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01/26/2019 11:00 PMMarzio Mastroianni won the 1,000-meter run, while fellow senior Matt Alexander claimed first place in the long jump for the Branford boys’ indoor track at the Southern Connecticut Conference West Sectional Championship on Jan. 23. The Hornets scored 69 points as a team and finished in fourth place at the sectional meet, which was held at Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven.
Mastroianni ran a time of 2:38.05 to beat out Mahammed Hussain of Wilbur Cross (2:39.08) for first place in the 1,000. In the long jump, Alexander took first place by reaching a distance of 20 feet-1.25 inches, finishing ahead of runner-up Christopher Wallace from Hamden, whose best distance was 19-9.75.
Branford also saw three athletes finish in second place at sectionals. Senior Aidan Kropiwnicki placed second in the pole vault (11-6), senior Matt Daley took second in the 600 (1:27.74), and fellow senior Brandon Perez finished second in the high jump with a height of 5-10. Alexander placed fourth in the high jump (5-6), Mastroianni finished fifth (4:34.03) in the 1,600 with senior Derek Tratnyek in ninth (4:59.49), and Perez took ninth in the long jump (18-2). Kropiwnicki finished sixth (38.81) in the 300-meter dash and was 10th in the 600 (1:34.62) for the Hornets.
In the pole vault, junior Sean Jansen finished fourth (10-6) and was followed by senior Justin Dombrowski (7th, 10-0) and junior Andrew Wirtz (8th, 9-6). Sophomore Ryan Hanniford ran a time of 9.74 seconds in the preliminaries of the 55 hurdles to finish in ninth place.
In relays, Branford’s 4x800 of junior Andrew Betzig, senior Nolan Scott, Tratnyek, and freshman Cheng Wu finished in third (8:45.90); the 1,600 sprint medley of Wu, senior Carlos McCaay, Scott, and Daley came in fourth (3:50.13); the 4x200 featuring Alexander, Perez, Wirtz, and McCaay found fifth (1:42.63); and the 4x400 of Scott, Daley, Wu, and Mastroianni also finished fifth with a time of 3:36.94.
“From the first day of the season, the kids have focused on this meet. The team goal was to score between 80 and 90 points. In that regard, we fell a little short. The important thing is that the kids came together and competed hard,” Head Coach Rich Biondi said. “I really like this group of athletes. They have been a pleasure to coach. I am really happy for Matt Alexander. To win a jumping event against this competitive field is saying a great deal about the ability of Matt.”