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05/24/2019 12:00 AMThe Old Saybrook girls' outdoor track team is sitting atop the Shoreline Conference for the fourth-consecutive year after recording another first-place finish at the Shoreline Conference Championship on May 22. The meet was held at Coginchaug High School in Durham, where Old Saybrook tallied 150.5 points to beat out second-place East Hampton by a narrow margin of 6.5 points. The Rams were bolstered by top performances in several areas, but had to mix up their standard formula a bit more this year, resulting in the closer margin for the four-peat.
Junior Grace Hanratty felt proud of the Rams' effort as they successfully held onto the conference title. Last year, Old Saybrook ran away with the meet early, but that wasn't the case this season, and that made the win that much more noteworthy.
"It's really exciting. This is my third year and, ever since I've been here, it's been a major goal for the team to win Shorelines and carry on the legacy. This year it came down pretty close toward the end," Hanratty said. "We were within a point going back and forth with East Hampton. So, it was a really special win this year I think, because we really earned it. Everyone had to give their all and all the events had to come together in the end."
Hanratty claimed first place in a handful of events. In the 800-meter run, Hanratty grabbed the gold with a time of 2:21.67. While she doesn't normally run the 400, she took first place with a school-record time of 58.66 seconds in the event. Hanratty also teamed up with freshman Anna Brodeur, freshman Mackenzie Kapp, and senior Jessica Stratton to take third in the 4x400 relay with a time of 4:19.64.
Another major contributor for the Rams was senior Rachel Vigorita. The senior snagged a gold medal in the discus with a throw of 86 feet-10 inches and also secured second place in the high jump by clearing 4 feet-10 inches. In the triple jump, Vigorita earned third place with a distance of 32-5.5.
Vigorita and many of her teammates were able to score points in a slew of events, leading to the Rams' victory.
"A lot of our athletes are diverse in what they're able to do. I'm able to throw, jump, and I was able to sprint, too. So, I was running back and forth, and it can get confusing," Vigorita said. "Especially toward the end, when everybody was looking at the points and it was so close, it was interesting to see how everybody banded together and was like, 'We can do this!' We were so proud of how far our team was coming."
Fellow senior Stratton placed first in the 1,600-meter run by turning in a time of 5:10.33. Stratton brought home the bronze in the 800 with a time of 2:23.89. Additionally, Stratton joined forces with senior Tehra Givehand, freshman Libby Stuart, and freshman Caitlin Wiley to take second in 4x800 relay with a time of 9:57.04.
Stratton marveled at the way her team came together to continue Old Saybrook's run of Shoreline Conference
dominance.
"This is my fourth year. Getting the four-peat was really special. Shorelines was here at Coginchaug my freshman year, and it's sort of full circle to be back here and win again. It's just really special to have won all four years," Stratton said. "I'd also like to give some credit to the freshmen. People really stepped up filling in for different spots."
All first-place finishers at the meet came away with All-Shoreline Conference First Team honors, and those who took second place made the Second Team. Junior Cate Coppes cleared a height of 10 feet in the pole vault to take second place. Sophomore Hannah Sumby's height of 8 feet was good for fourth place. In the 3,200, Wiley (12:26.17) and Givehand (12:28.02) finished in third and fourth place, respectively. Sophomore Priscilla Gumkowski tied for third in the high jump (4-8), while senior Julia Ludwiszewski came in sixth place (4-8). In the 100-meter high hurdles, Avery Nosal came in fourth place (17.65).
Freshman Beldina Feratovic claimed third place in the shot put with a toss of 28 feet-4.5 inches. In the javelin, Feratovic notched mark of 94-2, which was good for fourth place. Gumkowski took sixth place in the shot put at 25-10.25.
Sumby claimed fourth place in the long jump (15-7.75) and the triple jump (32-4). Junior Anna Szucs took fifth in the 300 hurdles (51.14). Brodeur came in sixth place in the 400 with a time of 1:03.62.
After Shorelines, Old Saybrook geared up for the Class S State Championship that took place on May 30 (after press time). On the heels of winning another conference title, Head Coach Peter Capezzone was eager to see how his team will take on the challenge of competing in states.
"We're getting better. We did a solid job. I think we were pretty well-rounded and our milers did a great job. We needed to come up big," said Capezzone. "We're getting ready for states, but we'll take a day off, and then come back and practice to get ready."