CT schools have been heading down to NY venues at the Armory and Ocean Breeze over the last two months, and the big marks at near-state-record levels are being pumped out in a few cases. Athletes have also been ratcheting up their marks at dozens of meets around the state, so the League meets that could be starting this weekend (though weather reports are not pretty) should be studded with some huge performances.
During the past weekend, the New Balance Games at the Armory on Friday and Saturday fielded some awesome CT results propelled again by Gavin and Callum Sherry in a distance event, this time the 2 Mile. Gavin Sherry took the win and unofficially bested two state records on the way to an 8:50.05 US #1 time that fell just short of Alex Ostberg's CT 2 Mile record of 8:48.88 set at the 2015 Nationals. But Sherry's en route marks of 8:15.57 for 3000 meters and 8:47.03 for 3200 meters were well under the official state records. In the same race, Callum Sherry finished 2nd with a PB and US #3 9:06.50 time. Zachary Taubman and Benjamin Lorenz of Staples placed 12th and 14th with times of 9:35.22 and 9:42.31.
Two other distance guys having good days at New Balance in the mile were Avon's Carver Morgan who placed 2nd with a CT #4 of 4:21.28 and Nathaniel Aronson of Hall who placed 7th in 4:28.26. In the 1000m Ben Mickool of Ridgefield placed 5th with a 2:35.07 time that puts him among the top guys in the state. The Hall 4x400m team did well with a 5th place at 3:28.55 which may rank them tops in the state.
The CT track girls also had a big and expansive day. Anna Keeley of Fairfield Ludlowe was one of the headliners with a pair of wins and CT #1 times with a 5:06.03 in the mile and a 10:53.26 in the 2 mile. Kali Holden of Trumbull had a busy day as she posted a 5th in the 1000m at 3:04.13, 5th in the mile at 10:36.50, and 8th in the 2 mile at 11:25.19. Other high finishers in the longer events included Ridgefield's Georgia Keller and Katherine Rector in 4th and 6th, New Milford's Sydney Kelleher with a 3rd in the mile at 5:08.23, and her teammate Madelaine Sweeney with a 3rd place in the 2 mile at 11:07.42.
Also placing high up on the day were Weaver's Anna-Sasha Jones in the 300m in 8th at 41.68 and Ridgefield's Grace Hooker with a 6th in the 600m at 1:42.05. The Greenwich sprint medley relay placed 4th with a CT #1 time of 4:20.36.
The CT field girls also made their mark at New Balance. Maloney's Shaylin Murphy finished 2nd in the high jump with a 5-2 best, Tia Stapleton of Fairfield Ludlowe took 3rd in the long jump at 16-7.25 and Danbury's Giuliana Robles was 6th at 16-5. Weston's Ellison Weiner got 5th in the pole vault with a CT #1 clearance of 11-0 in the pole vault. Hillhouse's Olivia O' Connor won the weight throw with a CT #1 51-5.75 and also finished 2nd in the shot put at 36-11.
Hillhouse's Gary Moore, Jr. again led the headliners for the boys field stars as he continues to chase Mel Taylor's 53-year-old state shot record. Moore won the SP at 62.7.75 that was 7.25 inches shy of the record, and he then took the weight throw with a 71-5.5 toss. Fairfield Ludlowe's pole vault tandem of Steve Ditelberg and Bennett Hemphill also did nicely with a 14-6 for 3rd and 13-6 for 7th respectively.
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Summarizing all of the events that have happened around CT recently is simply too exhausting a task for a state that has no structured repository of results. One recent meet with strong results was the SCC Coaches Invite whose top marks included Eamon Burke's 2:44.66 in the 1000m for Xavier, Sean Kennedy-Wonneberger's sweep of the 1600m and 3200m for Hale-Ray, Brittani Westberry's 1:40.95 in the 600m for Windsor, Sheehan's 1:46.30 mark in the girls 4x200m, Glastonbury's 4:08.54 in the girls 4x400m, and EO Smith's 9:46.44 in the girls 4x800m. Bloomfield's D'Jior Delisser also had a big day with a 5-4 in the high jump and 17-7 in the long jump. Sheehan's Erin Brennan was 1st in the pole vault, 2nd in the long jump, and ran on the Titans' winning 4x200m squad.
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Weather conditions for the coming weekend are uncertain and Saturday especially could see blizzard conditions. But if the Saturday action does go off, Gavin and Callum Sherry will be the top seeds in the huge boys mile that could see some interesting times. Other CT athletes that may be competing if weather conditions work out include: Thursday --- Olivia O'Connor (Hillhouse) in the girls weight throw and Gary Moore, Jr. (Hillhouse) in the boys weight throw. Saturday ---- Anichka Malachi (New Milford) in the girls long jump, Ralphael Hawkins (Hillhouse) in the boys 60m, and Alanna Smith (Danbury) in the girls 300m.
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MileSplit has not been able to get extensive coverage going for CT this year as the media has not been allowed in for the invites we have tried to cover, and scheduling conflicts have nixed other chances. But we do hope to finish the year off in February with a big package of livecasted League meets (four or more), the four CIAC Class meets, and the State Open. Stay tuned. Should be a blast.