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

There were three meets in state on the past weekend that made significant dents in the state rankings. The grandfather of all meets, the Greater Hartford Invitational, in its 93rd year and the Old Saybrook Running Rams meet displayed the talent of the smaller schools in the state. On top of those two was the 9th Froshmore Invitational that provided fans of CT track and field a preview of the stars of the next few years. Altogether there was a busy weekend of action throughout the Nutmeg State. 

The 93rd Greater Hartford Invitational

RESULTS

It is fun watching some of our all time greats develop and continue to drop time. Davian Johnson was running low to mid 15s in the 110m hurdles as a freshman and was in the high 14s as a sophomore. But this winter, the hurdlers were incredibly deep and the East Hartford junior stepped up a level and won the Open in the 4th best time in state history. Now he is getting closer to state records and the championships haven’t even started yet. Only Josh Mooney’s state record of 13.48 is left for him to challenge. Last week at the Middletown Invitational he broke the meet record with his 13.75 finishing time, the 2nd fastest in state history. On Saturday the Hornet broke two meet records, running 14.08 in the 110m hurdles and 38.17 in the 300m hurdles (17th CT all time). He follows two-time New England indoor 55m hurdles champion Lucas Andrade in the regional 110m hurdles rankings and has the top time in the 300m hurdles. For his performances, Johnson was awarded Bill Baron Athlete of the Meet.

There is a reason Glastonbury girls won their 6th State Open title in 17 years this fall. They always seem to replace graduating seniors with future stars. Freshman Lauren Parrett won the 3200m in 10:52.10, the fastest time among underclassmen this year. She was followed by her teammate, senior Lila Garbett in 2nd place with a PR of 11:08.97. Not too far behind the duo was another Guardian, Carolyn Kamp who just missed qualifying for the New Balance Nationals Outdoor Freshman 2-mile race by 3 seconds with her time of 11:38.95. Glastonbury already has five of their top seven returning for cross country next year and if Kamp joins the team, she will provide added star power for the next few years to come.

The past couple of years Daniel Hand High School has been producing great long sprinters that have combined for outstanding relays. They have broken their school record the past three years in a row and on Saturday the team of  Lucas Nolte, Matthew Petersen, Aedan Virgulto and John Daniels not only broke Prince Tech’s meet record (anchored by the great Jerome Young), they took over the state lead and ran the 7th fastest time in state history with their time of 3:18.68. Nolte is just one example of how they continue to replace runners who graduate. Last year as a sophomore, his best 400m was 56 seconds, but on Saturday he dropped over seven seconds and won with a time of 48.92. Last year he wasn’t a factor in the Class meet but fast forward a year and the Tiger has a decent chance at earning a medal at New Englands. 

Hartford Magnet Trinity Academy was 21st in Class M last year but they could move up significantly in the standings this year thanks to sophomore Tiriyah Walker. She had a great weekend, setting school records of 12.21 in the 100m and 25.76 in the 200m. She claimed the gold in the shorter event and silver in the longer one and currently holds the 5th fastest time in the state of CT and the 9th in the 200m. 

Another meet record was set by Torrington’s Micheal Ahoua who leaped to a state leading 23-7 in the long jump. The New England champion this winter in the event went over 24 feet twice indoors and is ramping up his performances each week as the weather improves. He also finished 2nd in the triple jump with a distance of 44-3 and took 5th in the high jump at 6 feet 2-inches. 

It is very difficult to win a throwing competition in CT. There isn’t just one highly nationally ranked thrower, there are three. Anytime Tom Matlock and Chris Amy are in the same arena, fans know they are in for a treat. While NFA’s Amy seemed to have the edge this winter, setting the indoor state record and the State Open, East Lyme’s Matlock was always in the mix and came out on top at New Englands. They already met at a dual meet and with Matlock’s win on Saturday with a throw of 61-5, he is now 2-0 over his rival this season with the pair likely to meet at ECCs, the State Open, New Englands and Nationals. Amy was only 4-inches away from the win in the shot with both of them missing out on the oldest meet record in the book. Mel Taylor will continue to hold the record with his throw of 62-3 set in 1969. The pair met once again in the discus with Matlock coming out on top once again, throwing 166-0 and Amy reaching a distance of 163-10.

Some seniors get senioritis and fall out of the state rankings in the sprints, but Newtown’s Aashni Shetty has stepped it up for her last outdoor season and is projected to be a scorer in three events for Newtown in the postseason with a shot at making New Englands in the triple jump. She won the event with a school record of 36-3.5 to move up to 6th in CT in the event. The multi talented athlete who finished 11th in the CIAC Heptathlon last year also took 4th in the 100m hurdles (16.06) and 6th in the long jump.

After a State Open runner-up place in the 600m this winter, Yendri Ruiz of New Britain has made the transition to the 800m with his winning performance of 1:55.98 which is his PR and ranked 3rd in CT. Last year he was only 9th in Class LL and did not make the Open but now he has put himself into the conversation as a potential winner along with defending champion Thomas Conklin and state leader Dylan Bathrick.

9th Froshmore Invitational

RESULTS

What started out as a cold morning with leftover puddles all over the place from torrential downpours the past few days turned into a great day of competition for some of CT’s future stars. The meet was scored as a co-ed meet with Mercy/Xavier barely coming out on top in the large school division by a score of 130 to Newtown’s 128 points with Danbury coming in 3rd with 119 points and Hall at 108. In the small school competition Bethel ran away with it, scoring 272 points with Canton edging out Enfield by a score of 154 to 151. Brookfield came in 4th with 109. All together, 28 teams scored in both divisions. 

Some of the athletes who have competed in this meet are like a who’s who of the top CT athletes over the past several years. The following are the meet records set on Saturday:

Freshman Meet Records

Girls 100m: Cynthia Singleton, 12.47 Naugatuck

Girls 200m: Aziza Macchiarulo, 26.46 PR Bethel

Girls 400m: Deanna Spears, 59.52 PR Bloomfield tie

Girls 100HH: Kayla Berning, 15.95 PR Canton

Boys 1600m: Nolan O'Connor, 4:38.97 Xavier 

Sophomore Records 

Girls TJ: Ava Rose, 34-10.00 PR Amity 

Girls 400m: Alexandra Golder, 58.48 Hall

Girls HJ: Lucy O'Connor, 5-00.00 tie Canton

Boys 400m: Benjamin Cohen, 51.46 PR Hall

Boys Froshmore 4 x 400m: 3:35.31 Hall (Weston Sisk, Noah Putnam, Spencer Boucher-Zazzaro and Ben Cohen)

Foss Running Camp

Will take place August 14-19, 2025 at Camp Wah Nee in Torrington, CT

Visit their website at fossrunningcamp.com for more information and to apply for 2025.