Hillhouse wins team title; Sherry shatters state record
NEW BRITAIN — Discus standout Gary Moore of Hillhouse was getting nervous.
His goal coming into the CIAC Boys Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Willow Brook Park was to break a meet record. Although his throws were all event-leading throws, by Moore’s standards the 160-plus feet he threw in the preliminary round and first three throws in the final flight were frustrating.
“I don’t know why, but I was struggling,” Moore said. “I had one last throw in the finals, so I took a deep breath and gave it my best shot.”
Moore threw the discus a meet record 188 feet, seven inches, breaking the mark of 182-11 set by Pete Dreissigacker of Amity in 1969. The state record is 189-2 set by Mel Taylor of Hartford Public in 1969.
Moore also won the shot put
(59-0.5) and was fifth in the javelin
(161-4) to lead Hillhouse to the State Open team title with 50 points. Hall was second with 44.
“It feels amazing, it feels good to finally get the kind of throw I wanted in the discus on my last throw,” Moore said. “It was just a question of mental toughness. On that last throw, it was hard to relax. I took a deep breath, and gave everything I had. The discus felt great when I threw it and I was just hoping I didn’t fault on the throw,
“It was even more important to contribute to the team title. I was happy I won but not too happy with my distance in the shot put. In the javelin my hip was a bit sore and I was just happy to advance to the
final.”
Heading into the State Open, Hillhouse girls outdoor track coach Gary Moore and Hillhouse boys outdoor track coach Michelle Moore, his wife, believed 40-50 points would win the boys team title.
“Last week our boys had some hiccups in the Class L meet,” Michelle Moore said. “This week, they all performed beyond what they could do, Matt (Matthew Gibbons) came through with a big win for us in the
300 hurdles (38.37 seconds) and Ralphael (Hawkins) ran in the second heat of the 200 but ran a fast enough time to finish second overall
(22.28) to get us an unexpected 8 points.
“We didn’t have a lot of depth. In many ways this State Open team title is the most rewarding state meet title because of all the big effort we got from Matt, Ralphael and Gary.”
It is the third State Open title for the Academics.
SHERRY SHATTERS STATE RECORD IN 1,600, SETS MARK IN 3,200
Junior Gavin Sherry of Conard dominated in the
1,600 meters, pulling away from Wolcott’s Nicholas Bendtsen on the final lap to win in 4:01.88, shattering the state record in the 1600 of 4:08.42 set by Eric van der Els of McMahon in the
2016 State Open. Bendtsen, who was seeded first in the race, also broke the previous mark, finishing in
4:06.09.
“I’ve been hyping this race since the class meets,” Sherry said. “To be honest, I was hoping for an extraordinary race, that’s what I was shooting for.”
Sherry followed the 1,600 victory with a win in the
3,200 in a meet record
8:59.80, breaking the mark of 9:00.20 set by Adam Vess of Xavier in 2007.
Aidan Puffer of Manchester led most of the 3,200 with Gavin Sherry of Conard trailing right behind. The last 125 meters Sherry pulled away for a win.
“I really didn’t know what I had left after that 1600,” Sherry said. “I was ecstatic to win the 3200.”
LORENT HAS TWO-WIN DAY
Jason Lorent of Shelton led start to finish in the 100
(10.69) and won the 200
(21.91) using a solid start and strong late kick in both events. Lorent also won both events at the Class LL meeet last week. Lorent’s
10.69 was .14 off the State Open record set by East Hartford’s Sheldon Simpson in 1999.
“It was a little close at the start of both races, I had a good start,” Lorent said. “But having a good start is one thing, I also focus on running hard at the end. My strong finish is always the key for me. I couldn’t be more happy than to come away with two wins against this tough competition.”
O’DONNELL WINS 400
Andrew O’Donnell of Greenwich was in control most of the 400 and won in
48.31. O’Donnell came in as the top seed, having won the LL meet in 48.36 last week.
“I was really prepared going into that race,” O’Donnell said. “All my coaches really had me ready to run a big race today.”
O’Donnell also placed fourth in the 200 meters in
22.39 Thursday.
SWEENEY GETS THE LEAN IN 110 HURDLES
Eamon Sweeney of Haddam-Killingworth poured it on the last 25 meters in the 110 hurdles. In one of the closest races of the day. Sweeney’s big lean at the end nipped Joshua Mooney of Stonington. Sweeney won in 14:42 and Mooney was second in 14:44.
“He (Mooney) beat me last week in Class S, so I was motivated this time around.” Sweeney said. “I kept watching the video of that race from last week over and over. What I learned is I kind of slowed down at the end of the Class S race.
“This time, I just kept running hard and leaned at the end. I knew it was close, but I was confident the lean got the win for me.”
OTHER WINNERS
Ryan Farrell of Cheshire won the 800 in a meet record 1:50.58. Farrell’s time was almost six seconds faster than his seeded time. The previous meet record of
1:50.63 was set by Staples’ Henry Wynne in 2013. Matt Bigelow of Weston won the pole vault (15-6), which was
6 inches short of the meet record. Sam Tarrant of New Milford won the javelin with a throw of 178-4 and Israel Henriques-Setho of Hall won the long jump
(22-10.5).