Avon, Canton athletes earn medals at state track and field championships

Track and field athletes from Canton and Avon earned medals at the recent CIAC state championship meets and at the State Open championship meet.

Avon senior Isaiah Adams finished third in the 300 hurdles at the Class MM championship meet with a time of 39.94. It was good enough to earn an invitation to the State Open championship meet in New Britain where Adams finished ninth with a time of 40.11.

Teammate Aki Bhabad finished seventh in Class MM in the 300 hurdles with a time of 41.98. Adams and Bhabad were the only Falcons to finish in the top 10 at the MM meet.

At the Class M girls track and field championships in New Britain, sophomore Laura Funderburk was third in the 3,200 meters with a personal-best time of 11:46.91 while two Falcon relay teams finished third and qualified to run at the State Open.

At the State Open, Funderburk was 18th with a time of 12:00.77 in the 3,200.

Avon’s 4×100 relay team (Nathalie Ith, Emma Loparco, Cate Dugan, Cara Dugan) finished third with a time of 51.37 seconds. They were 21st  at the State Open with a time of 51.87 seconds.

Avon’s 4×400 relay (Nathalie Ith, Katelyn Westerberg, Emma Loparco, Ying Ying Cheng) also finished third in Class M with a time of 4:13.29 at the Class M meet before going onto the State Open where the team was 17th with a time of faster time of 4:12.53.

Sophomore Ying Ying Cheng was fifth at the Class MM meet in the 800 meters with a time of 2:24.01. She finished 20th at the State Open with a faster time of 2:23.78.

Emma Loparco (400) finished seventh in the 400 meters in Class M with a time of 1:01.99 while freshman Lauren Edge had a personal best time of 49.43 in her seventh place finish in the 300 hurdles. Avon’s 4×800 relay teams (Funderburk, Allie Dowd. Leah Cuyler, Cheng) was sixth with a time of 10:11.52.

In the Class S boys championship meet, Canton sophomore Christian Whilby was fifth in the triple jump with a jump of 40-3 feet. At the State Open, he was 22^nd with a leap of 40-1¼.

At the Class S girls championships, junior Lauren Marze was sixth in the discus with a throw of 97-10 feet and eighth in the shot with a throw of 29-7½ feet.

The top five in each event qualified for the State Open along with athletes who meet specific performance-based qualifying standards. The top six at the State Open advanced to the New England championships.