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02/04/2018 11:00 PMOld Saybrook’s boys’ and girls’ indoor track teams triumphed once again at the Shoreline Conference Championship meet held at the Floyd Little Athletic Center on Feb. 3. The Rams’ girls’ team posted 148.5 points to repeat as champions, while the boys’ squad scored a 150.0 to claim the title for the fourth straight season.
The Old Saybrook girls’ team ran away with the meet by outscoring runner-up Morgan by 73 points. However, on the boys’ side, the meet wasn’t decided until the final event. Haddam-Killingworth held a 12-point lead with two events remaining, but the Rams took the title by winning 4x400 relay and then getting second- and third-place finishes in the long jump to close out the meet.
Old Saybrook Head Coach Peter Capezzone knew that Haddam-Killingworth was a threat after seeing the team’s distance runners during the cross-country season. Capezzone felt proud to see his Rams rally to secure a six-point victory over H-K.
“We knew about their cross country team. We see them all the time. So everybody just had to come through. The kids came up big. We needed to score in the long jump at the end and we did. We ended up winning by six points,” said Capezzone. “They came together as a team and they worked hard. They went through a lot of stuff. To come together at a meet like this, it’s great.”
Old Saybrook’s relay teams performed exceptionally at the Shoreline Championship as the boys’ 4x200, 4x400, and 4x800 relays took home gold, as did the girls’ 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams. In individual events, Eric Sultini, Ryan Dubord, Jalen Johnson, Annea Thaci, Tyra Finkeldey, Grace Hanratty, and Rachel Vigorita all achieved first-place finishes for the Rams, with Johnson and Thaci each winning a pair of events. Any athlete who finished first at the meet made the All-Shoreline Conference First Team, and the athletes who placed second earned All-Conference Second Team honors.
Sultini was part of the victorious 4x400 and 4x800 relays, and he also captured first in the 600-meter run with a time of 1:27.49. Sultini was taken a little out of his comfort zone by running some different events than usual, but he knew that the Rams had the right strategy to amass the most points.
“It was a really close one this year. We were seeded second in the 4x800 against H-K, and it was big for us to get that win. I normally don’t run the 4x800, so that was a change for me...We went 1-2-3 in the 600, which was big for points, because we knew that H-K was stacking up in the 1,000; 1,600; and 3,200,” said Sultini, senior. “Our 4x400 pulled through in the end. That was big...We were missing one of our strong members, Jalen Johnson, because he was running in the 300. He won that and the 55, so he scooped up some points there. It’s all tactical and all strategic.”
The Rams’ boys collected points in several individual events. In the 600-meter run, Old Saybrook took the top three spots with Sultini (1st, 1:27.49), Luke Hanratty (2nd, 1:29.53), and Xavier Rios (3rd, 1:30.45).
Johnson earned points by winning both the 55 (6.70) and the 300 (37.47). Also competing in the 55 was Chacon (5th, 7.02).
Ryan Dubord (2nd, 19-2.75) and Jon Barnes (3rd, 18-11) solidified the win for the Rams with their performance in the long jump in the final event of the meet. Dubord also won the high jump (5-10) and placed fourth in the 55 hurdles (8.78), while Barnes picked up points in the high jump with a third-place finish (5-6). In shot put, Max Chupak threw 39-4.25 for second, and Dan Almada was third at 39-2. Shon Ryan scored points in both the 3,200 (4th,10:22.84) and the 1,000 (6th, 2:52.48) for Old Saybrook.
For the relays, the teams of Johnson, Carlos Chacon, Max Thomas, and Devon Moshier in the 4x200 (1st, 1:37.52); Hanratty, Cooper Luciani, Sultini, and Rios in the 4x800 (1st, 8:30.37); and Hanratty, Rios, Luciani, and Sultini in the 4x400 (1st, 3:40.98) all claimed gold for Old Saybrook. The 1,600 sprint medley relay team of Max Thomas, Dan Almada, Luciani, and Lance Sigersmith placed fourth with a time of 4:01.24.
For the girls’ team, Thaci took first place in both the 55 hurdles (9.10) and the long jump (16-3.5) to go with a third-place finish in the high jump (4-8). Thaci believes that the Rams’ success stems from everyone’s team-first mentality in a sport that features so many individual events.
“I think we see where our weaknesses are, and we focus on fixing those and strengthening ourselves,” said Thaci. “We have very strong runners, and we try to fill in our gaps as much as we can. So we just try to work together and push each other...We really work hard as a team, not just as individuals. I think that’s what pushes us over the edge.”
Old Saybrook’s teamwork was evident in the success of its relay teams that featured Tehra Givehand, Emily Stratton, Grace Hanratty, and Jessica Stratton in the 4x800 (1st, 10:07.38); the 4x400 of Hanratty, Jessica Stratton, Allison Cody, and Dylan Adams (1st, 4:50.64); the quartet of Cody, Coppes, Dylan Adams, and Finkeldey in the 4x200 (3rd, 1:53.03); and the 1,600 sprint medley relay of Donahue, Cameron Adams, Dylan Adams, and Emily Stratton (3rd, 4:48.67).
For other individual events, Hanratty placed first in the 600 (1:41.82) for the Rams. Tyra Finkeldey finished first in the pole vault by clearing 10-6, and Cate Coppes was sixth at 7-6. In the high jump, Rachel Vigorita took at first with a height of 5-2, and Coppes tied for sixth (4-4). Isabella Donahue was second in the hurdles at 9.43 seconds. In the 1,000, Jessica Stratton finished second with a 3:08.70. Cody finished second in the 300 at 44.04.
In the shot put, Alyssa Layte (2nd, 30-5) and Elizabeth Mariol (6th, 28-3) picked up points for Old Saybrook. The Rams also received points in the 3,200 from Ally Castro (4th, 12:31.12) and Givehand (6th, 12:41.69), as well as Julia Sultini in the 1,600 (6th, 5:51.51).
Coach Capezzone said that both teams are now setting their sights on this week’s Class S State Championship. Capezzone knows the competition will be fierce, but he feels confident that both squads are ready for the challenge.
“We’re just looking to do the best we can do next week. We’ve got our work cut out for us,” said Capezzone. “Bloomfield’s tough. Immaculate’s tough on both ends, boys and girls. Girswold will score some points, and H-K will score some points in the distance. We’ll see. We’ll just put our best foot forward.”