Printer Friendly Version - Mastroianni Defends SCC Title in the 800

Senior Marzio Mastroianni defended his conference title in the 800 by winning the event for the second year in a row at the SCC Championship on May 20. File photo by Kelley Fryer/The Sound

Senior Marzio Mastroianni took first place in the 800-meter run for the second-straight season at the Southern Connecticut Conference Championship last week. Mastroianni’s victory helped the Branford boys’ outdoor track team finish in ninth place with 27.5 points scored at Lyman Hall High School on May 20.

Mastroianni recorded a mark of 1:56.42 on his way to winning the 800 for the second year in a row at SCCs. The senior finished nearly two seconds ahead of runner-up Elliot Faulkner of Cross, who ran a time of 1:58.32. During the previous week, Mastroianni placed first in the 800 at the SCC West Sectional Championship for the second-straight year by running a time of 1:57.64.

Senior Aidan Kropiwnicki had a big meet at the SCC Championship by placing in the top eight of three events, including a pair of top-five performances. Kropiwnicki finished fifth for the 300 intermediate hurdles in 42.79 seconds, took fifth in the pole vault by clearing 11 feet-6 inches, and placed eighth in the javelin with a toss of 145-6. Kropiwnicki had previously won the 300 hurdles at sectionals with a time of 41.28.

Senior Matt Daley posted a time of 2:03.88 to finish sixth in the 800 for Branford. Senior Derek Tratnyek took seventh place in the 3,200 with a time of 10:07.63. Tratnyek had won the 3,200 at the sectional meet with a 9:56.17.

Branford’s 4x400 relay of junior Nolan Scott, Mastroianni, freshman Cheng Wu, and Daley finished in seventh place (3:33.40) at SCCs. The 4x800 relay of junior Andrew Betzig, Scott, freshman Wyatt Reynolds, and Wu also came in seventh place with a time of 8:31.07.

In the discus, senior GianCarlo Giannini took 11th place (108-4), sophomore Amari Phillips came in 17th place (102-11), and senior Hunter Giordano finished in 23rd (91-6). Brandon Perez finished 12th in the high jump (5-8) for the Hornets. Juniors Andrew Wirtz and Sean Jansen both cleared 10 feet in the pole vault and came in 12th and 14th place, respectively. Sophomore Mekhi Barnette reached a distance of 37-3 to place 13th in the triple jump. Sophomore David Tedeschi was 13th in the javelin with a throw of 131-5.

Sophomore Kam Holmes finished 16th in the 100-meter dash (12.29), while sophomore Ryan Hanniford placed 18th in the preliminaries of the 110 high hurdles (18.81). Giordano finished 19th in the shot put (36-10), and Perez came in 25th place in the long jump (15-1) for Head Coach Rich Biondi’s squad.

Freshman Cheng Wu ran on a pair of relays that placed in the top eight for the Hornets at the SCC Championship meet. File photo by Kelley Fryer/The Sound

Senior Brandon Perez finished 12th in the high jump and took 25th in the long jump when the Branford boys’ outdoor track team competed at the SCC Championship at Lyman Hall. File photo by Kelley Fryer/The Sound