Middletown Invitational a hit for athletes

MIDDLETOWN — Middletown’s 4x100 relay team positioned itself for a repeat in Class L by taking the title at the Middletown Invitational on Saturday, while Blue Dragons senior Veronica Meyer and Xavier sophomore Robbie Cozean won individual events.

Relay members DaJaun Lomotey, Nico Cavaliere, Garrett Dandridge and DeShaun Bradshaw outran Hartford Public by a tenth of a second. The schools will see each other again when Middletown hosts the Class L championship meet on May 29.

“It was pretty exciting for us,” Middletown coach Jenn Price said. “It was not quite a photo finish, but it certainly was close.”

Meyer captured the javelin with a throw of 114 feet, 2 inches, and Cozean won the 3,200 meters in 9:31.60. His teammate, junior Peter Schulten, was five seconds behind in second, and Andrew Meredith of HaddamKillingworth was third. The top six in each event took medals home.

Meyer also finished second in the discus (108 feet) to Amanda Howe of Southington’s throw of 142-8.

Middletown senior DeAaron Lawrence was second in the high jump (6-6) and fourth in the triple jump (42-11). Justin Forde of Brien McMahon cleared 7 feet to win the high jump and took the titles in the long jump and triple jump as well. In the javelin, MHS senior Dylan Drescher took second (159-5).

“DeAaron was happy to clear 6-6 and he knew that (Forde) clearing 7 feet was an unbelievable performance,” Price said. Even better, both Lawrence and the 4x100 team qualified for the New Balance National Outdoor meet in late June in Greensboro, North Carolina.

An estimated 2,500 athletes passed through the gates at Middletown High’s Skubel-Rosek Stadium for the invitational, which began Friday for freshman and sophomore athletes. Fifty-nine varsity teams were on hand Saturday for what Bloomfield coach Anne Burrows considers “one of the premier events of the year.”

“You get the best of the best here,” said Burrows, who’s spent a dozen years coaching the girls outdoor and cross country teams at Bloomfield. “It’s my favorite meet of the year. I like how they split it up over two days so the competition is not watered down.

“The meet gives the athletes the best indication of what they’re looking at going into their state meet. It’s a big deal for the kids to come here and go head to head with some of the competition they’ll see at the State Open.”

To Burrows’ point, she has one of the state’s top female jumpers in Monique Anderson. Anderson went 5 feet, 6 inches in the high jump, two inches better than runnerup Patricia Mroczkowski of Berlin. Burrows expects the two to do battle for the state title.

“My kids really look forward to coming here. Middletown is a nice test,” she said. “And this is the first hot (weather) meet after being really crappy out for so long.”

Among area girls who took home medals Saturday: Middletown’s Nasharie Davis, fifth in the 100 hurdles; Cromwell’s Amaya Feital, fifth in the javelin; H-K’s Veronica Chrzanowski, fourth in the triple jump; Cromwell’s Andraya Yearwood, second in the 100 meters and fourth in

the 200; and H-K’s Kelsey D’Amico, fifth in the 3,200.

Cromwell’s 4x800-meter relay team of Meghan Savinelli, Taylor Santos, Shannon Morrill and Allie Fabian was fourth.

Boys medalists included Xavier junior William Curran, second in the 1,600 meters, and senior teammate Owen Lally in fifth; East Hampton senior Cody Goodson, fourth in the pole vault; Middletown’s Cavaliere, sixth in the 100; and the Blue Dragons’ 4x800meter relay of Konstantin Ditc, Matt Lecky, Tim Johnson and Malik Shabazz was fourth.

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Price was all over the place Saturday as host coach, speed walking, taking questions from this reporter, communicating on her walkie talkie and pointing coaches to where they needed to be.

She knows the terrain well, having coached the boys outdoor program at MHS the last 12 years. That’s a lot of invitationals, going as far back to the days when the old MHS track on Hunting Hill Avenue was the site for the meet. Price also is closing in on 20 years as girls cross country coach.

Price was pleased how well everyone pulled together to make another invitational happen — her girls team counterpart James White, sprinters coach Sandy Tucci, numerous parent and other volunteers, event organizer Craig Lundell and his army of clerks on the front lines. The invitational is a massive production and obviously a regular draw for dozens of the state’s programs big and small, elite or otherwise.

“It is absolutely a satisfying experience,” she said, “and a little bit of a relief that it’s over. A lot of little things can go wrong, but this year went very, very

smoothly.”

From my point of view, outside of watching the competition, the best thing about a meet of this magnitude is seeing so many student-athletes of all shapes, sizes and levels of ability in one place working toward similar goals. It’s really a sight to behold.

Saturday was Jenn Price’s birthday, but she and her peers gifted everyone with another first-class Middletown Invitational.

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At the start of the season, Tucci talked to me about building a tradition for Middletown’s program. Over time, he said, he wanted it to reach a level of success and on a par with established programs like Bloomfield and Windsor. Xavier has been a standard bearer for decades, too.

The Blue Dragons are now in this conversation with quality athletes, very good coaches, the results and a top facility. They won the CCC South and Class L championships last year and will contend again.

I asked Burrows about Tucci’s comparison and she said, “It’s very flattering to hear. We do have a tradition at Bloomfield. The boys have won 11 state championships in a row and the girls have won 10. It’s nice to see people recognize that and work hard for it themselves.”

*** Watching right-hander Luke Garofalo make his mound debut for Coginchaug last week was great fun. Even better: I watched him throw in the company of Ted Lombardo and Don “Grog” Lombardo. Don has been Middletown Post 75’s hitting coach for as long as anyone can remember. He recently received a welldeserved Good Sport award from the Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance.

Ted’s last job before retiring to the high life of Cocoa Beach, Florida, was as Coginchaug’s baseball coach

and AD. His life is now consumed by $15 rounds of golf and catching the Yankees when they visit Tampa. Ted also coached Post 75 when the team was The Thing in Middletown in the 1980s. He also might tell you he once decided Jeff Bagwell wasn’t good enough to make his roster.

Anyway, to listen to the Lombardos break down a ballgame in real time is educational (and entertaining). Garofalo was throwing free and easy that day — and still hit 91 with his fastball. “Just look at the ball leave his hand!” Ted said. Garofalo, who played at Xavier and for Post 75 last year, didn’t leave the strike zone much and his mechanics were smooth. On this day, he looked like a seasoned college player toying with high school kids.

Baseball fans, try to see this kid pitch before he’s done. He swings the bat like a fiend, too. He’ll play at Bryant University — but he could get drafted, too. Major League Baseball’s amateur draft is June 4-6.

*** Looking ahead to the area’s baseball schedule this week, Xavier appears to be a long shot to make the postseason. The Falcons are 4-10 and have scored only four times during their four-game losing streak. To start their week, the Falcons host Branford at Palmer Field on Monday at 6 p.m.

Middletown (6-7) and Portland (6-6) are two teams that will have to put in work to get to the state tournament. On Monday, the Blue Dragons host Bristol Eastern and Portland starts a five-game week with a visit to Westbrook. Portland and Middletown oppose each other on May 15 at Palmer Field.

H-K lost to Coginchaug 4-3 at home on Friday, its first loss after a 13-0 start. Coach Mark Brookes’ Cougars are still in command in the Shoreline Conference,

though. They play four times this week, starting with Morgan in Clinton on Monday.

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A few weeks ago, I wrote about Isabella D’Aquila’s inclusion on the U.S. roster for the CONCACAF Women’s U-17 Championship. D’Aquila is the granddaughter of Tom and Margaret D’Aquila of Middletown.

Four days into the qualifying tournament in Nicaragua’s capital of Managua, CONCACAF canceled play because of security concerns. Unrest over the country’s political crisis led to mass rioting, and the team’s safety could not be guaranteed.

D’Aquila was not with the team at that time. She suffered a foot injury and, unable to play, returned home to California. Still no word from U.S. Soccer about how it will determine the three CONCACAF qualifiers that would move on to the Women’s U-17 World Cup in late November in Uruguay.

*** Middletown High is the top seed for the Connecticut Ultimate League championships and will face Marianapolis Prep at home on Wednesday to open pool play.

Coach Trevor Charles’ Blue Dragons were 12-1 in the regular season, their only loss 9-8 to Hotchkiss in overtime. They defeated host Xavier 15-9 on Friday.

Middletown beat Hotchkiss in the championship final last season in overtime. On Saturday, the Ultimate tournament moves to Hotchkiss in Lakeville.

Ultimate is not a CIACendorsed sport. In addition to Middletown and Xavier, the first-division tournament teams are a total of 12 this year and include Avon, Sheehan, North Haven, Newtown, Fairfield Ludlowe, Marianapolis, Hotchkiss, Choate, Wooster and Watkinson.