By
MARY ALBI
NEW HAVEN -- After a successful trial run a year ago for the Wintergreen Invitational, very little was changed for the second go-around on Saturday.
And why not?
The four-hour, five event indoor track meet held at Southern Connecticut State University, offers a fast and unique meet for high school teams early in the winter track season.
"Last year was more of a trial run to spark the interest," meet director Melissa Stoll explained. "Events are the same, change is the size of the teams. It doubled.
Without a cap this year, the meet went from 15 to 30 teams competing on Saturday. The five events -- high jump, pole vault, 55 dash, 55 hurdles and 3,000 meter run -- all stayed the same. Stoll said one day they'd love to host a full slate of events, but for right now, they are happy with what they have.
"The four hour gap, that's appealing," Stoll said.
The
events as well, in particular the 3,000 meters, are attractive too. Though the
3K is not a sanctioned CIAC event, athletes that will be running at the
upcoming Yale Classic and other invitationals, get a chance to put down a time
in the event.
"Most meets offer the 3,200, we offer the 3K," Stoll said. "We
offer odd events. The 55 dash, one can get three opportunities, prelims,
semifinals and finals."
Hillhouse junior David Harris ran a 6.61 seconds in the 55 dash to claim first and set a new meet record.
In the high jump, fellow Hillhouse track athlete Gabriel Abdul-Karim, won with a leap of 6-feet, 4 inches, missing the meet record by an inch.
In the girls' pole vault, Mercy senior Ava Coleman cleared 10-feet to collect the title, setting a meet record along the way.
While it is a smaller meet, in the two-year operation, it's produced some quality marks and times.
"I remember we had the state leader in the high jump from Danbury (last year)," Stoll said. "We want people to have that memory. 'Where did you get that qualifier at?' Southern. 'Where' you get that time at?' Southern."