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

The New England Indoor Track and Field Championships have arrived. Athletes needed to be very talented and lucky to make it through the CIAC Class meets and finish top six at the State Open to punch their tickets to the 35th annual edition to this regional championship at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston. While each event should have amazing performances MySportsResults will highlight a few that have a great chance to either set meet records or feature interesting competition.

Updates to Schedule of Events as Announced on Thursday

• Facility and Registration open at 10:00 AM
• 12:00 PM – Hurdles and Dash events trials and finals
• 12:30 PM – Start of Field Events
• 1:00 PM – Start of Oval Track Events

Live Stream

Live Results

Boys 55m Hurdles

The meet record in this event has outlived its owner, Conroy Davis of Bassick, who passed away in 2019, was the first runner from his school to earn a gold medal at New Englands and ran an outstanding time of 7.30. Stonington’s Josh Mooney has already tied Miles Bradley’s all time Connecticut record, running 7.26 at the State Open. He will be pushed by his long time rival, Michael Johnson of Lewis Mills who won the New England 110m hurdles title last spring and ran 7.39 at the Open for a tie as the third fastest hurdler in CT history. Pay attention to the infield because fans will be watching one of the greatest hurdle races by a pair of Nutmeggers.

Girls 600m

There are no runners from Massachusetts in the 600m but that just means the Connecticut girls are going to have to bring the thunder. EO Smith’s Gabby Hernandez leads the charge and has run 1:31.69 on the flat track at Floyd Little Athletic Center. Running on a banked track should help her to a faster time as she is has experienced faster efforts later in the season as evident by her two 2:10 800m races at the end of outdoor track last year. While Precious Holmes’ meet record of 1:30.79 might be tough one to surpass, Hernandez should give it quite a scare.

Boys Shot Put

Last year witnessed the best shot put competition in New England history with two athletes tossing over the meet record and three over the 60-ft mark. At the end of the day, Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan of Woonsocket held the record at 67’11.50” and went on to win five national high school titles and qualified for NCAAs in the shot and weight throw as a freshman this winter. The record we thought would last for another decade could go down on Saturday. Jacob Cookinham of Bishop Stang, MA has been within two feet of the mark but has gone over 70-ft in his concrete throwing circle he built in his backyard. It is just a matter of time before he achieves that distance in one of his six throws in a competition and it could be this Saturday.

Girls 2-mile

If there was an award for most improved athlete in New England, it must go to Shelton’s Hannah Andrejczyk. She didn’t even qualify for the State Open last winter and fast forward a year, she not only made the Open, she won the whole thing by eight seconds against a very talented field. Her winning time of 10:42.93 was the 4th fastest 3200m time in state history with freshman Chase Gilbert running the 13th fastest time on the same list. Cheshire’s Alex Ciccone, who ran with Andrejczyk for the first half of the race is entered as the third seed at New Englands. The best part about the Shelton junior is that she looks like she is just getting started. Last Saturday at the Ocean Breeze Elite Invitational she popped off another PR in the mile with her third place finish in a time of 4:55.28. Two dark horses in the field are Reese Fahys of East Greenwich, RI and Newington’s Katherine Bohlke. Fahys is a two-time Rhode Island cross country champion with a lifetime 3000m PR of 9:56, which converts to a sub 10:40 2-mile. Bohlke pulled off an admirable double at the Open, winning the 1600m and placing 6th in the 3200m. She has already run 10:46 for 3200m and if she decides to go into the longer event with fresh legs then she could make this race much more interesting.

Boys 55m Dash

Being noble refers to someone who has high social status. Well in the world of New England sprinters Noble Gongon of Simsbury is as noble as they come. In his first season of indoor track he has risen to the top of the standings and hasn’t been defeated in a finals race this year. He has run 6.35 which is only .02 seconds away from Mark Doyley’s meet record. He will face defending champion Alex Arbogast of Tewksbury, MA and Jared Gibbons of La Salle Academy, RI who was fifth last year.

Girls 300m

Ali Murphy of Norton, MA and Kylee Bernard of Cambridge Rindge & Latin, MA finished second and third place at the MA Meet of Champions and both broke 40-seconds for the 300m. Running inside the pair of seniors should be Caleah Baker of Bloomfield. The sophomore was instrumental in leading her team to the State Open championship two weeks ago and will be hoping to be pulled along to a sub 40-second time. If she does, she will become the fourth WarHawk under that barrier and have two more years to chase Stacey-Ann Smith’s school record of 39.17.

Boys Long Jump

The meet long jump record is reaching the decade mark and Alex Niemiec’s name might be scratched off the list of records on Saturday. In 2013, Niemiec, a Chicopee senior, soared to a distance of 23’10.0”. Salter Arms of Moses Brown has already reached that mark twice this year with a best of 23’10.25”. Also in the running could be Ethan McCann-Carter of St. Raphael Academy, RI who has also gone over 23-ft. For about a decade in Connecticut an athlete has gone over 23 ft almost every year. We have not seen a long jumper reach that distance since before the COVID epidemic. Hamden’s Christopher Hergott, with his PR of 22’7.5”, has the best shot of breaking this three-year old drought.

Girls High Jump

An opening height of 5-ft 1-inch is a tough adjustment for many high jumpers who usually start a little lower and take a few jumps to get into a grove. But at least six girls in the field shouldn’t have any problem with the height since they have cleared 5’6” at some point this season. While this almost never happens, it would be pretty exciting to see six girls still in the competition at 5’7”. With this many girls relatively equal in ability, there isn’t a clear cut favorite. But if you were a betting person, the odds must be on defending champion Audrey Kirkutis of Conard. She won the State Open at 5’6” but has cleared 5’7” no less than five times in her career. Of course, Connecticut fans will also be rooting for Avery Pitts of E.O. Smith and Meg Barnouw of Fairfield Warde who have also cleared the height.

Boys 1000m

Something special is happening in Rhode Island this year with two of the best distance runners in the country coming from the Ocean State. Devan Kipyego, who will join his brother at the University of Iowa next year, just missed breaking 4-minutes for the mile at the Last Chance Indoor National Qualifier at BU last Sunday. He went through the 1000m split under 2:30, so the meet record of 2:25.14, held by Said Ahmed since 2001 should easily be in range. The question is, will anyone be brave enough to give him competition? No one else has even gone under 2:31 this winter, so that might be suicidal to try, but it will certainly be fun to watch Kipyego pull away from some of the best in the six state region.

Girls 1000m

Moses Brown standout Sophia Gorriaran, has been well known to fans of high school track throughout the nation. She made the Olympic trials as only a 16-year old in 2021 in the 800m and is extremely close to the national high school indoor records in the 800m and 1000m. She should be under the meet record of 2:48.35, having already run a 2:39.83 this season. But while she is heavily favored, she could potentially drag Amelia Everett of Newton South MA, under the meet record as well. If she does go under the record, she will join Clare Martin and Lucy Jenks as the third Lion under 2:50 for the 1000m. Conard’s Tess Sherry took it out hard at last week’s State Open and ran most of the race by herself, winning in a time of 2:55.87. Just imagine if she has someone to chase. How much faster could this sophomore go on Saturday?

Boys 4x400m

Hall has been quite successful the past few years and has risen to national prominence in the relays. They have been national champions in the sprint medley relay and All-American several times in the SMR and 4x400m. Last year they ran 3:20.88 for the 4x400m in an open meet but will be looking to go under the New England meet and CT state record in a high school only race. They have run 3:24.88 to win the Open and with no sprint medley, some of their runners should be fresher for this event. With Class LL 300m champion Sam Sandler running the 7th fastest time in state history and State Open 600m Jonathan York running 48.97 for 400m last weekend, the Titans have strong runners on the bookends. Their other legs are experienced and accomplished themselves. Gabriel Sisk was State Open runner-up in the 600m and sophomore Fareed Abu Rabia has been handling the stick in several successful relays all season. Brockton’s meet record of 3:21.49 is now 22-years old and has a realistic chance at getting broken.

Girls 4x400m

Sophia Gorrriaran has not run a New England championship since she won the mile her freshman year. One of the incentives the All-American has for running the championships this year is to help her teammates break the RI state record in the 4x400m held by La Salle Academy at 3:56.36. The Quakers are the only team in New England finish under 4:00 and are obviously the top seed. Defending champion Wachusett, MA are seeded less than a second behind but will need to have a big lead to hold off a fast charging Gorriran who has run a 54-second open 400m. But Windsor should also be toward the front of the pack as well. They ran a 4:02.66 to win the State Open on a flat track and should be faster on the banked oval at Reggie Lewis.

soundRUNNER Spring Spike Month/Nights

It’s almost time for Spike Month to start at all four SoundRunner stores. Athletes and coaches will get 20% off spikes and 15% off everything in the store (unless it is already discounted) beginning March 20 through April 21.

Coaches, if you want to arrange for a Spike Night or Morning then please contact a Store Manager at your local store listed below. If your athletes cannot attend a spike night then they can come into one of four stores during those dates and get the discount as well.

Branford – dean.tresca@soundrunner.com

Fairfield – eileen.gould@soundrunner.com

Glastonbury – darren.elledge@soundrunner.com

Old Saybrook – nick.cunningham@soundrunner.com