Canton’s Christian Whilby had a career-jump of 5-foot-8 on Tuesday night to win the high jump at the North Central Connecticut Conference’s (NCCC) indoor track and field championships at the Floyd Little Athletic Center on the campus of Hillhouse High in New Haven.
Whilby’s leap helped the Canton High boys indoor track team finish seventh at the NCCC championship meet.
On the girls side, Melodie Millner finished second in two events to help the Warriors finish sixth.
Suffield grabbed a pair of NCCC championships with the boys team winning their third straight NCCC title with a 149½ to 123 win over Rockville and the Suffield girls winning for the second time in three years with a 123-72 win over Rockville.
The Suffield boys won seven events led by Griffin Mandirola who swept the 1,600 meter and 3,200 meter races. The Wildcats won three relay relays, sweeping the 4×400, 4×800 and sprint medley relays.
Whilby prevailed in a close competition in the high jump. Windsor Locks’ Derek Reyes and Suffield’s Alex Horla also jumped 5-8 but Whilby prevailed because he had few misses. He is the first Canton boy to win a NCCC title since Peter Fuller won three events in 2020.
Whilby was also fourth in the 55 meter hurdles with a time of 9.12 seconds. Teammate Warren Pelletier was fifth in the shot with a throw of 39-8½ feet.
Millner took second in the 300 meters and 600 meter races. In the 300, Millner had a personal-best time of 45.33 seconds, just ahead of Somers’ Dana Salka, who finished third in 45.34. Melody Rowe Carry of Rockville won the event with a time of 45.13 seconds.
In the 600 meters, Millner had another personal-best time of 1:49.10 as she finished second. Salka won the race with a time of 1:47.86. Canton’s Janelle Gagnon finished ninth in the 600 with a season-best time of 2:02.53.
Teammate Juliana Cavanaugh had a pair of top three finishes. She finished second in the 3,200 meters with a time of 12:57.17 but Somers’ Stephanie Burzynski far outpaced the field winning that event in 12:22.25. Cavanaugh finished third in the 1,600 meters with a personal-best time of 5:47.69. Burzynski also won the 1,600 meters.
Lyla O’Connor also had a silver medal performance for the Warriors, taking second in the shot with a throw 33-2 feet. Somers’ Lourden Lawson won the event with a throw of 35-7 feet.
O’Connor was also fifth in the long jump with a personal-best leap of 14-5½ feet.
The last Canton girl to win a NCCC championship was Tommie Barker (shot) and Joy Shand (300) in 2022.
There are no dual meets in the indoor track and field season just invitational meets. Canton closes out the regular season with a last-chance qualifying meet on Saturday in Hartford.
The CIAC Class S championships will be Friday, Feb. 9, at the Floyd Little Athletic Complex.
2024 NCCC indoor track and field championships
At New Haven
GIRLS: 1. Suffield 123, 2. Rockville 72, 3. Stafford 67, 4. Ellington 64, 5. Somers 54, 6. Canton 41, 7. Windsor Locks 40, 8. Coventry 22½, 9. Granby 19, 10. Bolton 2½, 11. East Windsor 2
BOYS: 1. Suffield 149½, 2. Rockville 123, 3. Bolton 57, 4. Windsor Locks 44, 5. Ellington 43, 6. Coventry 29, 7. Canton 20, 8. Granby 15, 9. East Windsor 13½, 10. SMSA and Stafford 10, 12. Somers 6
2024 NCCC indoor track and field championships results
