The 10th Annual New Haven Invitational signaled the start of major invitational action in Connecticut, and several prominent athletes from last year picked up right where they left off. It was record breaking first day at the Floyd Little Athletic Center as the Varsity athletes were on center stage Friday evening.
Friday Highlights
Kellie Davis of Hillhouse set a new meet record in the 800m; winning the event in 2:19.88. She surpassed the 2004 record of 2:21.48 set by Brittnee Byone and is currently US#4 in the event. Medinah Nabadduka of Windsor also came in under the meet record, finishing second in 2:20.42. She is now US#5 as of Saturday.
Sarah Gillespie of Northwest Catholic opened the season where she left off in 2010; as the state's best distance runner. Gillespie on the 1600m in 5:07 and ran clear of Annmarie Tuxbury of NW Regional. Tuxbury put together a mighty fine double, clocking in at 5:13.67 for the 1600m and 11:20.69 for the 3200m.
Cherraine Davis of Southington also broke a meet record with her 41'2" bomb in the shot put. Davis is accustomed to the national rankings after finishing her 2010 campaign at US#19. Her throw on Saturday moved her from US#4 (39'8.5") to US#2.
The Glastonbury girls held off Greenwich by just under two seconds to win the 4x400 Meter Relay in 4:08.08. Their time is currently US#8.
Aaeron Sykes of Sport and Medical Sciences Academy and Ryan Kelly of Greenwich both ran under the 400m meet record of 51.74 set by Elzie Coleman in 2003. A photo was needed, but Sykes got with win as both athletes finished with identical 51.60 times.
Andrew Weiler of Norwich Free Academy held off Kevin Stanko of Simsbury for the win and a meet record of 2:00.19 in the 800m. Stanko finished in second at 2:01.06 and was followed closely by Jack White of Farifield Ludlow in 2:01.69. Weiler collected his second meet record of the day as part of the Norwich Free Academy 4x800m Relay team that blew away the field in 8:24.44.
Tom Lupoli of Mark Sheehan High School earned the win and the meet record in the 1600m with a 4:29.57 showing. Second place Joe Crafa of Rocky Hill also came in under the meet record witha 4:30.48 showing.
In the team competition, the Glastonbury girls secured a five point over Hillhouse, and the Windsor boys distanced themselves by 16 points over Norwich Free Academy.
