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06/10/2017 12:00 AMEntering last week’s State Open meet, the Hand boys’ outdoor track team had already put together a banner year that’s featured some big-time postseason showings, including a victory at the SCC Championship. As the calender turned to June, the Tigers showed that they had one more championship performance in them and did so while making program history.
After going 10-0 for the dual-meet season and claiming the conference title, Hand finished a close second to Middletown at the Class L State Championship. However, on the state’s biggest stage, the Tigers once again demonstrated why they’re one of the best squads in Connecticut by claiming their first State Open crown at Willow Brook Park in New Britain on June 5. Hand took the title by scoring 32 points to squeak past runner-up Danbury, which scored 30 points. The Tigers’ 4x400 relay of junior Ethan McMahon, junior Liam Akers, senior Matt Parker, and senior Max Veth came in fifth place with a mark of 3:23.33 to score four points and seal the title, while also breaking a school record.
Even though the Tigers didn’t post any first-place finishes at the Open, they emerged victorious on the strength of a handful of point-scoring performances. Veth ran a time of 48.73 seconds in the 400-meter dash to finish as the runner-up to Manchester’s Jevin Frett (48.08) and score eight points for Hand. Devon McShane scored six points by taking third place in the pole vault. The senior cleared 15 feet and finished just behind second-place Marc Deluca of Westhill and champion Milan Spisek of Barlow, who both reached 15-6.
“We weren’t expecting to win the Open at all. We had some guys watching live results at home and informing us of what was going on. We started to gain more points as the day went on in relay and field events. We were quite shocked. I was walking to the bus with my poles when Troy Lefler called me and said we won, so I ran back inside,” said McShane, who finished 14th for the javelin (155-2) and also qualified for the Open in the high jump. “I was happy to do 15 feet again in the vault. It was one of the best Open meets I’ve been a part of. I was happy to also match my personal best there. We took everything one day, practice, and meet at a time. We focused on our own events and let others focus on theirs. It was a team effort all the way around this year. The Open title sealed the deal for us on an incredible season.”
Junior Mike Burchell set a personal-best distance of 52 feet-2.5 inches to place second in the shot put behind Shelton’s Ed Radizon, scoring eight points in the process. Burcell also tallied six points by finishing third in the discus (148-4) behind runner-up Jason Loney of Bloomfield (152-3) and Westhill’s Mekhi Barnett (154-3).
The points recorded by the 4x400 relay, Veth, McShane, and Burchell were enough to give Hand its first State Open title.
“We had a great regular season, and then we were disappointed at Class L, but the guys that qualified for the Open were determined to go out on a good note. We did strong in the field events, and Devon had a great performance in the pole vault,” Head Coach Tim Geary said. “We were shooting for the top five as a team, and 32 points is a low score for a State Open championship team. But there’s a lot of talent across the state, and points were tough to come by. We are also fortunate to have a strong bunch of seniors.”
Hand saw a few other athletes compete at the Open. Junior Quincey Heinrich cleared 5-10 in the high jump and tied for 10th with George Stoughton of Wethersfield (5-10), senior Troy Lefler placed 14th in the long jump (20-3), and the Tigers’ 4x100 relay of junior KJ Richmond, Parker, McMahon, and junior Steven Kao came in 18th place by clocking in at 44.83 seconds.
Geary has seen his fair share of squads come and go throughout his lengthy tenure at Hand. The coach said that the spark of senior leadership ignited the Tigers on their way to carving out a place in both the state and school history books.
“It was a very special season. I’ve seen a lot of good teams here at Hand. This one ranks right up there with the best we’ve had,” said Geary. “A lot of it was due to the leadership we had. Many of them also did indoor track and set their sights on this spring and they came through.”
At the New England Championships on June 10 at Norwell, Massachusetts, Veth finished third in the 400 (48.07), McShane finished fifth for the pole vault (14-9), and Burchell placed 14th for the discus (142-11) and was 16th for the shot put (49-2.25).
From the Sidelines
Hand’s one other victory at a state meet came when the Tigers won the Class L title in 2010.
Head Coach Tim Geary is in his 36th year at Hand and is assisted by Dave Tommaso and John Sagnella.
The Tigers also won their 10th straight SCC Hammonasset Division title this spring.