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Preview of CT 2024-25 Indoor T&F Season - Girls Field EventsPublished by
By Senior Correspondent Marty Ogden, Editing and Graphics by Ron Knapp Our last preview includes the girls field events. There are plenty of returnees with championship experience with half the State Open scorers returning. So make sure to pay attention to the events off of the oval. Lourdes Lawson has seen steady progress the past three years throwing 37-feet four of the last five meets of the indoor season. The Suffield athlete is the top returnee from the State Open with her bronze medal finish. In the spring she was a double Class MM champion in the shot and discus with a 7th place finish in the shot at the Open. In the track off-season she is a volleyball player which is bound to help her reach farther throws this winter. Alyssa Blanchette of Bacon Academy is a multi-talented athlete who finished 8th in the CIAC Heptathlon last year as a sophomore. While she also qualified for the Class S championships last indoor season in the 55m and scored in the long jump, her most successful event was the shot put where she was Class S runner-up and 4th at the Open with a best of 37 3.5. She was also a member of Bacon’s Class M championship soccer team last year as a freshman. Bloomfield has been known for their throwers and Payton Sirdine has been among the best in the state since she arrived as a freshman two years ago. A volleyball player in the fall, Siridine was on the brink of going over 40-ft in the shot put last year with a best of 39-9. While she was 7th at the Open the past two years, she was 3rd during the outdoor season both year years. If she is able to peak for the Open this winter, a gold medal is a real possibility. Lauren Smith has been a fixture in the throwing circles and runways since she was Class L runner-up in the discus as a freshman. In three years the New Canaan senior has qualified for the Open in nine different events and was State Open champion last spring in the javelin. But in indoor track she has some strong credentials taking 8th in the Open as a sophomore and 5th last year as a junior in the shot put. At the Class L Championship, she set her PR of 39-6.25 which puts her in excellent position to break 40-ft this winter. She will keep the red on her singlet next year as she becomes a member of Cornell’s track team next year in the Ivy League. We could potentially see at least three girls go over 40-ft in the shot put this winter. Sacred Heart Academy’s Maya Quaranta has already surpassed that mark three times last outdoor and has an indoor best of 39-2. She was Class S champion last winter and qualified for New Englands with a 6th place finish at the Open. Last spring she was Class M champion and earned All New England honors in the shot put. In the discus she was SCC, Class M and State Open champion so you know she has plenty of big meet experience and can step up when the pressure is on. She will join Smith in the Ivy League next year as a member of Yale’s track team. When Jordan Carr won the Yale Invitational with her PR of 12 feet, 6 inches, she was only three inches below Emily Savage’s all time CT PV record. She made several good attempts at that record last year but came up short each time. The good news is the Joel Barlow Falcon returns for another year and has an excellent chance at taking down that 12-year old record. Carr was SWC and Class M champion, but finished 2nd to her conference rival Talia Graham who has moved on to Quinnipiac University where she has already tied their school record. During outdoor track she went undefeated until New Englands where Graham beat her on misses. Carr also showed off her versatility by taking 4th at the CIAC Heptathlon Championships. She will compete for Clemson University next year. Liliana Quill has certainly left her mark on Amity High School. Last year she broke the school record in the pole vault and this fall she did the same in diving. While she had been a class level scorer before, she really pulled things together last winter, improving her PR to 10-6 and taking 4th at the State Open. In the spring she was undefeated, winning the SCC and Class L championships, but unfortunately didn’t clear a height at the Open but did manage to go over 11-feet several times during outdoor track. Montville has a strong pole vault squad returning and the best of the bunch is junior Kamryn Plikus. She cleared 11-feet twice last winter, 2nd best among all returnees. She was Class S runner-up indoors and was 7th at the Open. In the spring she won her first state title in the vault and also scored in the Open in the high jump. Unfortunately no one has ever kept freshman records for Connecticut athletes, but when Bloomfield’s Saphyr Brown reached a distance of 19-1.25 in the long jump she became the 8th best jumper in CT history. Since none of the girls in front of her came close to 19-feet, she unofficially holds the CT freshman record. Coming into the Open seven girls had gone over 18-ft at some time during the season and any of them could have had a small improvement and taken the title. But on her first jump of the day, the 9th grader threw down the gauntlet with her big PR and none of the others could match. She also showed off her speed as a member of the WarHawk’s Open and New England championship 4x200m and is also one of the top returning sprinters in the state which could add a number of points to her team’s totals in the postseason meets. Lizzy Bidwell was having a strong season clearing 5-6 several times last winter. But a slight off day placed the Conard junior at 3rd at the State Open. A week later, Bidwell had their best jump of their life winning New Englands with a PR of 5-9. Bidwell also placed 5th in the long jump to score a total of eight points at the Open. During outdoor track the Redwolve was a triple threat scoring in the Open in the long, high and triple jump events. Norwalk’s Layla Roberts has already made New Englands her sophomore year in the long jump and last year in the high jump. She finished 4th at the State Open and set her PR of 5-3 to finish 12th at New Englands. She has gone over 17-ft in the long jump so look for her to be a double threat this winter.
Contributors Wanted - News and Pics: MSR is always on the lookout for anyone interested in submitting news or pics from their team, meets and conferences for publication on our site. If you are interested then contact Owner-Editor Ron Knapp at mysportsresults@gmail.com with a quick email with details about your area of interest.
HOKA Track & Field Athlete of the Week! Throughout the season, MySportsResults will again recognize our top boys’ and girls’ T&F athletes each week with our first awards slated for the week of December 22nd.
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