The Wilby boys indoor track and field team authored the best finish of any local contingent at Monday’s NVL championship meet in New Haven.
The Wildcats took fourth place overall with 43 points, one point ahead of fifth place Kennedy, which had 42. Naugatuck won the boys championship with 79 points, nine ahead of second place Derby, which had 70. Crosby was eighth with 27 points, followed by Wolcott in 10th with 21, Holy Cross in 12th with 13 and Sacred Heart in 13th with nine.
Wolcott junior Nicholas Bendtsen had the best individual night of local competitors, taking first place in the 1,600 meters (4:27.82) and 3,200 meters (9:44.82).
Here’s what happened with each local team that had at least one sixth-place finish:
Wilby collected two individual championships and one relay title. Junior Messiah Harling took first in the 55-meter dash in 6.67 seconds while senior Chris Perez claimed the top spot in the high jump at six feet, two inches. Harling was the runner-up in the long jump at 21-4. The Wildcats won the 4×800-meter relay in 9:24.58 behind the team of junior Mohammad Abdul-Razak, junior Lian Sanchez, senior Jason Basant and junior Almin Cecunjanin. The 1,600-meter sprint medley was fourth in 4:09.64 behind the team of senior Isaac Smith, Harling, Abdul-Razak and Sanchez.
For Kennedy, junior Taj Thomas won the 300-meter dash in 36.57 seconds and had a fourth place finish in the 55-meter dash (6.88). Senior Alex Brites finished second in both the 1,600 (4:45.84) and 3,200-meter (10:18.83) runs, and he was third in the 1,000-meter run (2:45.12). Senior Christopher Byrd was fourth in the shot put at 39-7 and sophomore Reis Muccino was sixth at 37-10.50. The Eagles took sixth in the 4×200-meter relay in 1:42.29 behind the team of Muccino, sophomore Brendon Dodd, junior Justin Mattaboni and senior Luis Rivera.
For Crosby, senior Ethan DiPietro won the 55-meter hurdles in 8.25 seconds, and he took fifth in the high jump at 5-8. In the 300-meter dash, sophomore Taji Blizzard was fourth in 38.79 seconds while fellow sophomore Jeffrey Burke was sixth in 40.18. The Bulldogs took second in the 4×200-meter relay in 1:39.47 behind the team of sophomore Lazarus Agba, senior Brandon Pittman, Blizzard and Burke. The 4×400-meter relay claimed fifth in 4:09.05 behind the team of Agba, senior Jose-Leon Figueroa, Burke and senior Diego Cabrera.
The Wolcott 4×800-meter relay was sixth in 11:02.27 behind the team of senior Ryan Chasse, junior Mitch Rocca, junior Kyan Konareski and sophomore Liam Reilly.
Holy Cross senior Chris Christiano placed second in the 1,000-meter run in 2:43.14. The 4×800-meter relay finished fourth in 10:21.90 behind the team of senior Matthew Pang, senior Justin Miller, junior Matthew Minutillo and sophomore Garrett Girgasky. The 1,600-meter sprint medley was sixth in 4:23.14 behind the team of junior Sean Cremins, sophomore Mason Artman, senior Michael Famiglietti and Pang.
Sacred Heart senior Fujie Lan was fourth in the 3,200 meters (10:57.27) and sixth in the 1,600 meters (5:05.34). The 4×400-meter relay took fourth place in 3:56.41 behind the team of junior Aidan Knappe, senior Nicholas Salerno, junior James Bona and junior Jesse Xhuti.
