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Meredith Sets Two Meet Records as H-K’s Boys Place 2nd at Shorelines; Girls Finish 4th

Haddam-Killingworth’s boys’ and girls’ outdoor track teams competed at the Shoreline Conference Championship at Morgan High School on May 24. The Cougars’ boys scored 95 points and finished as the runner-up Coginchaug, which had 145.5 points. The girls’ team came in fourth place with 71 points, while Old Saybrook took the title by scoring 182.75.

“For the boys, we went into the meet thinking that we’d be close with Old Saybrook and Coginchaug, but it wasn’t nearly as close. Coginchaug just had a fantastic meet. We had some strong showings in events, but then we had some that were disappointing where we didn’t get as many points as we expected,” said H-K Head Coach Matt Diglio. “For the girls’ side, Old Saybrook was clearly the dominant team. [The Cougars have] dealt with injuries and illnesses. They are a young team, but we are happy with fourth.”

For event victories on the boys’ side, Andrew Meredith won 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:25.63 and took first place in the 3,200 by clocking in at 9:43.64, setting Shoreline Conference Championship records in both events. Meredith outlasted second-place finisher Peter Schulten of Coginchaug in both the 1,600 (4:30.02) and the 3,200 (10:03.19).

First-place finishes for the girls went to Veronica Chrzanowski in the triple jump with a distance of 34 feet-4.5 inches, which bested runner-up Tirzah Blomquist of Westbrook (34-2.75); as well as Sadie Strom, who went a 48.49 in the 300 hurdles to beat out Valley Regional’s Maleena Frazier (48.70).

“Andrew was a standout today. He earned meet records in the mile and two-mile, and it was a nice day for him after coming back from an injury during indoor season. Our sprinters and jumpers also had good days. Nick Formica scored some points for the team, and our 4x4 relay ran a great race. It was a good team performance,” said Diglio. “Veronica Chrzanowski had personal records in the long and triple jumps. Sadie Strom and Julie Kelly were also some of our leaders on the day.”

Elsewhere for the boys, the 4x400 relay of Colin Regan, Criscuolo, Ricky Carson, and Shahzaib Khalid was runner-up (3:36.50) to Coginchaug (3:36.14), while the 4x800 relay of Dan Schumann, Seth Freeman, Michael Callis, and Doug Brown finished third (8:21.72).

Also, Nate Parker took fourth in the high jump (5-8), Breiling finished fourth for the discus (119-1) and Colton Lavoie was fifth (112-5), Kyle Criscuolo finished fourth in the 800 (2:05.24) and Freeman was seventh (2:07.45), Nick Formica finished fifth for the 100 (11.72) and also took fifth in the long jump (19-6.5), Wally Sample placed fifth in the shot put (37-3.25) and Nate Breiling finished eighth (35-11), while Spector was fifth in the 3,200 (10:23.72) with McCabe was right behind in sixth (10:39.33).

Additionally, Alex O’Bymachow claimed seventh in the 300 hurdles (44.99), Conor McCabe was seventh for the 1,600 (4:37.89) and Jonah Spector followed in eighth (4:39.39), Luke Sodergren was eighth in the 110 hurdles (30.00), Jon Ellery finished eighth in the pole vault (11-0), and Kevin Dougherty placed eighth in the javelin (128-0).

For the girls’ team, Kelly (2:27.74) was the runner-up in the 800 to Alexandra Alsup of Coginchaug (2:25.56), Chrzanowski (17-5) finished second in the long jump to Devyn King of Old Saybrook (17-7), and she also placed third for the 200 (27.77); Kelly came in fifth for the 1,600 (5:23.11), Maggie Fisher was seventh for the 3,200 (12:32.29), Hannah Korper finished eighth in the 300 hurdles (51.73), and Autumn Coady was eighth in the 110 hurdles (17.58).

In relays, the 4x800 of Lexie Bouthillier, Emma Anziano, Julie Kelly, and Hailey Cassidy took third (10:11.65); the 4x100 of Megan Little, Chrzanowski, Sam Liptak, and Elena Boyington finished fourth (52.65); and the 4x400 relay of Kelly, Korper, Strom, and Ashley Duncanson also finisehd fourth (4:16.19).

All first- and second-place finishers earned All-Shoreline Conference First Team and Second Team honors, respectively. For the boys, First Team accolades went to Meredith in the 1,600 and 3,200, while the 4x400 relay Regan, Criscuolo, Carson, and Khalid earned Second Team distinction.

On the girls’ side, Chrzanowski was First Team for the triple jump, as was Strom for the 300 hurdles. Kelly made the Second Team in the 800.

Looking back on the dual-meet campaign, the boys posted a stellar 12-1 mark, while the girls notched an impressive record of 10-3. Coach Dilgio and the Cougars always use the regular season as a measuring stick for the postseason meets. H-K now moves on to the State Championship phase of the postseason, with the girls competing in Class M on Tuesday, May 30 and the boys in Class S on Thursday, June 1. Both meets take place at Willow Brook Park in New Britain.

“We always take dual-meets seriously and use it to gauge how we stack up in the conference. For states, we are focusing more on our relays and individual events. We feel for the boys, we have a good chance to do well in relay events. We are looking for our 4x8, Andrew Meredith, and our throwers to do well,” said Coach Diglio. “For the girls, we are looking for our 4x8 and 4x4 relays, along with Veronica Chrzanowski and Sadie Strom in the hurdles to do well. We won’t be in the team title hunt, but we look to load up on relays. We now have to look at each class and examine who’s in.”