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Danbury Dream Invite Preview and More Action This WeekendPublished by
By Senior Correspondent Marty Ogden, Editing and Graphics by Ron Knapp What once began as a meet for two teams to earn a national qualifying performance has grown over the years to become a destination meet that athletes all over the northeast use as a final chance to qualify for nationals before the championships where they often have to double and triple for team points. The 17th Danbury Dream Invitational is a short two and a half hour meet held at Danbury High that will take place on Saturday with the track events scheduled to go off at 6:30 pm. The boys 800m is like a coming out party for a pair of great Ridgefield runners. Charles Lovett and Magnus Manley are incredibly accomplished in the relays and were half of the New England record 4 x 800m this winter. But they rarely run the two lap race without a baton in their hand. Off a hot pace, the state lead of 1:54.73 could be lowered on Saturday. But the pair will have to face defending State Open champion Tom Conklin of Lyman Hall who likes to come from behind and has a blazing kick. It will be a classic battle between strength versus speed. But the field is much deeper than just these three. Sam Leone is scheduled to cross the state from East Lyme to lower his 800m PR. He is the New England mile champion this indoor season and should be able to lower his 1:56.6 800m PR. Danbury’s Kyle Jeffers is an impact player in any race he runs and is the Dream Invite 800m defending champion who also won the Class LL 1600m last year. Headlining the girls 800m is All New England 1000m Alexandra Morgan of Fairfield Warde. She will have a pacer to keep the pace honest if she decides to run the event. She is also entered in the mile and there is a little over an hour between events which will make a high level double tough to do. There could be a story of redemption in the boy's mile. Soon after his school record 2-mile at New Balance Nationals Indoor, Xavier’s Owen Martin was diagnosed with a stress fracture. The senior who has earned All American honors multiple times in relays and comes in with a 4:14 mile PR has started training a few weeks ago. The Falcon has already run two dual meets but this will be his first big effort of the season. He will face long time rival Sean McCauley of East Lyme who was the State Open runner up in the 3200m and has a 4:17 1600m PR. Danbury’s Michael Komisky hasn’t raced much this season, but is the defending champion in this event. Earlier this season, he popped off a 4:17.8 1600m split in the DMR at the Arcadia Invitational in California. Add in Trevor Fuller who was another member of the New England Record 4x800m team and recently ran a 9:17 3200m at the Fast Times meet. He could also go under 4:20 for the mile on Saturday. There are several girls who are still deciding which events to run but if they all go into the mile, it could be highly competitive. Warde’s Morgan is entered in the mile and 800 and her FCIAC rival Jenna Mancuso of Wilton was 4th in the State Open indoor 3200m is also entered in the 2-mile. Seniors Nora Foley of Ridgefield and Danbury’s Katelyn Zaloski have both greatly improved this season and gone under 5:20 for the mile. They should add depth to the field. Anything can happen in the steeplechase and Oxford's Joseph DeLuise found that out the hard way at the O’Grady Relays. He was leading by a good 30 meters after the last water jump and was assured victory in a national qualifying time when he failed to clear the last barrier and went down hard. He was able to get himself back up but not before Matt Kraszewski sailed by him in a state leading time of 6:08.54 with DeLuise finishing less than a second back. The Wolverine will be returning to the scene of the crime for his 4th steeplechase of the season and he just set his 1600m and 3200m PR at a dual meet this week, so you know he is fit. He will face Rocky Hill’s Daniel DiTunno who was 3rd at O’Gradys in 6:20 and Santiago Rodriguez of Newington who won the Froshmore 2k steeple in 6:42.15. The girls’ steeplechase has the defending CIAC State Open champion Katie McMorrow of New Fairfield entered in the event. Her time of 7:14.37 last year, cracked the CT All Time top ten in the event and she will be looking for a national qualifying time. She will face Trumbull’s Jane Hall and Maura Kane who have the top two times in CT this season. Danbury Dream Invitational Order of Events 6:00pm - Hammer - 1 Flight Coed 6:30pm - Girls 4x200 - 1 Heat 6:35pm - Boys 4x200 - 1 Heat 6:40pm - Girls 200m - 1 Heat 6:50pm - Girls 800m - 2 Heats 7:00pm - Boys 800m - 3 Heats 7:10pm - Boys 2k SC - 1 Heat 7:25pm - Girls 2k SC - 1 Heat 7:40pm - Girls 2 mile - 1 Heat 8:00pm - Boys Fresh Mile - 1 Heat 8:10pm - Girls Mile - 2 Heats 8:25pm - Boys Mile - 3 Heats End at 8:50pm. CT Alumni Notes MySportsResults takes great pride in the alumni who go on to compete at a high level in the college ranks and wish we could cover all of their exploits, but there just isn’t enough time to do so. But we wanted to highlight a few former high school stars who have won their conference meets this week. William and Mary’s Collin Walsh just graduated from New Milford last year and he has wasted no time putting a mark on the Tribe’s program. He has already run a 8:56 PR in the 3k steeplechase and on Wednesday night he won the Coastal Athletic Conference title in the event after anchoring the winning DMR team during the indoor season. Gary Moore Jr set multiple state records in the throwing events in high school and has continued to improve greatly at Kansas State. He took first on his last throw in the Men's Hammer with a PR of 67.68m (222’0”) at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships. The Big East Outdoor Track and Field championships started on Thursday evening at UConn in Storrs. Georgetown senior Chloe Scrimgeour, a graduate of Conard High School, defended her title in the 10,000m in a PR of 32:13.64. UConn’s Audrey Kozak won the Big East Championship in the heptathlon with 4,959 points. She was also the CIAC Heptathlon champion two years ago for Shelton High with 4442 points. In a sweep of the multi event titles, UConn’s Josh Mooney won the Big East Decathlon Championship with 7,810 points, the 2nd most in program history and 8th ranked in the US. In high school he was NBNO champion and state record holder in the 110m hurdles and also won the CIAC Decathlon. Checkout the special photo galleries from Friday night at the Big East Outdoor Track & Field Championships presented by Jeep at UConn courtesy of Ron Knapp of MySportsResults.com.
Results on AthleticNet at: https://www.athletic.net/track-and-field-outdoor/usa/high-school/connecticut
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.
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