The Danbury Dream Invitational once again lived up to expectations and many tickets were earned to New Balance Outdoor Nationals June 16th and 17th.
Zakeer Ahmad, the senior from Staples High had a tough winter after winning the State Open in cross country. He had an illness since the Yale Invitational and while he still ran fast, he didn't quite live up to his own expectations. But he is definitely back now at the right time. Last week he broke 9 minutes in the 3200m at the Loucks Games and at the Dream Invite on Friday night, he ran a state leading time of 4:15.27 for the mile.
Ahmad took it out hard, knowing some of the best middle distance runners in the field would like to make the race come down to a sprint. And Aaron Breene of Wilton did just that. He challenged the cross country champ the last 300m but the Staples senior managed to hold him off and pull ahead the last 50m to win by 3/4 of a second.
The girls mile was even closer than that. Emily Philippides of Greenwich earned All American indoors in the 800m and has established herself as one of the best middle distance runners in the country. The junior took this opportunity to move up to the mile and was challenged the entire way by Danbury sophomore Lauren Moore and Gabi Galetta of Warde. The race came down to the last few yards when Philippides barely pulled ahead in a photo finish to win in 5:09.74 which was only .08 seconds of ahead of the Moore.
In the seldom run 800m Sprint Medley Relay, 12 teams made the NBON Emerging Elite standards which will allow them to compete in North Carolina in June. The boys were led by Danbury who ran the 45th best time in the country and the girls were led by Hamden who ran 1:47.92 which ranks them 28th nationally. Both are state leading times. In a show of depth, Danbury's B teams also qualified for nationals
Brianna Auray of Fairfield Ludlowe has emerged as one of the top 800m runners in the state. Well she proved it again against a very good field. She went out to a big lead and hung on through 600m. That is when the racing began. Defending champion Leah Sarkisian of Danbury, who is know for coming from behind to win, began to make up the distance. But the University of Miami bound senior Auray, managed to keep her form and held off the Danbury junior to win in 2:15.35.
The boys 800m was taken out by Branford sophomore Marzio Mastrianni in 56 seconds. He came into the race with the fastest seed time, but like what often happens at the Dream Invitational, someone drops a huge PR. This year that honor when to junior Ian Barlett of Ludlowe who dropped 2.5 seconds off her best time to win in 1:54.13, the 3rd best time in the state this season. Amazingly, The Dream Invitational produced the 3rd - 8th best times in the state with all finishers breaking their personal records.
The Dream Invite also had outstanding field event competions as well. In the girls triple jump Derby's Rachel Fleischer moved up to #2 in the state with a PR of 37'11.5 which just missed the NBON standard by 2 1/2 inches.
HS GIRLS | MARK | ATHLETE | TEAM |
---|---|---|---|
800 Meter Run Finals | 2:19.64 | Cassandra Sturdevant | Danbury High School |
800 Meter Run Finals | 2:19.51 | Alyssa Krauss | Fairfield Ludlowe |
800 Meter Run Finals | 2:17.74 | Leah Sarkisian | Danbury High School |
800 Meter Run Finals | 2:15.35 | Brianna Auray | Fairfield Ludlowe |
Hammer Throw Finals | 161-1 | Brittany Jones | Bloomfield High School |
Hammer Throw Finals | 152-5 | Amanda Howe | Southington High School |
Hammer Throw Finals | 117-1 | Nyla Pouncey | Bloomfield High School |
Hammer Throw Finals | 113-7 | Julia Groll | Southington High School |
Hammer Throw Finals | 110-11 | Justyce Wilson | Bloomfield High School |
One Mile Run Finals | 5:15.19 | Gabi Galetta | Fairfield Warde |
One Mile Run Finals | 5:09.82 | Lauren Moore | Danbury High School |
One Mile Run Finals | 5:09.74 | Emily Philippides | Greenwich High School |
800 Meter Sprint Medley Relay Finals | 1:53.74 | Relay Team | Southington High School |
800 Meter Sprint Medley Relay Finals | 1:53.07 | Relay Team | Greenwich High School |
800 Meter Sprint Medley Relay Finals | 1:52.96 | Relay Team | Windsor High School |
800 Meter Sprint Medley Relay Finals | 1:51.13 | Relay Team | Danbury High School |
800 Meter Sprint Medley Relay Finals | 1:47.92 | Relay Team | Hamden High School |
Triple Jump Finals | 37-11.5 | Rachel Fleischer | Derby High School |
HS BOYS | MARK | ATHLETE | TEAM |
---|---|---|---|
Two Mile Run Finals | 9:41.58 | Peter Schulten | Coginchaug Regional High School |
800 Meter Run Finals | 1:57.48 | Malcolm Going | Danbury High School |
800 Meter Run Finals | 1:56.21 | Ken Little | Derby High School |
800 Meter Run Finals | 1:55.91 | Shawn Odei-ntiri | Hamden High School |
800 Meter Run Finals | 1:55.52 | Daniel Campbell | Danbury High School |
800 Meter Run Finals | 1:54.85 | Marzio Mastrianni | Branford High School |
800 Meter Run Finals | 1:54.84 | Ben Ruffing | Joel Barlow High School |
800 Meter Run Finals | 1:54.13 | Ian Bartlett | Fairfield Ludlowe |
Hammer Throw Finals | 161-9 | Christian Sturm | St. Paul Catholic |
Hammer Throw Finals | 152-2 | Charlie Ritchel | Seymour High School |
One Mile Run Finals | 4:25.54 | Bradford Demassa | Ridgefield High School |
One Mile Run Finals | 4:21.83 | William Landowne | Staples High School |
One Mile Run Finals | 4:21.51 | Michael Bortolot | Joel Barlow High School |
One Mile Run Finals | 4:21.40 | Tyler Rubush | Trumbull High School |
One Mile Run Finals | 4:21.36 | Benjamin Seiple | Staples High School |
One Mile Run Finals | 4:20.95 | Terrell Cunningham | Danbury High School |
One Mile Run Finals | 4:17.45 | Alex Mocarski | Fairfield Warde |
One Mile Run Finals | 4:15.81 | Aaron Breene | Wilton High School |
One Mile Run Finals | 4:15.27 | Zakeer Ahmad | Staples High School |
800 Meter Sprint Medley Relay Finals | 1:38.44 | Relay Team | Fairfield Prep High School |
800 Meter Sprint Medley Relay Finals | 1:38.06 | Relay Team | Greenwich High School |
800 Meter Sprint Medley Relay Finals | 1:36.71 | Relay Team | Southington High School |
800 Meter Sprint Medley Relay Finals | 1:36.07 | Relay Team | Windsor High School |
800 Meter Sprint Medley Relay Finals | 1:35.85 | Relay Team | Derby High School |
800 Meter Sprint Medley Relay Finals | 1:35.63 | Relay Team | Hamden High School |
800 Meter Sprint Medley Relay Finals | 1:34.24 | Relay Team | Danbury High School |
800 Meter Sprint Medley Relay Finals | 1:37.39 | Relay Team | Danbury High School |