For the next week, MileSplit CT will post what it considers some of the highlights of the outdoor track & field season in the Nutmeg State.
It would be a near impossible task to list all of the great performance by our Connecticut athletes. Believe us, there were many. But we'll try our best to pick out the moments this season that truly stood out.
Without further ado....
DeBalsi third at Brooks PR
For Hannah DeBalsi, she had a good junior year. But by her high standards, it wasn't a great year.
Injuries at the start of the cross-country season kept her from reaching her peak this past fall but she still managed to win a state and New England title.The Staples junior also had a moderately-strong indoor campaign by taking the state 3,200m crown and the two mile at the NE meet. Outdoors it was more of the same.
But for DeBalsi, at least for the longer distances, her times fell far short of what she accomplished as a tenth-grader.
Until the Brooks PR Invitational in mid-June.
Competing in a stack field of some of the country's best, DeBalsi hung with the leaders throughout the eight-lap race and finished third overall with an outstanding time of 10:03.24. She was a little more than three seconds from eventual winner and two-time Foot Locker X-C champion Anna Rohrer of Indiana, who crossed the line at 9:59.96..
