Puffer, Hilary among stars
NEW BRITAIN — Aiden Puffer has been a household name in Connecticut track circles for so long, it’s hard to imagine he has anything left to prove. But in his mind, there’s an elusive goal.
“I’ve never won a State Open title, actually,” Puffer said, after winning the boys’ 1,600-meter race at the Class LL championship at Veterans Stadium on Tuesday. “And I definitely want to go for that and just have fun with it.”
It was much cooler when Puffer lined up for the 3,200, and he added that to his collection, winning in 8:46.48, with teammate Sean Barkasy (9:25.31) second..
Puffer, the Manchester High senior who was setting records before he reached high school, ran the race in 4:17.05, a little off his goal, but the temperature was hovering around 90 degrees when he started.
“I felt really, really fit about a week ago with my performance at CCC championships,” he said. “Today was not my best, everyone was really hot. The conditions weren’t good at all. I was struggling to do my warm up. Everyone started slower, picked it up. I wouldn’t say I’m disappointed, because I won the race and that was the goal, to get to the State Open, but I would have liked my time to be a little faster.”
Hall-west Hartford won the boys title with 103.5 points, ahead of Greenwich (82) and NFA (80). Glastonbury’s girls team had 118 points, topping Danbury (87.5) and Greenwich (63.5).
Puffer ran the 1,600 in 4:13 in the conference championships, and was hoping for 4:10 on Tuesday. His goal for the Open is 4:05.
As his high school career winds down, Puffer, heading for Northern Arizona, won’t get the chance for a last showdown
with Conard’s Gavin Sherry, whose season was ended by injury.
“I know he’s going to do really well in college [at Stanford],” Puffer said. “He’s gearing up for that. I feel like he has nothing left to prove.”
Puffer for years has been the one people point to and said, “There goes that great runner.” He’s carried that with pride and a smile too.
“All of the people I’ve met, all of the friends I’ve made through running,” he said, “even the people that don’t run, who are like, ‘Oh, you’re that kid who is really good at running. I have running to thank for that. My passions come and go, I’ll have different passions in a couple-of-month period, but running is who I am. I’m a runner.”
Puffer’s coach, Mike Bendzinski, said he will remember the person, rather than the runner.
“Aiden’s capable of just about anything,” Bedzinski said. “He’s an amazing talent, but the thing I’ll probably tell people [years
from now] is so many times he had a chance, like at the Penn Relays, and go in the open and maybe win, but he gave it up for his relay team. That says a lot about his character.”
Hilary takes vault
Glastonbury sophomore Anna Hilary won the girls pole vault, clearing 9 feet, 6 inches, equaling her personal record. Alexis Boyer of NFA also cleared 9-6, but Hilary won based on the number of faults, as she didn’t miss until her last attempt, 10 feet.
“I started out doing swimming and diving,” Hilary said, “and my friend [and teammate] Sophia [Urban] told me to start doing pole vault, and I just really, really liked it and started doing some training in the summer and the fall.”
Hilary did not place in the state meets in 2021, but made the big leap in just a year.
“What makes you really good at the pole vault is how determined you are,” she said. “How willing you are to drop and take risks.
Hilary’s goal for the State Open is 10 feet. Her long term goal is 12 feet, she said.
Glastonbury girls, Hall-west Hartford boys have big day
Hilary’s win was one of 13 events in which Glastonbury’s girls placed, and they went on to take the team title easily with 118 points.
“We’re very fortunate we have a deep team,” coach Brian Collins said. “We have kids in most of the events that score, or get close to scoring and that’s a big thing for us. Running, jumping, throwing, we placed in a lot of events. We’re pretty well-rounded over all.”
The Hall-west Hartford boys, repeat champs, had a similar formula, scoring in 15 of 18 events. The 4x800 relay team set the tone with a win in the first event, behind Jamie Rendon, Tobias Ruffo, Jake Ludgin and Gabriel Sisk. Hall finished with 103.5 points.
“We do that on purpose,” coach Jeff Billings said. “Let’s show up and get this rolling. Jon York had an amazing day, second in the 4X100, third in the 400, second in the 200, he’s s sophomore. That’s huge. It really was effective, the entire team showing up and competing.”