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Bloomfield girls win first championship since 2017
NEW BRITAIN – The Bloomfield girls won their first State Open title since 2017, outscoring runner-up Windsor 53-41.
“I did not see this coming, not at all,” Bloomfield coach Anne Burrows said. “I had Windsor winning, then I had Conard, then I had us — I scored it on paper, we were third. My kids are predominantly sophomores. I had some scrappy performances today.”
Bloomfield won the 4×100 relay and Laniyah Henderson won the triple jump, tying a State Open record of 39 free, 3 ½ inches from 1999.
The boys team title was not decided at press time.
Maloney’s Murphy wins high jump:
Maloney’s Shaelyn Murphy won the State Open high jump title last year in outdoor track as a junior.
So expectations were high for her when she went into her senior indoor track season. But Murphy struggled even to clear 5 feet at times at meets. She did advance to the indoor State Open, where she finished sixth.
“For some reason, I fell into a little rut — mental and a little bit physical,” she said. “I had a little bit (of trouble with) shin splints.”
Entering her final outdoor season, Murphy – who will compete at Quinnipiac next
year — realized she was focusing too much on winning. When she changed her mindset, she relaxed and started to jump higher.
Monday at Willow Brook Park, Murphy defended her State Open title with a jump of 5 feet, 4 inches.
“This is much better,” Murphy said. “I just tried to remember to have fun with it. I did so good with outdoor, I just wanted to win, win, win. Then I decided it’s not all about winning, it’s about having fun.”
Murphy started high jumping as a sophomore in outdoor track when she qualified for the states on her first jump. She was still doing color guard in school during the indoor season so couldn’t compete in track but she was able to do indoor and outdoor track for the first time last year.
E.O. Smith’s Gabby Hernandez wins the 800:
Gabby Hernandez of E.O. Smith also defended her State Open title in the 800 meters Monday, winning the race in 2:12.42, edging out a hardcharging Liv Sherry of Conard who finished in 2:12.64.
The race didn’t go quite the way Hernandez, a junior, had planned.
“(The strategy) was to be near the front the whole time but the start was a little jumbled up,”
Hernandez said. “I managed to break through. I wanted to stick with the leaders and hopefully kick in the end.
“Around the last 200, I was in fifth or sixth. I was like, ‘This isn’t going to work so I got to move.’ So I used everything I had to weave through everyone and get to the first spot.”
Manchesterfreshmanwinsthe100 title:
Manchester freshman Samiya Eadywonthe100metertitlein12.07.
“It’s very exciting,” she said. “I’ve been working very hard for this.” … Other area winners were: Jacob Volkerts of Old Lyme (100, 10.64), Kareema Mckenzie of Windsor (300 hurdles, 44.09), Daniel Coyne of Simsbury (800, 1:53.16), Tess Sherry of Conard (1,600, 4:48.37), Chase Gilbert of Old Lyme (3,200, 10:47.04), Samuel Meleshenko of South Windsor (discus, 167-8) and Treshawn Blair of Bristol Central (triple jump, 46-11).