockville 48, 6. Somers 33, 7. East Granby and Coventry 17, 9. Windsor Locks 16, 10. Classical 13, 11. East Windsor 11½, 12. Stafford 5, 13. Bolton and SMSA 4, 15. HMTCA 1
Individual results – Top 3 finishers and Canton athletes who finished in top eight and scored points
4×200: Suffield (Victoria Kent, Destiny Gonzalez, Sarah Meghan Tillona) 1:54.42, 2. Rockville and Canton (Maya Sutton Hall. Therese McClain, Joy Shand, Julie Langou 1:54.68
4×800: Suffield (Karissa Stanio, Haley Young, Abigail Schulz, Emily Brydges) 10:39.88, 2. Ellington 11:12.22, 3. Rockville 11:34.26, 5. Canton (Ava Dakin, M. Archangelo, Julia Langou, Hannah Sevigny) 12:02.71
55 hurdles: 1. Olivia Suter (Somers) 9.07, 2. Alyssa Sirianni (Rockville) 9.23, 3. Lauren Roy (Granby) 9.32, 8. Megan Ausere (Canton) 11.17
55 meters: 1. Chelsea Mitchell (Canton) 7.19, new meet record (Old mark: Mitchell, Canton, 7.32, 2019), 2. Schyler Wyse (East Granby) 7.76, 3. Megan Wassick (Granby) 7.77
1,000 meters: 1. Julia Caputo (Canton) 3:16.66, 2. Kathryn Bonanno (Ellington) 3:21.47, 3. Bridget Eckels (Ellington) 3:27.03, 4. Emma Gallant (Canton) 3:28.56
600 meters: 1. Clara Mattson (Ellington) 1:41.43, 2. Abigail Bajorek (Rockville) 1:44.41, 3. Madison Holden (Ellington) 1:45.23, 4. Maeve Balavender (Canton) 1:48.23, 6. Ava Dakin (Canton) 1:49.87
1,600: 1. Julia Caputo (Canton) 5:36.91, 2. Aleynah Taylor (Windsor Locks) 5:40.78, 3. Kathryn Bonanno (Ellington) 5:52.59
Sprint medley relay: 1. Suffield (Victoria Kent, Courtney Faber, Sarah Kent, Emily Brydges) 4:34.88, 2. Ellington 4:35.63, 3. Granby 4:49.05, 4. Canton (M. Archangelo, Maeve Balavender, Therese McClain, Joy Schand) 4:55.92
300: 1. Chelsea Mitchell (Canton) 41.60, new meet record (Old mark: Sam Willis, Tolland, 42.17, 2007), 2. Olivia Suter (Somers) 43.69, 3. Maya Sutton Hall (Canton) 43.52
3,200: 1. Kylie Raymond (Somers) 11:30.50, 2. Julia Caputo (Canton) 11:30.97, 3. Emily Brydges (Suffield) 12:19.15
4×400: 1. Ellington (Anna Moser, Madison Holden, Clara Mattson, Ella Moser) 4:23.15, 2. Canton (Ava Dakin, Joy Shand, Julia Langou, Maeve Balavender) 4:33.91, 3. Granby 4:36.05
Long jump: 1. Chelsea Mitchell (Canton) 19-8¼, new meet record (Old mark: W. Tagliavini, Suffield, 18-2½, 2005) 2. Lauren Roy (Granby) 17-1, 3. Schyler Wyse (East Granby) 16-3
Shot: 1. Tristian Haugabook (Granby) 33-11, 2. Sadie Barker (Canton) 31-7, 3. Meg Babbitt (Canton) 29-6, 6. Julia Lau (Canton) 26-9
Pole vault: 1. Evelyn Brooke (Granby) 7-0, 2. Novalee Dean (Canton) and Megan Ausere (Canton) 6-6
High jump: 1. Lauren Roy (Granby) 5-0, 2. Hannah Sevigny (Canton) 4-10, 3. Allison Essig (Ellington) 4-10

BOYS INDOOR TRACK
Team results – 1. Ellington 125½, 2. Suffield 83, 3. Canton 71, 4. Coventry 46½, 5. SMSA 41, 6. Granby 40½, 7. Rockville 38½, 8. Classical 34, 9. Stafford 30, 10. Windsor Locks 20, 11. HMTCA 18, 13. East Windsor 12, 13. Somers 11, 14. East Granby 9, 15. Bolton 5
Individual results – Top 3 finishers and Canton athletes who finished in top eight and scored points
4×200: 1. SMSA (Omar Anwer, Keith Berrouet, Stanley Cipkas, Cole Murdock) 1:36.34, 2. Stafford 1:41.47, 3. East Windsor 1:42.35
4×800: 1. Suffield (Nate Davidson, Wyatt Cashman, Chris Margiatto, Nick Sinofsky) 8:49.48, 2. Ellington 9:03.87, 3. Canton (Ryan Nickerson, Liam O’Donnell, Gabe Mower, Thomas Purcell) 9:14.36
55 hurdles: 1. Peter Fuller (Canton) 8.06, 2. Connor Cahill (Ellington) 8.27, 3. Jason Webber (Ellington) 8.32, 8. Cedric Weber (Canton) 10.21
55 meters: 1. Keith Berrouet (SMSA) 6.40, new meet record (Old mark: Berrouet, SMSA, 6.64, 2019), 2. Jaelyn Butler (HMTCA) 6.66, 3. Kyle MacFeat (Stafford) 6.91, 4. Hasani Shirley (Canton) 6.98
1,000 meters: 1. Nick Sinofsky (Suffield) 2:37.84, 2. Jack Olender (Ellington) 2:41.15, 3. Joshua Fee (Classical) 2:44.11, 6. Matt Barton (Canton) 2:53.21
600 meters: 1. Nicholas Sivo (Ellington) 1:25.76, 2. Brett Mockalis (Suffield) 1:26.47, 3. Jack Poland (Coventry) 1:29.16
1,600: 1. Jack Olender (Ellington) 4:35.96, 2. Nate Davidson (Suffield) 4:37.99, 3. Ryan Kittredge (Windsor Locks) 4:45.51, 8. Gabe Mower (Canton) 5:13.46
Sprint medley relay: 1. Suffield (Gary Higginbotham, Connor McCue, Wyatt Cashman, Nick Sinofsky) 3:47.21, 2. Classical 3:54.52, 3. Granby 3:58.69, 8. Canton (Brandon LaClair, Matt Barton, Thomas Purcell, Hasani Shirley) 4:26.28
300: 1. Keith Berrouet (SMSA) 35.55, new meet record (Old mark: Aeron Sykes, SMSA, 36.51, 2012) 2. Nicholas Sivo (Ellington) 36.65, 3. Jack Poland (Coventry) 38.02
3200: 1. Nate Davidson (Suffield) 10:15.87, 2. Sam Hollworth (Rockville) 10:16.70, 3. Jack Olender (Ellington) 10:25.20
4×400: 1. Ellington (Nicholas Sivo, Vincent Sivo, Anthony Massaro, Jason Webber) 3:37.02, new meet record (Old mark: Ellington, 3:40.07, 2019), 2. Suffield 3:44.08, 3. Granby 3:44.69, 4. Canton (Oluwafemi Taiwo, Chase Lashgari, Thomas Purcell, Matt Barton) 3:55.81
Long jump: 1. Peter Fuller (Canton) 20-10½, 2, Conor Hennessy (Granby) 20-3, 3. Jacob Krause (Coventry) 20-0½, 7. Brandon LaClair (Canton) 18-2
Shot: 1. Ethan Wilkie (Ellington) 49-0½, 2. Daniel Belsen (Windsor Locks) 43-4, 3. Alex Krause (Coventry) 40-6, 5. Adam Obrzut (Canton) 39-5½
Pole vault: 1. Connor Cahill (Ellington) 11-6, 2. Douglas Suter (Somers) 11-0, 3. Brandon LaClair (Canton) 10-6, 4. J.R. Rottkamp (Canton) 9-0
High jump: 1. Peter Fuller (Canton) 6-7, new meet record (Old mark: Kris Morin, Stafford, 6-6, 1999), 2. Stephen Mallard (Classical) 5-10, 3. James Missell (Stafford) 5-8