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Eady and Matlock Earn HOKA AoW Award in Weekend ActionPublished by
By Senior Correspondent Marty Ogden, Editing and Graphics by Ron Knapp And we are off. The 2023-24 indoor track season started off with a bang this weekend with athletes from the Nutmeg state putting up some noteworthy times and marks in the first week of the season. Meets were held at several facilities throughout the state and at The Armory in New York City. Last Thursday marked the official start of the season for CT teams looking to produce qualifying times and marks for the CIAC Indoor Track and Field Division Championships that must be posted in Athletic.net under official results prior to the entry deadline of 12-noon on February 6th 2024. Throughout this Indoor season, MySportsResults will once again recognize our top boys' and girls' track and field athletes each week. Without further delay, we congratulate Samiya Eady of Manchester and Thomas Matlock of East Lyme as our inaugural 2023-24 HOKA Female and Male Athletes of the Week. In addition to the recognition each week award recipients will receive a commemorative t-shirt in recognition of their performance.
Samiya Eady looks like she is picking up from where she left off last spring when she won the State Open in the 100m. After an undefeated 8th grade year which included a win at the CT Middle School championship in the 100m and 200 she began her high school indoor career last year running 7.72 for the 55m. But on Saturday at the Hillhouse Invitational, the sophomore blasted out a time of 7.16 against a quality field that included four other New England qualifiers. She returned to also win the 300m later in the meet, running a time of 41.32. Her time in the 55m not only qualifies her for NBNI in the 60m, she is currently ranked 12th nationally. As a sophomore, Thomas Matlock was 5th in the State Open and New Englands in the shot put with a best of just over 53-feet. He started off his junior campaign with not only a win in the Small School Varsity Finals at the JAMBAR Coaches Hall of Fame Invitational at the Armory, he had the farthest throw of the entire day against all 135 varsity throwers. His throw of 57-7.5 just barely missed the CT all time shot put list, but he had the 6th farthest throw of the past 25-years that MSR has been covering high school track and field. Matlock’s throw also qualifies him for the New Balance National Indoor championship and is currently ranked 5th nationally in this young season. There were many other noteworthy performances in the opening weekend from CT athletes. Hillhouse Invite Floyd Little Athletic Facility, Hillhouse HS, New Haven CT This is looking to be a Golden Age of CT girls distance running. We have four of the top 14 fastest CT 3200m girls competing this winter and it will take something historic to win the Open this February. Last year’s State Open and New England champion Hannah Andrejczyk of Shelton won the Open in 10:42.93, the 4th fastest time in state history. Chase Gilbert of Old Lyme was eight seconds behind. State Open 1600m champ and Footlocker National qualifier in cross country Kate Bohlke also ran 10:46.80 at a Last Chance Qualifying meet. Now you can add Glastonbury’s Brooke Strauss to the list of All Time elite 3200m. She ran 10:42.98 to become the 5th fastest CT girl in the event and is the 2nd fastest time nationally in this early season. Also Lindsay Crevoiserat’s school record of 10:39.38 should definitely be on the radar this winter. Strauss should have no trouble finding a training partner as junior teammate Lila Garbett also broke 11 minutes by .4 seconds to take 2nd in the race. Track and field is often a family affair and often schools have similar last names in their results for six to eight years as siblings come through the program. Since Jack Mattingly was a sophomore he has been a State Open scorer and has been a factor in every race he has run. He won the 3000m on Saturday in a PR of 8:52.07 to show off his endurance he earned after his All New England cross country season. But only a couple of hours before his freshman brother Max ran 4:49.51 to finish 11th in the 1600m in his first high school track race. While this is a fine time for a 9th grader and an indication of greater success in the future, there was probably more satisfaction since he went under big brother Jack’s fastest freshman time in the event of 4:53.8. The long jump is already heating up on the girls side. The top four on Saturday’s meet broke 17-feet and they were led by the latest freshman superstar from Bloomfield. It seems like the WarHawks alway find talent and we should look for Saphyr Brown in the years to come. She won with a distance of 18-8.5 and also filled in nicely in the 4x2000m, the defending State Open and New England champions. The relay consisted of Jahniya Barclay, Brown, Dream Wilson and Sianna Lloyd who won in 1:45.49. Just like the Bloomfield girls, the Windsor’s boys were also undefeated in the 4x200, winning the State Open and New England championships. The Warriors are starting off strong with senior Taeshawn Berry, Maxim Copeland, Damion Sparrow and Hunter Howard returning to run a state leading 1:32.43 on Hillhouse’s flat track, a time they didn’t run until last year’s Class L meet. View MSR FinishLine Photos of Hillhouse Invite CLICK TO VIEW the freely available photos of several events from action on Friday and Saturday at the Hillhouse Invitational at Hillhouse HS, New Haven CT courtesy of MySportsResults sponsored by Marathon Sports. If you enjoy the content that MySportsResults provides, make sure to shop for your gear at our sponsor Marathon Sports who helped make these pics available for free viewing.
JAMBAR Coaches Hall of Fame Invitational Nike Track & Field Center at The Armory, NY Lyman Hall seems to be stacking the relays early this season. They just missed the Nike Indoor Nationals championship cut off standard, but made the Emerging Elite standard in their first meet of the season in both the 4x400m (3:30.81) and 4x200m (1:33.11). Danbury finished two places in front of the Trojans coming in 7th place in 1:33.11 and also grabbed a spot at Nike Indoor Nationals EE in this early season test. There is a new jumper in town. Lyman Hall’s Ethan Rich was solid as a freshman last year placing 3rd in Class M with a PR of 6-0. Now a sophomore, he has emerged as a contender for the Open title after he jumped 6-6.0 to win the high jump. Considering no returner has been over that height in their career, Rich is someone to keep an eye out for this season. Amity’s Micah Blair popped off a leap of 45-3 to win the triple jump to get his season off on a high note. The senior was the silver medalist at the outdoor Open with a leap of 45-5.75. While an official event for the CIAC Outdoor championships, the triple jump is unfortunately not included as a CIAC indoor championship event.
NCCC Developmental Hartford Public HS, Hartford CT Another athlete who has improved significantly since last year is Makye Wade of Capital Prep. He didn’t break 21-feet last year and is already flirting with 23-feet, reaching a distance of 22-11 to win the event. While he is a long way from Dyshon Vaugh’s state record of 24-5.5 with another inch and a half he will surpass Olympian’s Michael Hartfield’s high school indoor best of 23-0.5. Coach Saint Invitational Nike Track & Field Center at The Armory, NY Weston’s Cameron Miles ran a strong 2nd place in the 1000m and qualified for NIN Emerging Elite race with a new PR of 2:32.98. His time was faster than last year’s State Open winning time and the fastest 1000m of any Weston runner in December.
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