Contributed by SL Coach with Editing and Graphics by Ron Knapp

The Shoreline Conference, one of the oldest in Connecticut, delivered a rare and thrilling outcome on Saturday in their annual championships as Cromwell and Haddam-Killingworth tied for the boys’ team title with 135 points, edging out Coginchaug by just five points. In the chase for the girls championship title, East Hampton repeated as champions with 113 points, holding off Lyme-Old Lyme for the second straight year in the 12 team meet held at Coginchaug Regional HS in Durham. The meet also featured several meet records on the track and in the field.

RESULTS

Boys Championship Highlights

As with all great track meets, the boys' title came down to the final event, the 4x400m relay. With Haddam-Killingworth leading the team standings by four points, it was a matter of who had the fastest legs remaining to close out the meet. The race didn’t disappoint the fans as all three top teams broke the previous meet record of 3:29 set in 1979 by Guilford. Cromwell’s squad of Nassyr Andrade, Lucas Witkowski, Matthew Michaud, and Dylan Bathrick took gold in 3:25.29, Coginchaug finished second, and Haddam-Killingworth placed third, securing a tie between Cromwell and HK for the overall title. 

Coginchaug led for most of the meet, fueled by standout Charles Dallas, the reigning New England indoor champion in the 600m. Dallas won the 300m hurdles, was runner-up in both the 110-meter hurdles and 200 meters, and placed third in the 100. Coginchaug dominated the sprint and hurdle events, scoring 71 points across the 100, 200, 110m hurdles, 300m hurdles, and winning the 4x100m. Dallas earned the meets overall boys MVP and Track awards.

While Coginchaug owned the sprints, Haddam-Killingworth controlled the throws, earning 62 points in shot put, discus, and javelin. Tim Carvell claimed victory in the javelin, and Trevor Dixon launched a CT #10 shot put mark of 52-6.5. Carvell claimed the Field MVP award that included his 2nd place in discus and 3rd place in the shot put.

Cromwell’s strength came in the jumps, where they scored 47 points across the high jump, long jump, and triple jump. Freshman Luke Haslam was a breakout star, leaping 42-9.5 in the triple jump, good for a spot at New Balance Freshman Nationals and the top mark by a freshman in the state this season. Kason Lamb added to his team’s total with a win in the 110m hurdles in 15.42, setting personal bests in both the prelims and finals. Dylan Bathrick, a CCSU commit, delivered one of the day’s most complete performances for the Panthers. He claimed the 1600m in a personal best 4:23.29 then won the 800m in a meet record 1:55.27 and finished by helping anchor the record-setting 4x400m while even placing sixth in the triple jump. 

The boys' 200m was arguably the race of the day, featuring Connecticut’s #1, 5, 7, and 14th ranked sprinters. Portland’s Samuel Lamalfa stole the show with a blazing 21.14, breaking the meet record. He also broke the meet record in the 400m with a state-leading 47.51.

Another long-standing meet record was broken in the long jump as Patrick Lynch of Lyme-Old Lyme soared 22-8.5 to barely eclipse the 1985 mark of 22-8 by Daron Armstrong of HK.

Another milestone was realized by senior Matthew Kraszewski of Hale Ray as he won the 3200m in 9:55.44 to earn his 12th first team all-conference award in his 12 seasons of competing (XC/Indoor/Outdoor).

Girls Championship Highlights

Lyme-Old Lyme may have finished second in the team standings, but they left with seven event titles and plenty of momentum heading into the Class S meet. Zoe Eastman-Grossel led the charge with three victories, setting meet records in both the 200 (24.27) and 300m hurdles (42.23, CT #1, US #34), and anchoring the winning 4x100m relay.

Coginchaug's Sophie Farr also had a banner day with her season best in the 100m to win in 13.02, a 4th in the 400m, a 3rd in the 200m and a leg of their winning 4x400m that earned her overall MVP and Track awards. 

Like the boys' 200, the girls’ 200 featured fireworks. Eastman-Grossel took gold in 24.27 while teammate Serrena Mazzi earned silver with a CT #26 time of 26.00. Seven of the top eight finishers ran either personal or season bests, with multiple athletes cracking the state’s top 50. Chase Gilbert added two more meet records for Lyme-Old Lyme, winning the 800m in 2:17.84 and the 1600m in 4:53.84, a CT #1 time for the 1600m this season. Margaret Thuma contributed a CT #10 discus throw of 115-0 feet, while Tabitha Colwell captured the triple jump with a leap of 32-0.25. 

Despite securing only two event wins from Danielle Riley in the high jump (4-10) and Kaylan Sullivan in the pole vault (9-6) East Hampton's depth proved too much for competitors to overcome. The Cougars scored in all but three events, including 21 points in the javelin, 18 points in the high jump, and 15 more points in the pole vault, sealing their second straight team title. 

The girls’ 4x800m was one of the meet’s most exciting relays as the top 4 teams finished within 11-seconds. The Hale Ray quartet of Julie Anderson, Sara Evans, Elyanna Sorey, and Anastasia Kushnir took the win with a CT #9 time of 10:00.48. Coginchaug, Haddam-Killingworth, and Cromwell also posted season bests, ranking CT #16, #18, and #21, respectively. 

Morgan’s Destiny Rehberg two victories in the shot put (28-10) and the javelin (114-0) earned her the Field MVP award.

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