State Leading Performances Set at O'Grady Relays

Under ideal conditions, about two dozen state leading marks were set at the 37th Annual Dan O'Grady Relays held at Danbury High School on Friday and Saturday. 

The two day meet started off with a Connecticut state record in the hammer throw.  Brittany Jones unfurled a 163'0 which broke her own record she set the previous weekend at the New York Relays.  Jones was ranked 24th nationally.  She was challenged by her sometimes training partner Amanda Howe who set a big PR with a 151'6, which is only a few feet short of the state record at the beginning of the season. 

Darien boys have had some outstanding distance runners over the past few years and they have shown they have the ability to replace their graduated runners.  Their team of Jimmy Conroy, Griffin Ott, Alex Klarer and James Johnson broke the meet record in the 4 x 1600m with their 18:19.98.    Johnson's split was a 4:26.55 which would have given him a big PR and the fastest time in the state if he ran it as a solo effort.   

On Saturday, Danbury set the first meet record of the day with their 4 x 100m which has been tearing up the track early in the season.  They barely missed their school record with their winning performance of 42.36 at the New York Relays last weekend.  While they didn't better that time, the team Christopher Cledera, Sean-Michael Parkinson, Aaron Agosto, Edmond Olivacce still broke the meet record with a 42.71

 The Ludlowe Fairfield boys 4 x 800m team of Colin Agostisi, David Bates, Ben Ertel and Ian Bartlett took away one of Danbury's meet records and held off the Hatters with their time of 8:04.38.  Their effort also gives them the fastest time in the state so far this season.

 Trumbull had an outstanding behind the efforts of Tyler Gleen and Tyler Rubush.  Both ran on the 2nd place 4 x 1600m on Friday night and came back and ran legs of the winning distance medley and sprint medley relays.  In the DMR Gleen matched up once again with his Danbury rival and soon to be teammate at UConn, Terrell Cunningham.  They handed off together right around 3:06.  Danbury exchanged leads in the next two legs until the 1600m when Rubush powered to a 4:24 and had to hold off Masuk's Moetiz Shilleh who ran 4:22 for the 1600m distance.  Both teams ran 10:25 and 10:26 to punch their ticket to New Balance Outdoor Nationals. 

The Tyler's came back later in the day to run in the winning sprint medley and qualified for the championship section at National with their time of 3:33.68.

The Bloomfield girls only scored in seven events, but when you can win all seven, that's all you need.  They defeated a strong Danbury team 70-63 off of their sprint relays, jumpers and throwers.   They won the 4 x 100m in 48.20 and just missed the meet record by .06 seconds.  They also took over the state lead in the 4 x 400m with a 4:04.67 and 4 x 200m running 1:43.35.  Their long jump jump team was led by Jahleah Harris who jumped a state leading 17'9.5 and took a gold medal.  They came back to win the triple jump as well. 

But it is in the throws where the War Hawks are really soaring.  Brittany Jones set a personal best in the shot with a 46'0.5 the day after her state record day in the hammer.  She even had a 48 foot foul which caused groans from the crowd after it was called.  To cap off her day, she led her discus team to another victory with a 125'2 ft throw. In the process, she defeated last year's State Open discus champions, Samantha Stevens by just over a foot.  Her only downside to her day was that she lost to last year's State Open runner up Amanda Howe who set a personal best of 133'5.  Howe's throw took over the state lead and earned a trip to NBON in North Carolina. 

Danbury boys continued their outstanding year by winning their 4th straight O'Grady Relays.  They only won the 4 x 100m and 4 x 200m but they finished top three in eight other events to pull ahead of Trumbull 78-58. 

The following were the top performances over the two day meet.  (Performances in bold are leading the state.)

HS GIRLS                                                              MARK                   ATHLETE                              TEAM

2,000 Meter Steeplechase Finals               7:44.57                  Mary Bibbey                      Nonnewaug High

2,000 Meter Steeplechase Finals               7:58.13                  Katelynn Romanchick     Trumbull High School

4x1600 Meter Relay Finals                            21:54.08               Relay Team                         Immaculate High 

4x800 Meter Relay Finals                             9:25.23                  Relay Team                        Fairfield Ludlowe

4x800 Meter Relay Finals                              9:25.95                  Relay Team                         Ridgefield High 

4x800 Meter Relay Finals                              9:44.89                  Relay Team                         Danbury High 

Discus Finals                                                       124-0                     Samantha Stevens           Shelton High 

Discus Finals                                                       125-2                     Brittany Jones                   Bloomfield High 

Discus Finals                                                      133-5                     Amanda Howe                  Southington High

Distance Medley Relay Finals                     12:28.56               Relay Team                        Greenwich High 

Hammer Throw Finals                                    151-6                     Amanda Howe                  Southington High

Hammer Throw Finals                                   163-0                     Brittany Jones                   Bloomfield High 

Long Jump Finals                                             17-9.25                 Adia Cavalier                     Bloomfield High 

Long Jump Finals                                              17-9.5                    Jahleah Harris                    Bloomfield High 

Pole Vault Finals                                               10-6                       Bridget Wirtz                      Branford High 

Pole Vault Finals                                               10-6                       Lia Zavattaro                      Greenwich High 

Shot Put Finals                                                   37-0.5                    Lauryn Gause                    Brookfield High 

Shot Put Finals                                                   39-4                       Samantha Stevens           Shelton High School

Shot Put Finals                                                  46-0.5                    Brittany Jones                   Bloomfield High 

Javelin  Finals                                                    114-7                    Soph Jagoe-Seidl             Saint Joseph High

Sprint Medley Relay Finals                            4:22.88                  Relay Team                         Windsor High School

Sprint Medley Relay Finals                            4:26.35                  Relay Team                         Amity High School

Sprint Medley Relay Finals                            4:27.66                  Relay Team                         Immaculate High 

Sprint Medley Relay Finals                            4:27.88                  Relay Team                         Shelton High School

800 Meter Sprint Medley Relay Finals      1:51.72                  Relay Team                         Windsor High School

800 Meter Sprint Medley Relay Finals      1:52.58                  Relay Team                         Danbury High School

800 Meter Sprint Medley Relay Finals      1:54.32                  Relay Team                         Staples High School

Triple Jump Finals                                            36-4.5                    Rachel Fleischer                 Derby High School

HS BOYS                                                              MARK                   ATHLETE                              TEAM

2,000 Meter Steeplechase Finals              6:32.16                  Maximillian Sparks         Canton High School

2,000 Meter Steeplechase Finals               6:32.83                  Eli Nahom                           New Milford High

2,000 Meter Steeplechase Finals               6:40.32                  Bradford Demassa           Ridgefield High School

2,000 Meter Steeplechase Finals               6:43.64                  Aidan O'donnell                 Canton High School

4x1600 Meter Relay Finals                          18:19.98               Relay Team                        Darien High School

4x800 Meter Relay Finals                             8:04.38                  Relay Team                        Fairfield Ludlowe

Distance Medley Relay Finals                     10:25.88               Relay Team                        Trumbull High 

Distance Medley Relay Finals                      10:26.50               Relay Team                         Masuk High School

Distance Medley Relay Finals                      10:31.21               Relay Team                         Danbury High School

Distance Medley Relay Finals                      10:38.04               Relay Team                         Joel Barlow High 

Hammer Throw Finals                                   157-2                     Christian Sturm                 Saint Paul High 

Long Jump Finals                                             22-9.75                 Jack Jones                           Trumbull High 

Pole Vault Finals                                               14-0                       Marc Deluca                       Westhill High 

Triple Jump                                                         45-1.25                Trae Lounsbury                 Seymour High

Triple Jump                                                        45-2                     Tumani Edwards              Danbury High

Sprint Medley Relay Finals                          3:33.68  Relay Team                                        Trumbull High 

Sprint Medley Relay Finals                            3:37.00  Relay Team                                         Immaculate High 

Sprint Medley Relay Finals                            3:37.75  Relay Team                                         Derby High School

Sprint Medley Relay Finals                            3:38.00  Relay Team                                         Shelton High School

Sprint Medley Relay Finals                            3:38.50  Relay Team                                         Greenwich High 

Sprint Medley Relay Finals                            3:39.37  Relay Team                                         Branford High 

800 Meter Sprint Medley Relay                 1:34.84  Relay Team                                        Shelton High School

800 Meter Sprint Medley Relay                 1:34.89  Relay Team                                         Windsor High School

800 Meter Sprint Medley Relay                  1:35.87  Relay Team                                         Immaculate High 

800 Meter Sprint Medley Relay                  1:36.95  Relay Team                                         Greenwich High 

 MS GIRLS                                                             MARK                   ATHLETE                              TEAM

800 Meter Run Finals                                      2:37.58                  Alanna Smith                     Danbury Flyers

800 Meter Run Finals                                      2:39.00                  Nicole Popham                 Danbury Flyers

Long Jump Finals                                              14-0                       Kimberleigh Willi               Danbury Flyers

Long Jump Finals                                              14-1                       Samantha Pomeroy        New Fairfield Flash

Long Jump Finals                                              14-1                       Ashley Nicoletti                 Immaculate MS

Long Jump Finals                                              14-9.75                 Courtney Dacunha           New Fairfield Flash

Long Jump Finals                                              16-6.75                 Tess Stapleton             Roger Ludlowe Middle

800 Meter Sprint Medley Relay Finals      2:07.45                  Relay Team                         Danbury Flyers

800 Meter Sprint Medley Relay Finals      2:11.71                  Relay Team                         Derby Middle School

MS BOYS                                                             MARK                   ATHLETE                              TEAM

800 Meter Run Finals                                      2:13.29                  Schyler Parris                     Dayo Lightning

800 Meter Run Finals                                      2:19.31                  Malachi Bruton                 Dayo Lightning

Long Jump Finals                                              16-0.75                 Alex Kennedy                    New Fairfield Flash

Long Jump Finals                                              19-7                       Carter Lambo                     Roger Ludlowe MS