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06/16/2016 12:00 AMThe Branford outdoor track program sent three athletes to the CIAC Decathlon and Heptathlon and all three finished in the top 10 of their respective competitions while wearing a Hornets’ uniform for the last time. Kory King scored 5,153 points to take 10th place out of 48 athletes in the Decathlon and, in the Heptathlon, Claira Janover finished fifth out of 58 with 3,711 points with Issy Bysiewicz scoring 3,390 to claim 10th. Both events took place at the Willow Brook Park in New Britain on June 13 and 14.
Janover’s performance was the culmination of a postseason that saw her win the triple jump at the SCC West Sectional Championship and the Class MM State championship. There’s no triple jump at the Heptathlon, but Janover fared well in the other jumping events as she took second in the high jump with a personal record (PR) leap of 5 feet-0.25 inches and also set a PR of 16-7.25 in her third-place showing for the long jump. Janover also came just five-hundredths of a second from setting a PR in the 100-meter hurdles and her time of 16.03 seconds earned her fourth place overall.
Janover also tested her mettle in events that are not her trademarks and saw some success by placing 13th in the javelin (67-1), 18th in the 800-meter run (2:43.87), 22nd for the shot put (23-9), and 25th in the 200 with a 28.49. Janover did not compete in last year’s Heptathlon and her performance this year marked a big-time improvement from her sophomore year, when she finished 28th with 2,803 points.
“Claira had outstanding performances and it’s really a tribute to her that she kept her calm throughout the whole thing and didn’t get shaken up by her weaker events like the shot put and javelin. She was excellent in the high jump, hurdles, and long jump. She was spectacular in those events,” Branford’s girls’ coach Kevin Connell said. “As they were going along, they still hadn’t called her name. They called sixth place and then fifth and she was so excited.”
Janover finishes her Branford track career with four postseason victories and she was also named the Hornets’ Most Valuable Player for the field events this spring. Janover, who’s both an All-State and Academic All-State athlete, will attend Harvard University later this year.
“When you look back, Anna Atkinson [who won the CIAC Heptathlon for Branford two years ago] did some stuff that was out of this world, but Claira has to be right behind her,” said Connell. “Claira had a remarkable career. She was our top point scorer last year and this year and had twice as many points as the second person on the team and that’s incredible.”
Bysiewicz is also a future Ivy Leaguer as she will attend Yale University in the fall. At the Heptathlon, Bysiewicz ran a tremendous race in the 800 to snag third place with a time of 2:33.48 and she really turned some heads in the javelin by slinging a personal record throw of 75 feet-9 inches that put her in fourth. Bysiewicz additionally finished 14th in the long jump (15-2.75), 15th for the 200 (27.85), 22nd in the 100 hurdles (17.55), 25th in the high jump at 4-4.25, and 42nd for shot put (21-8.75). Bysiewicz scored a few less points than she did at last year’s Heptathlon, although she improved her place from 13th to 10th.
“Issy gets down on herself and I told her to think about this: There are nine athletes in the whole state that are better than her. Nine. That’s it. I told her that all the people who went home [after the first day] and didn’t make it [to the second day] would love to be in her position. She had a great two days,” said Coach Connell. “Issy is a kid who’s conscientious about getting all her work done and she was prepared for this event. That is what I will take away from coaching her. She was ready.”
It’s Good to be King
King demonstrated how ready he was for the Decathlon by placing in the top 10 in four of events. King finished third in the 1,500-meter run behind a time of 4:45.40, was sixth in the 400 at 52.39, raced to seventh with a time of 16.40 in the 110 high hurdles event he’d won at sectionals, and finished eighth for the 100 with a personal record mark of 11.67 seconds. King also finished 11th in the high jump (5-6), 21st in the javelin (107-1), 24th in the discus (75-0), 25th in the long jump (18-0.5), and 33rd for the shot put (29-4.5).
One of King’s goals was to better the point total amassed at the Decathlon by his father DJ King, a 1978 Branford High School graduate. Wearing the same uniform that his dad wore, King did exactly that and his performance in the pole vault played a huge role in putting him over the top. King was unable to clear a height in the vault at last season’s Decathlon, but eclipsed 9-0.25 to place 13th this time. That helped King improve by two spots and 211 points from last season to surpass his father’s best score.
“It was always Kory’s goal to score more points than his dad. They have a terrific relationship and his dad was rooting for him and they were also going back and forth and teasing each other. It was a lot of fun,” boys’ coach Rich Biondi said. “Kory did the pole vault in a few meets as an extra event, but he’s not a pole vaulter, and the big fear was that he wouldn’t be able to clear a height. His first attempt at 8-6, he missed. But Kory had worked with [assistant coach John Case] throughout the year a bit, had a better concept of how to vault, and cleared not one, but two heights, so that was very exciting.”
It’s only fitting that King and his father were involved in a little friendly family competition at the Decathlon seeing as how, according to Coach Biondi, King takes such an old school approach to sports that it’s almost like he came to Branford in a time capsule from the days when his dad played.
“Kory is a very tough kid and he’s tough mentally. No matter the situation or what event, Kory is just a competitor and we don’t have many kids like him who aren’t afraid of other athletes or other schools,” Biondi said of King, who led his team in points scored the past two seasons. “Kory will fight through every situation event by event and has a lot of belief in himself. It’s always fun to be around kids like that. He’s old school and we don’t see guys like that often. He not only wore his dad’s uniform from about 40 years ago, but he competes like a kid from the 50s. He just goes out and does his thing. Kory works hard and is a great kid to be around.”
From the Sidelines
Joining Claira Janover as co-Most Valuable Player for Branford girls’ outdoor track in 2016 was long-distance runner Cyrene Nicholas, who was MVP for the track events. The team’s Most Improved Players were junior javelin thrower Kiersten Bjork and sophomore pole vaulter Bridget Wirtz. The Team Spirit Award was presented to senior distance runner Anneliese Troidle, the Desire and Dedication Award went to sophomore shot put/discus thrower Kathryn Pollard, and the Rookie of the Year was freshman Liante Claude, who was a standout in relays and the 400.
The senior captains for the girls’ team were Janover, Nicholas, and Issy Bysiewicz. Next year’s captains are Amanda Acquarulo, Courtney Cosgrove, Bjork, and Keira Integlia.
Kory King was named MVP of the track events for Hornets’ boys’ outdoor track and senior shot put/discus thrower Jake Roberts earned that honor for the field events. The Most Improved Player was senior Seraphin Tala and the Team Spirit Award went to Marshall Borrus with fellow senior captain Joe Borst winning the Desire and Dedication Award. Marzio Mastroianni was the Most Outstanding Freshman on the track and Matt Alexander collected that distinction in the field.
The boys’ senior captains were King, Borst, and Borrus. For next season, Andrew Byrne, David Donnelly, and Spencer Mariotti will hold that role.