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02/02/2020 11:00 PMThe Hand boys’ indoor track squad put forth a dominating performance on its way to taking first place at the Southern Connecticut Conference West Sectional Championship for the first time in team history last week. Led by three individual victories, two wins from their relays, and a number of other superb showings, the Tigers scored 104 points to earn top honors at the sectional meet at Floyd Little Athletic Center on Jan. 29. Shelton came in second place by finishing with a score of 85 points.
Head Coach Tim Geary said that he was proud of his athletes for making Hand history by capturing the sectional crown. Geary has been head coach of the boys’ indoor track team since 1985.
“They’re excited, because they hadn’t won it before. It’s validation of all their hard work leading up to the season and in the early part of the season,” said Geary, who also coaches the boys’ outdoor track and cross country teams. “It was more of a relief for me as a coach that in the first part of the championship season, we accomplished what we hoped to do. I’m extremely proud of the leadership and the heart and the guts they showed.”
Hand claimed first place in five events on its way to taking the sectional title. Junior Bryce Myers earned first in the pole vault after winning a jump-off in the event. Myers and Brett Dumais of Foran both cleared a height of 12 feet-6 inches, thus requiring a jump-off to break the tie. Myers and Dumais each cleared 12-6 in the jump-off, but Myers got the nod for first place by reaching that height in fewer attempts.
Junior Connor Parthasarthy finished first in the 1,000-meter run for the Tigers. Parthasarthy ran a time of 2:47.22 place ahead Michael Loschiavo from Law (2:48.13) by less than a second. Junior Dante Zucconi won the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:42.97, beating out McKendry Eschinger of Guilford (4:46.34) for first place.
Hand also took first place in a pair of relays at sectionals. The Tigers’ 4x400 relay of senior Besufekad Opstrup, senior Corey Duncanson, Parthasarthy, and junior Carson Hines recorded a time of 3:34 to defeat the team from Hillhouse (3:35.18). Running the anchor leg, Hines came back from 35 meters behind catch to Hillhouse’s runner and win the event for Hand.
The 1,600 sprint medley relay featuring junior Daven Pelaez, junior Braeden Kosiewicz, Hines, and Parthasarthy finished first with a mark of 3:48.57, placing ahead of Shelton (3:57.43) for the top spot.
Hand also earned runner-up honors in several events at sectionals. Zucconi finished second in the 3,200-meter run by posting a time of 10:07.55. Junior Josh Stewart took second in the preliminaries of the 55-meter dash at 6.68 seconds and then improved his time to 6.51 seconds to take place second in the finals. Stewart also broke the school record with this performance. Duncanson was second in the 55-meter hurdles prelims with an 8.41 and finished second for the finals by clocking in a faster time of 8.34.
Duncanson serves as one of Hand’s senior captains alongside Daniel Kim and Ameen Parks. The trio leads a big squad that features 66 athletes on its roster. Coach Geary said there is great leadership throughout his squad that stems straight from the top.
“They’re a large part of why our team is doing well with their leadership,” Geary said of his captains. “They got guys working early before the season started, so we could have an overall successful year.”
Senior Dan Zsebik finished third in shot put by launching a throw of 42 feet-5.25 inches, while fellow senior Jon Mader cleared 11 feet for third place in the pole vault for the Tigers at sectionals. Opstrup finished third in the 600-meter run with a time of 1:27.79. Stewart came in third place for the 300-meter dash at 36.83.
Hand’s 4x200 relay of Stewart, Pelaez, Kosiewicz, and Hines took third place by recording a time of 1:34.86. The 4x800 relay of juniors Evan Blomberg, Tyler Haims, Josh Delahunt, and Mike Kelly finished sixth at 9:20.82.
Ameen Parks finished sixth (37.64) in the 300 with sophomore Jared Martin taking 10th (38.95). Kim finished sixth for the prelims of the 55 hurdles with a time of 9.11 and then took sixth in the finals at 9.25. Junior Robert Paterson reached a distance of 18-10.25 to place sixth for the long jump.
Senior Lukas Kraemer finished seventh in the high jump by clearing 5-6. Senior Isaac Lerner finished eighth in the 600 (1:34.05), freshman Nick Montano was ninth for the 1,000 (2:55.51), sophomore Jack O’Keefe took ninth in the 1,600 (5:01.73), and sophomore Sam Stiewing came in 10th place in the 3,200 with a time of 10:39.68.
Coach Geary said that Hand’s depth was crucial when it came to finishing first at the West Sectional meet. The Tigers had several entrants in multiple events who scored points that added up pretty quickly.
“There’s strength in numbers. It works on down. These guys don’t take it for granted. They see that they are talented, they work hard, and it just goes right down all the way to the freshmen,” Geary said. “They see the way [the upperclassmen] approach practices and meets and learn from it, and that is why we qualified 31 guys for SCCs and have over 20 guys qualified for the State Championship, including all four relays. Depth is very important.”
Hand will compete at the SCC Championship at the Floyd Little Athletic Center at 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 7. The Class L State Championship is at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 15, also at Floyd Little Athletic Center.
“If we do what we did [at sectionals], we have a good shot at winning [SCCs],” said Geary. “The kids are really pumped and looking forward to the next two championships.”
Hand has broken three school records so far this season. In addition to Stewart’s school record in the 55 at sectionals, the Tigers set a pair of school records in relays earlier in the campaign. Hand’s 4x200 relay of Stewart, Pelaez, Kosiewicz, and Hines ran a school-record time of 1:34.16 while taking first place at the Jack Long Invitational. The Tigers’ 4x400 relay of Opstrup, Parthasarthy, Parks, and Hines broke the school record with a time of 3:27.05 in a first-place finish at the Yale Invitational. The quartet also qualified for the New Balance Nationals that will take place in New York City on Friday, March 13.