CIAC Open Championship Preview: Event-by-Event Blowout

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New Haven, CT - The CIAC Open is close upon us as the action is set to kick off at noon on Saturday at the Floyd Little field house. Anticipation is high, and the action can only be awesome. 55m hurdles flyer Tess Stapleton and 3200m ace Gavin Sherry are coming off state record performances at last week's Class meets, and both state and meet records could be tumbling.

Bloomfield was the top girls team point-getter at last year's Open, but runner-up Glastonbury is expected to also make a big run at this year's crown along with Weston, Greenwich, Norwich Free Academy, Simsbury, Hillhouse, and Windsor. Hall was tops among the guys' teams last year, and they won the LL title by 1 point again this year. Other teams in the hunt this year include Class S powerhouse Bloomfield along with LL's Ridgefield, Conard, and Wilbur Cross, L's Hillhouse and Bristol Central, and M's Tolland and Ellington.

Besides Tess Stapleton in the 55H and long jump and Gavin Sherry and his sidekick Aidan Puffer in the 3200m, other athletes who could be threatening to do mischief to meet or state records include Paige Martin and Elise Russell in the pole vault, Tianna St. Louis in the high jump, and Matthew Bigelow and Aidan O'Connor in the pole vault. Among the top seeded athletes that could pull off a double in the individual events are Chelsea Mitchell in the 55m, 300m, and long jump, and Sean Dixon-Bodie in the high jump and long jump. Likely many of the winners will also be helping their relay teams take a crown, and one of the best stories there is Gary Moore, Jr. who is not only seeded #2 in the shot put but also is a big part of Hillhouse's top-seeded 4x400m team. Weight men's relays rule!

Among the highly seeded athletes seeking to repeat a win from last year are again Tess Stapleton in the 55H, Terry Miller in the 55m, Grace Hanratty in the 1000m, Mari Noble in the 3200m, Chelsea Mitchell in the long jump, Paige Martin in the pole vault, Christopher Pigatt in the 55m and Sean Dixon-Bodie in the long jump.

The 30 pages that follow here give an in-depth look at each of the events at this year's Open. A complete seed list for each of the individual events is included on every page, and the first nine teams in the relays are also shown. A complete listing of the relay teams can be accessed at the CIAC site through the Start Lists link below.