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04/03/2016 12:00 AMIt was a remarkable season for the East Haven indoor track program as Head Coach Rusty Dunne saw significant contributions across the board from his boys’ and girls’ athletes, who combined to break 14 school records this winter. The girls’ team broke five individual records and set three relay marks, while the boys took down five individual records and one in a relay.
“The thing that was great about it was that the records happened in the sprint events, short relays, middle-distance relays, long relays, and field events,” Coach Dunne said. “It’s unusual to have that many records in all those areas. Certain years, you might have a great hurdler, sprinter, or jumper, but it’s really unusual to have it all happen the same year.”
The individual records broken by the girls’ squad were in the high jump by Molly Mazzucco, who attained 4 feet-10 inches; Megan Kikosicki in the 300-meter dash at 43.17 seconds; Emily Maffeo in the 400 at 64.80; and from Katie Maffeo in both the 800 (2:29.98) and 1,000 (3:14.76).
East Haven also set marks in the 4x200 relay, 4x400 relay, and the 1,600 sprint medley relay (SMR). The 4x200 team of Kikosicki, Hailey Onorato, Annie Coleman, and Emily Maffeo set records of 1:50.83 on a banked track and 1:50.89 for a flat track. The 4x400 of Kikosicki, Onorato, Katie Maffeo, and Emily Maffeo posted a record time of 4:23.81. The SMR group of Kikosicki, Coleman, Emily Maffeo, and Katie Maffeo went a 4:33.82.
For the Easties’ boys, individual records were set by Mike Griffith in the long jump at 21 feet-9 inches, Austin Thornberg in the high jump at 6 feet, Austin Rivera in the 5,000-meter run at 18:13.3, and Garrett Pates in the 300 (37.25) and 400 (54.05).
The 4x200 relay of Griffith, Pates, Jay Donaldson, and McClay Marshall ran a 1:34.25 for a banked track and 1:34.72 on a flat surface. That group also finished First-Team All-State with their victory at the Class M State Championship.
“There are some very good athletes on the boys’ team and girls’ team. There’s no mystery,” Dunne said. “It kind of all came together. I was in weight room today. We’re one of the smaller schools in SCC, but we have four or five boys and girls that are very, very good that can compete with anybody in the state. It just kind of came together in the indoor season. A lot of hard work in weight room and at night. It just came together.”
The most-impressive performance on the boys’ team this year came from Griffith, who earned the squad’s MVP Award. Griffith scored an astounding 122.5 points with great finishes at the postseason meets. He was the victor in the long jump at the SCC West Sectional Championship when he set the school record and then finished in second at the SCC Championship in both the long jump and 55-meter hurdles. At the state meet, Griffith was a part of the first-place 4x200 relay, placed second in the long jump, and was fifth in the hurdles.
The overall depth of his teams is really what impressed Coach Dunne the most and he knew the Yellowjackets were going to score points in each and every competition.
“This is what I knew in every meet. Going into every meet, [Mike] Griffith was going to score in multiple events, Austin [Thornberg] would score in the high jump, [Niam] Coward in the shot put, Molly [Mazzucco] in the high jump, our 4x2 teams were two of the best in the state, and [Hailey] Onorato was a lock in every big meet to score in the hurdles,” he said. When you go into any of the meets, it’s a foregone conclusion that if people took care of their business, we were going to score a lot of points. It was just unbelievable.”
East Haven had its best team performances in the state meets as the boys finished in third with 42 points in Class M, while the girls placed seventh with 20 points.
“Before the meets, you can see the performance list. All the seed times are listed, so you know where your competition is coming from. We thought we had a chance in the class meet to have a good showing,” Dunne said. “We don’t have enough bodies usually to win those meets, but for the amount of boys and girls we had, it was a pleasant surprise. If you have big point scorers, you have a chance to do that.”
Kikosicki made All-State by winning the 300 when she set the school record of 43.17 at the class meet and wound up earning the Coaches’ Award from Dunne. She was a part of four school records in her best indoor season.
“For Kik, it was the first time she won something big,” Dunne said. “I always told her, ‘To be All-State, you have to win something big.’”
Other award winners for the boys’ team included Coward, who received the Sportsmanship Award; and Thornberg, who earned the Coaches Award. On the girls’ side, Emily Maffeo was the recipient of the Sportsmanship Award and Onorato was the MVP as she scored team-high 61.25 points and never placed below fifth in an individual postseason event.
“Emily Maffeo was our third-leading scorer and had a great indoor season. She went from a distance runner to a sprinter and the change was great. It worked out to say the least,” Dunne said. “Austin, he placed in every meet in the high jump. He tied the school record, while battling through injuries. He wasn’t healthy due to football, but he’s a great athlete and was our second-leading scorer.”
Dunne also gave plenty of credit to his coaching staff that consisted of Jon Faitsch, Jeff Cretella, and Jim Vicario for their contributions throughout East Haven’s excellent season.
“Jon has everything to do from 800 and up. Katie Maffeo in the 800 and 1,000 and Austin Rivera in the 5,000, Jon was big as far as that is concerned,” Dunne said. “Jeff Cretella was excellent in throws and Jim Vicario had a lot to do with success in long jump and relays. I want to make mention of that stuff.”
From the Sidelines
Outgoing seniors on the East Haven boys’ indoor track team are Arthur Bouthillier, Mike Crosby, Nick DeFaranos, Steve DellaCamera, Mike Griffith, Garrett Pates, Austin Thornberg, and Mateusz Wisniewski.
Seniors on the girls’ were included Serena Barker, Kayla Capone, Annie Coleman, Megan Kikosicki, Emily Maffeo, Hailey Onorato, and Melissa Palma.