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02/06/2016 11:00 PMValley Regional’s boys’ and girls’ indoor track teams competed in the Shoreline Conference Championship at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven on Feb. 6. The boys finished 11th with eight points, while the girls’ squad placed 13th and tallied four points on the day. Old Saybrook won the boys’ meet and Coginchaug prevailed in the girls’ competition.
For the Valley boys, the top finishers were senior Kinney, who took fifth in the long jump at 19 feet-04.75 inches; and sophomore Travis Baldwin, who placed fifth in the pole vault with a height of 10-6.
“I think we had an excellent year. The team showed great growth and we had some awesome performances this year,” boys’ coach Chris Allegretti said. “Colton had a great meet a couple weeks ago when he jumped over 20 feet in the long jump. He placed fifth today. I thought Ben [Toles] ran a great race today and had a very good season overall and Travis [Baldwin] getting fifth in the pole was outstanding for him.”
Leading the way for the girls, junior Maleena Frazier had the best finish by taking fourth in the high jump at 4-6 and she also placed 14th in the 300-meter dash at 47.16. Sophomore Addie Byars took ninth in the 1,600- meter run with a time of 5:49.25 and finished 15th for the 3,200 behind a mark of 13:32.96.
“We did OK today, but not as well as I had expected,” said Head Coach Brent Ali. “I think we were a little flat. Maleena and Addie medaled and that was good. Hopefully, we can improve our [personal records] in states [on Friday, Feb. 12], improve our scores overall, and work hard in practice this week. We have a very young team and some talented individuals, but we need more numbers, more kids, and we need to gain some experience. We are trying to grow and that will happen.”
Additionally for the Warriors’ boys, senior captain Ben Toles took 10th in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:56.53, sophomore Nick Klomp was 20th at 5:23.47, and coming in 26th was senior Nicholas Hartson (5:32.62). Klomp also went for 21st in the 3,200-meter run (12:13.77). Sophomore Cole Ensinger was 22nd in the long jump at 16-0.5 and also finished 14th in the high jump with a mark of 4-8. In the 1,000-meter run, Nicholas Hartson finished 17th (3:10.51), while Matthew Joia (3:22.70) and Peter Halsey (3:25.97) took 20th and 21st, respectively.
The boys are losing some top seniors from this year’s team in Adam Dalterio, Hartson, Toles, Kinney, Francis Stino, and Arik Sypher, but Coach Allegretti still feels excited for the future. Next winter, the Valley boys will be bringing back juniors Harry Jones and Daniel Ryan; sophomores Baldwin, Michael Berardis, Ensinger, and Klomp; plus freshmen Aidan Walsh, Jack Lima, Sean Patterson, Riley Connelly, David Prendergast, Peter Halsey, Cooper Rock, and Jeff Sypher.
“We have young talent coming up, some young sprinters,” said Allegretti. “The future looks great and we will keep working on everyone and everything. I think things went smoothly this year and our team unity is great. The boys and girls all root for each other. We have a great bunch of kids all around and we are excited for next year.”
Back to the girls’ side, Olivia Knickerbocker, just a freshman, placed 21st in the long jump with a leap of 12-9 at the conference championship. Senior Emily Trezza threw the shot put 23 feet-8.5 inches, which was good for 14th place, and in 23rd was Leanne Webb with her throw of 21-8.
Trezza is lone senior on a girls’ team that features 13 underclass athletes and so the Warriors are hoping to come back with a stronger, more-experienced team next season. The girls will be returning juniors Frazier, Andrea Criollo, Claudia Dalterio, Abigail Grace, Cameron Johnson, Corinna Stroeder, Elanne Tuscano and Maya Whitcomb; sophomore Byars; and freshmen Knickerbocker, Jillian Stewart, Leanne Webb, and Grace White.
From the Sidelines
The Valley boys’ captains are seniors Arik Sypher, Colton Kinney, and Ben Toles.
Senior Emily Trezza is the lone captain for the Warriors’ girls.
Brent Ali is in his sixth year as head coach of Warriors’ girls’ indoor track.
Boys’ Head Coach Chris Allegretti is in year No. 5 at the helm.