Avon’s Logan Murray wins a pair of hurdling titles at Class MM finals

It’s been 70 years since an Avon High track and field athlete swept the hurdling events at a CIAC state championship meet.

Avon junior Logan Murray won multiple state championships on Sunday at Willowbrook Park in New Britain by sweeping the 110 meter hurdles and 300 meter hurdles at the CIAC Class MM championship meet, setting new school records in both events.

The last Avon athlete to sweep a pair of hurdling events at a state championship meet was Bob Loeffler in 1966, who won the 120 yard and 180-yard hurdling events at the Class C championship meet.

Murray helped the Falcons finish fourth in Class MM with 58 points, trailing Hand with 88½ points, Xavier (76) and North Central Connecticut Conference champion Rockville with 70 points.

Brahm Bulow also won his first state championship in outdoor track by winning the 3,200 meters, beating teammate Chris Campbell by more than three seconds.

It’s the best finish by an Avon boys team since the Falcons finished third in Class MM in 2021.

Led by Kathryn Martin, who finished second in the 400 meters, the Avon girls finished 12^th in Class MM with 20 points.

Murray won the 110 hurdles with a school-record time of 14.66 seconds, beating Woodstock Academy’s Owen Williamson in 15.14 seconds. That erased the old school record set by Paul Netland (14.93 seconds) at the Class MM meet in 2022. Murray also had the top time in qualifying of 14.97

In the 300 hurdles, Murray beat East Haven’s C.J. Fowler by more than a second to win his second state championship. Murray’s school record time of 38.80 seconds erased his own record time of 38.87 set earlier this spring at the Middletown Invitational.

Teammate Jaden Scott finished sixth in the race with a personal-best time of 41.97 seconds.

Murray is the first Avon athlete to bring home multiple state championships on the same day since Carver Morgan swept the 800 and 1,600 meters in 2022. Netland was Avon’s most recent hurdles champion in the 110 hurdles in 2022. Murray is Avon’s first state champion in the 300 hurdles.

In the 3,200 meters, Bulow earned his second championship in two weeks. He won the Central Connecticut Conference title with a time of 9:38.93 a week earlier. On Sunday, his time of 9:30.13 was more than enough to stay ahead of Campbell, who turned in a personal best time of 9:33.35 to earn a silver medal.

Bulow, Campbell, Riley Klotz and Andrew Kessler were also part of Avon’s 4×800 meter relay team that finished third with a season-best time of 8:10.62, holding off Bristol Eastern (8:11.45). East Haven (7:55.33) and Xavier (8:00.40) were first and second, respectively in the race.

A week earlier, Avon’s 4×800 relay was second at the CCC championships with a time of 8:16.19.

In the high jump, Avon had three finishers in the top six. Jaden Scott, Dwane Edward and Wellington Mahoney each cleared six feet. Scott finished fifth while Edward and Mahoney finished tied for sixth.

In the girls competition, Martin was second in the 400 meters with a time of 59.16 seconds, holding off Rockville’s Melody Rowe Cary (59.17) and Waterford’s Chloe Butler (59.64). Hillhouse’s Deanna Moore won the race with a personal-best time of 57.64 seconds.

Martin finished second at last week’s CCC championship with a personal-best time of 58.27 seconds.

Lauren Edge had a pair of top 10 finishes in the hurdles. Edge, who will attend West Point in the fall, finished third in the 100 hurdles with a time of 15.71 seconds. Woodstock Academy’s Emma Weitknect won the race in 14.86 seconds followed by Hillhouse’s Juliana Holmes in 15.45.

Edge finished ninth in the 300 hurdles with a time of 49.18.

Avon’s 4×100 relay team (Martin, Emma Loparco, Amelia Turken, Edge) finished fifth with a time of 4:08.60. A week earlier, the team was seventh in the CCC championships with a time of 4:14.51.

The Class MM and Class L championship meets were held on Sunday at Willowbrook Park. The Class MM meet began at 10 a.m. while the Class L meet began at  4 p.m. These were the scheduled dates and times for these meets when the championship scheduled was determined earlier this year. The Class S and Class M meets are scheduled for Monday, June 1.

The State Open meet is set for Saturday, June 6 in New Britain with the New England championships scheduled for June 13 in North Berwick, Maine.