Submitted by Dick Dupuis, Coach.
(March 8, 2022) — Indoor Track and Field has some unique features. From a competitive perspective, the focus of the teams is to perform their best at the Championship level as most meets involved a large number of teams and are not scored. In our program, and most other programs in Connecticut, that means the Conference and State Championships are the primary competitive focus. These meets have performance standards for individuals and relays that must be met in order to participate, not unlike qualifying for the Olympic trials. Thus, while the goal for all of the athletes is to improve in whatever they are doing, the focus at these meets is to attain the qualifying standards which collectively will result in the team’s best performance at the Championship level. Realistically for HK, that generally means the Conference Championship.
Looking at what faced the girls and boys teams this season, the challenge would be daunting. On the girls side, Old Saybrook was easily the favorite, while East Hampton would be challenging for second place. Often they were in separate events, so there were few head-to-head matchups in events. Most of HK’s points came from field events and relays. The Cougar girls managed to score in all four of the Field events contested, providing 30 points for the team. HK’s top performer was Jessica Timothy who earned points for her team winning the High Jump and Long Jump and placing fifth in the Shot Put. The Shot was a big event for the Cougars as it was won by Scarlett Strom with a Put of 30′ 8.5″, surpassing her previous PR (personal record) by more than a foot. Freshman Gabby Williams rounded out the Shot Put scoring adding 3 more points to the team’s effort by finishing sixth in the Shot. HK also scored in the Pole Vault with Shelby Welsch and Maddie Moriarty placing 7th and 8th (the Conference scoring is 1-8 places) adding 3 more points to the team’s total.
As noted earlier, relays also played a major role in the battle for points. The girls competed in three of the four relays, starting with the 4×800. The team consisting of Sydney Adelberg, Ava DiMatteo, Charlette Selmer, and Isabel Berardino placed second. The 4×400 relay of Jordan Duncanson, Leah Sosnowski, Kayla Rodriguez and Brianna Minervino also earned a second place. The third relay, the Sprint Medley Relay (SMR), earned a 5th place finish. That relay included Natalya Mallon, Adeline Packtor, Jordan Duncason, and Charlotte Selmer. Two of the girls also ran individual races. Isabel placed 5th in the 1600 and came back to place second in the 3200 and Brianna Minervino 3rd in the 600.
In the end, Old Saybrook won with 135.5 points and HK edged out East Hampton by 2 points, 80-78.
The boys competition offered a slightly greater challenge. Coginchaug showed early in the season that they had both depth and talent required to win a Conference title. HK’s potential started to emerge late in the season. Again, the key is points. However, unlike the girls, the boys effort involved competing in a wide variety of individual events. Aidan Law led the team in scoring, winning the Long Jump, High Jump and placing 4th in the 55 dash. Caleb Freeman also played a major role, placing 3rd in the 1000, 2nd in the 1600 and 2nd in the 3200. Caleb was joined in the 1000 by Evan Baird who placed 8th. Other individual scores were: Kevin Cavrell, 2nd in the Shot and 4th in the 300; Alex Lara 3rd in the 600 and Cooper Howes 2nd in the Pole Vault. Jared Frith joined Cavrell in the Shot, placing 4th. In addition to Aidan in the high jump, John Panzera placed 3rd and Connor Schipritt 5th. Relays wrapped up the team scoring. The 4×200 team of Sam Greenwood, Ryan Ruggerio, Kevin Cavrell and Dan Schuster placed 4th. The 4×800 relay of Evan Baird, Tyler Robinson, Sawyer DiMatteo and Matt Lara placed 6th. Lastly, the boys 4×400 of Tyler Robinson, Alex Lara, Connor Schipritt and Dan Schuster finished 3rd. In the end, despite a great performance with boys demonstrating their talent and commitment to the team, Coginghaug was able to pull out the victory by two points, 80 to78.
Overall, looking at the efforts for our girls and boys teams, one thing that stood out was the number of PRs, which is a great demonstration of their effort and commitment.
Going into the State Championship the goal was not winning as much as putting people in situations that gave them the best chance to medal and possibly move on to the State Open. Moving on to the Open was achieved by either winning an event or having a performance that ranked in the top 14 when comparing all of the four classes.
On the girls side that meant primarily relays for the runners and allowing the field event athletes to focus on their best events. Jess Timothy continued her success in the High Jump placing 4th. The Cougar girls placed in two relays. The 4×800 relay of Berardino, Adelberg, Selmer and Minervino placed 4th. Also, the 4×400 relay of Ducanson, Sosnowski, Rodriguez and Minervino placed 5th. Unfortunately, none of girls advanced to the Open although the 4×400 was close, ranking 15th.
On the boys side a Sprint Medley team of Kevin Cavrell, Aidan Law, Alex Lara and Caleb Freeman placed 3rd. Also, Aidan placed 4th in the Long Jump and 6th in the High Jump. Aidan qualified for the State Open in both events, as did the SMR. However, the SMR was scratched. Going into the Open, Aidan was seeded 6th in the long jump.
With a series of PR’s, he moved up in place and won the Open long jump. Based on his performance, Aidan advanced to the New England Championship. There he continued to improve on his PR finishing 2nd, missing first by one inch. Aidan’s second place finish was the highest ranking in the history of HK Indoor Track and Field in the New England Championship. He also qualified and will be competing in the “Emerging Elite” division at the Nike National Championship Sunday, March 12, 2022.
Photos from Shoreline Conference Meet by Yvette Minervino.
Photo on podium at New England Championship by Carol Dupuis.
