The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Nonnewaug claims 22nd straight BL crown
Championship is 22nd straight for Nonnewaug girls
LITCHFIELD » Nonnewaug’s girls and Northwestern’s boys went home with Berkshire League track and field championships Saturday on a day when the sun came out along with the stars.
The Lady Chiefs climbed higher than ever into the firmament with Coach Arleigh Duff’s 22nd straight championship team, led by threetime winner Mary Bibbey (800; 1,600; 3,200). Housatonic’s Emily Geyselaers was the meet’s other three-time winner (100, 200, long jump). Shepaug’s Sean Parker smashed a 44-year-old meet record in the 3,200 (9 minutes, 33.36 seconds). Lewis Mills’ 4x800 relay team — John Mudgett, Winthrop Hayes, Nicholas O’Brien and Jon Lewis — put their name in lights with another meet record (8:11.64).
Lots of other stars filled out the league’s firmament at Litchfield’s Plum Hill Complex on Saturday.
“(Second-place) Northwestern has 49 or 50 girls; we have 23, but a lot of them are at or near the top,” said Nonnewaug’s Duff, whose teams have never lost a league championship meet in 22 years as the Chiefs’ coach. “I think it’s become a concept that ‘we don’t want to lose.’ But every team has to have its core. For this team, it’s (senior) Christina Sordi.”
While Duff saw his girls take multiple places in all but two events with contributions from every class, Northwestern’s acting head coach, Paul Birch saw the same thing with his boys.
“We typically have about 100 kids combined on our boys and girls teams, but it’s nice to have three or four quality kids in each event,” said Birch, filling in for Coach Andy Campbell, attending his son’s graduation from college. “They’ve worked really hard and we had a few disap-
pointments today, but they hung in there and did what they had to do.” That’s what stars do. Shepaug’s Parker, a senior headed for UConn’s track team in the fall, finished third in the 3,200 a year ago.
“I pushed up the training this year,” he grinned after steaming to the new league record without seeming to break a sweat. “I thought I could break the record because I’ve gone faster than that this year (9:27.8 at a meet at Trinity College). This one was harder because I didn’t have a pace setter in front of me.”
Bibbey, a junior who repeated from last year’s triple-gold-medal performance in the same three events, set her own pace in the 1,600 and 3,200, but found competition in the 800 helping her to this year’s personal best (2:24.84).
“I knew (Shepaug junior Emma Krebs) and (Northwestern sophomore Sydney Dzenutis) were really good, so I just took off,” said Bibbey, who also plays soccer and basketball for the Chiefs. “I was exhausted but I just pushed through.”
“She’s amazing,” said Coach Duff. “She has just two months each year to get good at distance.”
“I think (the three sports) are the perfect combination for my stamina and coordination,” Bibbey said.
Meanwhile, Litchfield sophomore pole vault winner Augie Hurtado represented an unintentional plug for the benefits of focusing on a single event.
“I usually do the high jump and long jump, but I didn’t get my timing down at the beginning of the season, so I just pole vaulted,” said Hurtado, whose 12-6 winning height came just short of the 12-9 meet record.
Like those in the sky, BL stars come in a wide variety of ages and origins.