By Senior Correspondent Marty Ogden, Editing and Graphics by Ron Knapp

With the holiday season over, meets are coming fast and furious with Connecticut track and field athletes competing in nearly 20 meets all over the northeast. With all this action, MySportsResults.com would like to congratulate Annika Paluska of Glastonbury and Ben Lorenz of Staples who have been chosen as our Week 3 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.

Running fast is one thing, it's another thing to beat a quality field. Annika Paluska did just that, taking over the state lead in the 1000m at the Elm City Coaches Meet on Saturday at the Floyd Little Athletic Center defeating Tess and Liv Sherry of Conard in the process. Her time of 2:55.29 is now ranked 4th nationally. The Glastonbury senior was Class LL champion 600m champion and part of the winning 4x800m that won New Englands in a state record time last year. On Saturday she faced off against CCC rivals Tess Sherry (2:56.76-US#7) who was New England runner up in the mile last year and her sister Liv Sherry who was 3rd at the same meet in the 1000m (2:58.06-US#11). 

RESULTS: Elm City Coaches Meet

Ben Lorenz has been one of the top runners in the state for the past two years but an injury curtailed his cross country season this fall. He finished 34th at the State Open after a 12th place finish as a junior. Well, it seems he is back on top after not only setting a personal record in the mile at the The Armory Hispanic Games, he took over the state lead in the event with his time of 4:22.12. Lorenz’s time was good for 11th place in the highly competitive field and also cracks into the top 20 nationally.

RESULTS: The Armory Hispanic Games

Other notable performances this week included:

Bryon McLean of Derby easily won the 55m hurdles at the Elm City Coaches Meet in a new state leading time of 7.75. The senior won the Class S 110m hurdles last spring and now leads a group of nine hurdlers already under eight seconds in the event.

Thomas Matlock, our week one winner of the Hoka Athlete of the Week continues to impress in the shot put. The East Lyme junior unleashed another PR on his 4th throw, finally breaking the 60ft mark with a distance of 60-4.5 at the URI Indoor Track Classic. The distance moves him into the top six nationally and he is now ranked 7th all time among CT shot putters. Matlock’s toss on Saturday pushed him ahead of junior Chris Amy of Norwich Free Academy who had a PR day at the Elm City Invite with his winning toss of 56-11.5.

RESULTS: URI Indoor Track Classic

Hall High School, always known for their relays, took over the state lead in the 4x800m at the Elm City Coaches Meet. The team of Connor Mayr, Jeremy Baun, Isaac Mahler and Jacob Szalewicz combined to run a time of 8:16.22.

The high jump is already heating up with Hillhouse’s Khalil Antoine and Ja'Mari Manson of Bloomfield both clearing 6-6” this week to become the 2nd and third CT jumpers to clear the height. Antoine won the SCC Boys Developmental Meet #2 on Wednesday while Manson traveled to The Armory Hispanic Games on Saturday where he was 2nd based on misses. Ethan Rich of Lyman Hall is the third jumper to have cleared 6-6 this season with his PR at the JAMBAR Coaches Hall of Fame Invitational earlier in December. 

Kate Bohlke of Newington continues her impressive senior year. After winning the State Open in cross country and qualifying for the Foot Locker National Championship in December, she competed in a mile field where five of the top eight times in the nation were run at the The Armory Hispanic Games. Her time of 4:54.01 is not only 6th nationally, she moves ahead of Shelton’s Hannah Andrejczk and becomes the 7th fastest CT miler of all time. 

Jordan Carr of Joel Barlow cleared her lifetime PR of 12-0 in the pole vault at the SWC Developmental meet on Saturday. Her height automatically qualifies her for the New Balance National Indoor Championship in Boston, takes over the state lead, ranked #15 nationally and she is now tied for 10th all time in CT history.

RESULTS: SWC Afternoon Development 1 Jan 6

The Bloomfield girls team loves traveling to the Armory’s lightning fast track to race against the best competition on the East coast. The WarHawks 4x200m just got nipped at the line, but still held on for 3rd place, with a new season best and state leading time of 1:42.49. Their time is less than two seconds off their 2017 school and state record time of 1:40.66 and is currently ranked 8th nationally.

Last year Hall’s Anna Siciliano surprised everyone by throwing a 4-foot PR of 38-7.5 to take 2nd place at the Indoor State Open. She didn’t come within two feet of the distance the rest of the year, but now she has seemed to have found some consistency. The senior has already gone over 37-ft twice this season and at the Hispanic Games she tied her PR of 38-7.5 to grab 5th place and take over the state lead. She also threw the state lead of 39-7.25 in the weight throw. Her shot put mark qualifies her for the New Balance Indoor Championship while both marks qualify her for the Nike Indoor Nationals Emerging Elite competition.