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

Greater Manchester Track and Field Classic

RESULTS

The Greater Manchester Track and Field Classic has gone by different names over the decades and has always seemed to be a top class invitational the week before the conference meets at Manchester High that has always attracted top local teams from the center of the state. This year was no different as the state’s ranking had some major shake ups in many events. 

This indoor season Manchester’s Samiya Eady went undefeated until New Englands where she finished 6th in the most competitive 55m dash in meet history. She is once again going undefeated this spring against in state competition and won with a season best of 12.04 which is the 2nd fastest time in CT behind Nauatuck’s Lauren Kropo. She returned later in the day to run her first 200m of the season, winning in 24.48, the 16th fastest time in state history. 

Another girl who is getting closer to state leader Kropo, sophomore Paige Wilson of Windsor popped off her PR of 56.40 in the 400m which surpassed her time she ran to take 6th at New Englands last year. She also pushed Eady to the line in the 200m where she took 2nnd in 25.28, tying her season best. 

We got a peak at the future of girls distance running in CT with four of the top five finishers returning next year. Windsor sophomore Maya Donzella hasn’t quite reached the pantheon of CT distance runners, but in viewing her trajectory, she is on the right path. The Class L 1600m champion this winter has been knocking on the 5-minute barrier with four races this season going under 5:05. On Saturday, she ran a new PR of 5:01.77 and defeated this winter’s State Open 3200m champion Lauren Parrett. The Glastonbury freshman finished 2nd in a near PR of 5:04.74. Her teammate Lila Garbett was only senior in the top 13 and ran a season best of 5:06.87. Then you add in junior Sofia Holovatska (5:11.81) of South Windsor and freshman Carolyn Kamp (5:12.42) of Glastonbury who both set PRs, you have a bright future for CT’s distance runners. 

E.O. Smith has been known for their distance runners the past few years and the Panthers put on a clinic taking three of the top four spots in the 1600m on Saturday. Senior Brendan Cook won in a season best of 4:29.15 with his brother Alex Cook taking third in PR of 4:30.57 and Spencer Slayton taking 4th in 4:30.92. Normally a team with this much depth goes right into the 4x800m, but they could potentially score a lot more points at the Class L meet since they now have three of the top six times in the 1600m. 

The Greater Manchester Classic allowed the long hurdlers to really show their stuff. Windsor’s 

Tomari Gillespie ran a season best of 45.03 and she barely held off Ellington’s Jenna Luoma who was only .02 seconds behind. The pair ran the 3rd and 4th best times in the state with Gillespie taking over the top spot in Class L and Luoma currently ranked #2 in Class.

The NCCC will be one of the top conferences for the 300m hurdles and there was a preview of the conference meet this past Saturday. Stafford’s Javon Stigler won in 38.72 which is the #2 time in the state. But right on his heels was sophomore Dylan Calsetta of Ellington who ran 39.84 which is only .4 seconds off his lifetime best. 

The past few years Bloomfield has simply dominated the girl 4x400m. But there is natural rivalry between them and their next door neighbors Windsor and Glastonbury. Both teams pushed each other on Saturday with Windsor coming out on top with the team of Wilson Grayson Harris, Evelyn Schwartz and Ava Coleman running the state’s fastest time of 3:59.33 which is less than two seconds off Bloomfield’s state leading time. Glastonbury wasn’t far behind, taking second in 4:02.38. 

Bryanna Boroze finally joined the 40-foot club during outdoor track. In indoor she launched a 41-2 in December, but wasn’t able to get back to that mark the rest of the year. Now things seem to be coming together at the right time for the East Hartford senior as she threw  40-6 on Saturday to move her up to the 2nd ranked thrower in CT.

Sophomore Jayden Compton of Windsor has a bright future in the high jump. He was a 6-2 high jumper last year and this winter scored in the State Open. But on Saturday he reached another level and put himself in contention for the win at the Open with his clearance of 6-8 which ties the state lead. With seven boys already over 6-6 anything can happen, but Compton has certainly put himself in contention. 

This is the time of year when kids start hitting their grove and make big jumps in their performances. Manchester sophomore Iyanna Sheets just leaped 37-2.5 in the triple jump which gives her the #1 ranking in Class LL and is currently the #2 ranked jumper in the state.  

Your Help Needed

Ok, MSR needs some help from our coaches out there.The Mixed 4 x 400m Relay is now an Olympic event since 2021 and it is becoming more popular on the high school scene with New Balance Nationals establishing automatic qualifying standards of 3:45.00 and provisional at 3:52.00. On Saturday, Manchester’s team of Emeliana Christy, Myah-Nicole Johnson, Gavin Kane and Joseph Ofori-Mintah won in 3:36.74. A couple of weeks ago Naugatuck finished 2nd in 3:35.81 at the Loucks Games with their team of Keryn Thomas, Ryan Deitelbaum, Lauren Kropo and Jaiden Roach. Those times seem pretty fast to us, but since there are not many listings on AthleticNett we can’t properly research a proper state record. Let us know if your school has ever run faster as well as when and where than these two times. Once we get some feedback, we will include another event to our list of state records. Email us with your information at mysportsresults@gmail.com  

Nonnewaug Sweeps, McCarron & Belanger Shine at Berkshire League Championships

RESULTS

The first conference meet took place on Saturday in Litchfield with the Berkshire League holding their meet at the Plumb Hill Playing Fields, formerly Litchfield High’s track. Like the indoor season, Nonnewaug swept the boys and girls titles and the girls won their 4th consecutive. The girls more than doubled Thomaston’s score taking 243 points with 2nd place earning 113. On the boys side Nonneaug scored 179 with Lakeview, a new school that combined the population of both Litchfield and Wamogo, taking 2nd with 120 points. 

Kyle McCarron has simply dominated the BL these past three years going undefeated and taking home 16 league titles in cross country, indoor and outdoor track. But this year he is no longer a factor in just the northwest corner of the state, he is now leading the state in the 1600m. He started off the meet running a PR of 4:22.40. While there are almost two dozen boys who have run faster in the slightly long mile distance, those times were all in what we like to call time trial races that are set up to run fast. McCarron ran his race knowing that he had to come back for the 800m which he won in 2:03.41 and ran a leg of the winning 4x400m. Now a senior, he will take his talents to Quinnipiac University next fall. 

McCarron’s teammate has a name many might be familiar with. Ryan Segalla is the younger brother of 2022 Gatorade Runner of the Year Sydney Segalla. The apple certainly lands in the same place off that tree. Sydney surprised everyone when she came out for outdoor track for the first time as a senior and dominated the conference sprints, set Class S records and won the Open and New England title in the 400m. Ryan, only a sophomore, won the 100m (11.59), 200m (22.89), 400m (50.41) and ran a leg of the winning 4x400m team (3:31.73) on Saturday. 

Nonnewaug girls also had a triple winner. Senior Ellison McDonald took home titles in the 100m (12.88), 200m (25.98) and 4x100m (51.70). She will attend Middlebury College next year 

Like McCarron, Briana Belanger of Thomaston is building up a resume full of BL titles. Last year as a freshman, she swept all three distance events and ran a leg of the 4x800m. This year, she repeated in the 1600m (5:16.68), 800m (2:24.30) and 3200m (11:57.75) but settled for 2nd in the 4x800m behind Shepaug. 

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.