The Canton High girls track and field team finished second at Monday’s Class S championship meet — their best-ever finish at the championships. (Photo courtesy CIAC)
Canton High coach Keith Wilson was surprised when he got a text from his assistant coach Devon Glasson midway through Monday’s CIAC Class S girls track and field championship meet at New Britain’s Veterans Memorial Stadium.
“Take a look at this score,” Glasson wrote.
Lyme/Old Lyme, behind junior runner Chase Gilbert, was clearly in the lead. Gilbert won three races on Monday, sweeping the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meter races.
Behind the Wildcats were a handful of teams, including Canton, vying for the second place silver trophy. League rival Windsor Locks, Lyman Memorial, Thomaston and Coginchaug were all in the hunt with the Warriors.
“We knew we were solid but we didn’t think we were that solid,” Wilson said. “This wasn’t on any of the coaches radar.”
It came down to the final race of the day – the 4×400 meter relay. The coaches concluded that a top three finish would secure a trophy for the Warriors. The top two teams get trophies at the conclusion of the meet.
Senior Melodie Millner was fourth when she took the baton for the fourth and final leg but she passed two runners to help Canton finish second and help the Warriors finish second at the Class S championships.
Lyme/Old Lyme won their second consecutive Class S title with 89 points but Canton finished second with 41 points, beating Windsor Locks, who finished third with 38 points. Lyman Memorial (33), Thomaston (33) and Coginchaug (30) rounded out the top five.
It’s the best-ever finish for a Canton girls team in outdoor track. The Warriors finished fourth in four consecutive Class S championship meets (2017-19, 2021).
Outside of Lyme/Old Lyme, there was no dominant team. Many teams earned points throughout the day, allowing Canton to remain in the hunt for a trophy. “It was a perfect storm and we were able to capitalize in several areas and squeeze out enough points to finish second,” Wilson said.
Canton finished second at Monday’s Class S championship meet in New Britain. (Photo courtesy CIAC)
The 4×400 relay consists of three freshmen – Kayla Berning, Anya Johnson and Charlotte Davis along with Millner, a senior. Coginchaug won the race in 4:09.44 with Canton finishing second with a school-record time of 4:11.20.
Berning picked up 18 points for the Warriors with a pair of second place finishes in the 100 hurdles and 300 intermediate hurdles while Lucy O’Connor finished third in the high jump with a leap of 5-0 feet.
Berning, O’Connor and the 4×400 relay all qualified for Saturday’s State Open championships here in New Britain. The top three from each event qualify for the Open.
Berning had personal-best times in the 100 hurdles and 300 intermediate hurdles on Monday. In the 100 hurdles, Berning lowered her own school record with a time of 15.89 seconds, just off the pace set by Shepaug’s Christianne Persson (15.27).
In the 300 hurdles, Berning was second with a time of 47.29 seconds, the second-fastest time in school history in the event. Lyme/Old Lyme’s Zoe Eastman-Grossel set a Class S meet record with her winning time of 44.27 seconds.
Millner finished fourth in the 400 meters with a time of 1:00.0
Sophomore Ally Chickos was sixth in the shot with a throw of 30-5½ feet and seventh in the discus with a personal-best throw of 88-8 feet.
Senior Juliana Cavanaugh had a pair of top 10 finishes with personal-best times in both events. She was eighth in the 800 meters with a time of 2:31.44 and tenth in the 1,600 meters with a time of 5:31.35.
The Canton boys also competed at the Class S championships. They didn’t score any points for the second year in a row. They were led by junior Warren Pelletier, who finished ninth with a personal-best throw of 126-6 feet, and senior Christian Whilby, who was ninth in the triple jump with a leap of 40-4 feet.
Sophomore Jared Lindell finished tenth in the javelin with a throw of 127-5 feet.
