St. Paul indoor track and field teams continue their growth

Photo credit: Mike Madden, assistant director of St. Paul athletics, via Facebook

The St. Paul indoor track and field teams have been quite busy.

Led by former Sacred Heart High standout John Ducham and assistant Luke Saharek, the Falcons competed in the prestigious 39th Yale Interscholastic Track Classic this past weekend at Coxe Cage. On Monday, St. Paul was back at it at Bethel High School in the Bethel HS 8 Team Invite. The Falcons took on some of the best the state and the Northeast have to offer at Yale over the weekend. 

At the Bethel 8 meet, St. Paul went against athletes from Bethel, Enfield, Granby Memorial, Kolbe Cathedral-Bridgeport, Sheehan-Wallingford, Southington and Woodstock Academy-Colchester. 

Sophomore Mikayla Johnson led the way for the Falcons with a third place finish in the high jump at four feet, four inches. Freshman Alexa Akier took fourth in the 1,600 in 7:44.17. Junior Jaiden Esprit placed fourth in the 55-meter hurdles in 9.21 seconds. Junior Charles Aponte was fifth in the 55 dash in 6.97, and sophomore Kyle Glagnier claimed sixth in the 600 in 1:41.79. Fellow sophomore Ella Schatz was also sixth in the 600 (2:04.61).

Six other Falcons finished in the top 10 individually, including junior Grace Rose, who did it in two different events.

“After a busy week of 2 big meets for St Paul Track & Field, I sit back and appreciate the success and growth this team has had in such a small amount of time,” Ducham wrote in a Facebook post. “These kids have really bought into mine and Luke’s vision. And their hard work was on display this weekend at Yale and Bethel. Two weeks out to NVL Championships. Go Falcons!”

St. Paul is at the SCC Coaches Invitational on Saturday at New Haven’s Floyd Little Athletic Center. The first event is scheduled for 9 a.m. The Friday after (Jan. 26) brings the NVL championship meet, also at FLAC, beginning at 5 p.m.