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03/25/2018 12:00 AMDespite having a total of just 30 athletes between it boys’ and girls’ teams, the East Haven indoor track program still turned in a solid season this winter. Among the most notable highlights were the four school records that were broken by the Yellowjackets during 2017-’18 campaign.
For the girls’ team, Kisha Francois stormed onto the scene and became a freshman sensation for East Haven by breaking school records in the 55-meter dash and the long jump that had stood since 2013. Francois won the 55 at the SCC West Sectional Championship with a school-record time of 7.46 seconds, besting Kelli Carfora’s school-record mark of 7.55 seconds. Along with winning at sectionals, Francois placed sixth at the SCC Championship, fourth in the Class M State Championship, and 14th at the State Open in the event.
For the long jump, Francois topped Nicole Esposito’s school-record distance of 16 feet-10.5 inches with her leap of 17 feet-4 inches in her victory at the SCC West Sectional Championship. Francois followed that up by placing second at SCCs, third in Class M, and sixth at the State Open.
Francois also qualified to compete in the long jump at the 31st annual New England Interscholastic Indoor Track and Field Championship that was held at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston, Massachusetts on March 3. As one of the youngest competitors in the meet, Francois finished in 15th place with a leap of 16 feet-7.25 inches, which was the best showing among all freshmen and the fourth-best among all athletes from Connecticut at the meet.
Additionally this winter, senior Molly Mazzucco broke the other school record for the girls’ squad by posting a height of 4 feet-11 inches in the high jump in her victory at the West Sectional Championship. Previously, Mazzucco shared the record of 4-foot-10 with 2006 graduate Alex DePalma and 2009 graduate Jordan DiNatale (2009).
Francois scored a team-high 79 points, while Mazzucco scored 40 points for the Yellowjackets this year. Head Coach Rusty Dunne said that Francois’s total marked the most points scored by a member of the girls’ indoor track team in program history.
On the boys’ side, senior Jay Donaldson was the Easties’ record-setter as he broke Jesse Gallo’s school-record mark of 6.70 seconds in the 55-meter dash from 2011. Donaldson originally broke the mark with a time of 6.62 at the SCC West Sectional Championship, where he finished in second place. Two weeks later, Donadlson set the new standard at 6.60 seconds when he took second place at the Class M State Championship. Donaldson also finished second at SCCs and sixth at the State Open in the 55 dash this year.
Donaldson led the boys’ team in scoring with 44.75 points. Senior Jordan Ingram scored 8.75 points, and freshman Radames Figueroa totaled 5.25 points for East Haven on the season.