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06/13/2019 12:00 AMAidan Kropiwnicki made history with the Branford boys’ track program throughout the course of his four-year career. Aidan competed in a wide variety of events for the Hornets and contributed to a slew of school records along the way.
During the indoor season, Aidan set school records in the 300-meter dash, the 400-meter dash, and as part of the 1,600 sprint medley relay. With the outdoor team, he ran on a school-record 4x400 relay, as well as a 4x800 relay that set a school record. Aidan also finished in fifth place at the CIAC Decathlon last spring.
As a senior this year, Aidan helped the Hornets win their first division title since 2015 and then went on to take first place in the 300 intermediate hurdles at the SCC West Sectional Championship. Aidan felt ecstatic about the victory, but he was just as happy that he ran his personal-best time of 41.28 seconds in the event. Aidan makes it a point to try to improve at every opportunity.
“Winning the 300 hurdles, I was obviously excited. The thing that excited me the most was that it was my personal record [PR],” Aidan says. “There are varying levels in competition. Winning a dual-meet doesn’t have the same impact as winning a championship meet, but getting a personal record is consistent across meets. Getting a PR at a dual-meet is just as good as a state meet.”
Aidan’s technique in the hurdles involves staying on the ground for as much of the race as possible. The more he’s airborne, the less he’s able to drive himself forward and shave off seconds from his time.
“The goal is to get as close to the hurdle as possible and maintain an even pace in between the hurdles,” says Aidan. “You have to line up the step and stay low to the hurdle, getting up and down as fast as possible.”
Aidan also played defense on Branford’s boys’ soccer squad that made it to the state quarterfinals last fall. Originally, Aidan ran track as a way to train for his other sports. In his first year, he didn’t even compete in any of his eventual record-setting events. Aidan’s first event, the pole vault, is still one of his favorites, although he eventually expanded his horizons.
“Freshman year, I was just a pole vaulter. I was afraid of heights, and I wanted to conquer that. That’s the most fun event, because it’s high-flying,” Aidan says. “I only started doing track to stay in shape for soccer and lacrosse. This year, I picked up the 300 hurdles, and it’s a nice blend of stamina and technique.”
Pole vaulting was on the backburner for Aidan for most of the regular season this spring. However, he took advantage of his chances to do the event once the postseason rolled around.
“Earlier in the season, I didn’t get a lot of chances to compete in the pole vault. Once we got to the championship part of the season, I started to compete more,” says Aidan. “I tied my personal record of 12 feet at SCCs. At the Class M Championship meet, I got 12 feet-6 inches. I’m hoping to get 13 at the decathlon.”
While his individual records mean a lot to him, Aidan feels that the school records he and his teammates earned in the relays are even more special.
“It’s a little bit of a different getting an individual record versus a team record. It feels good to do it on your own, but the team records are just as important,” Aidan says. “In some respects, that’s harder than an individual record. You need four guys to have a lot of talent; not just the one guy. We’ve had the strongest class in a while. It’s evidence of the hard work we’ve put in. It’s something I’m proud of.”
As a senior captain, Aidan took it upon himself to bring his teammates together. Aidan wanted to get everyone on the squad talking to each other and laughing with one another in order to help build camaraderie.
“I think the coach-given duties like organization are important, but I wanted to have a moral influence on the guys,” says Aidan. “I started having us all do a joke of the day and a quote of the day. It got everyone up and talking in front of the team. That brought us together a lot and built our team chemistry. We get food the day before or day after the meet. We would have days at the beach, too.”
Head Coach Rich Biondi is impressed with everything that Aidan has accomplished on the track at Branford. Biondi believes that Aidan will be looked back upon as one of the best athletes to ever suit up for the Hornets.
“Aidan can literally do all 18 events in track and field. He’s a special talent. He’s one of the best pole vaulters in the SCC. He’s one of the best javelin throwers and hurdlers,” Biondi says. “Aidan’s a great captain. He’s a tremendous leader. He really is just an amazing, talented young man. He’s going to go down in the 60-year history of the program as one of its top three or four athletes. We won our division this year and a lot of that was because of his leadership. He has a bright future.”
After graduating from Branford, Aidan will attend the University of Rochester in New York, where he’s going to major in chemistry. Aidan, who has plans to pursue a PhD after finishing his work as an undergraduate, will also compete for Rochester as a decathlete.
In addition to his athletic pursuits, Aidan is also president of Model Congress at Branford, as well as a member of the National Honor Society and the school’s a capella group, the Music Makers. Aidan says that he’s able to fit all of these things into his schedule, because he genuinely enjoys doing each one of them.
“I think the way I find the time to focus on it all is that it is a lot of fun. Very little of what I do seems like work to me,” says Aidan. “I do it because I want to. I don’t do it because my parents or someone else is pushing me to. I just want to do it all, and I find it all interesting.”