TRACK AND FIELD: Holy Cross boys wind up tied with Naugatuck

Marckens Auguste, right, may have lost to Naugatuck’s Aren Seeger
in the 110 high hurdles, but the Holy Cross senior won 300 hurdles
and triple jump at Tuesday’s meet. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69)

The Holy Cross boys track and field team entered Tuesday’s meet against Naugatuck and WCA at Naugatuck High School without a loss.
The Crusaders left the track without a loss, but they didn’t get a win either. Holy Cross and Naugatuck battled to a 75-75 tie. Both teams defeated WCA, and that left the Crusaders at 9-0-1 and the Greyhounds at 8-1-1.
Naugatuck won two of the three relays (4×800 and 4×400), which earned it valuable points. Holy Cross took the 4×100 with Marckens Auguste, DeAndre Wallace, Shawn Austin and Marckenslee Auguste running a time of 43.1 seconds.
Marckens Auguste won the 300 hurdles in 40.7 and the triple jump at 44 feet, one inch. Wallace took wins in the 100 (10.8) and 200 meters (22.5), and Chris Christiano was first in the 800 (2:14.6) and 1600 (4:52). Jack Paulin made it a sweep of distance events with a first in the 3200 (11:08).
Naugatuck won four of the seven field events, though Kyle Moser did take the top spot in the shot put (41-2).
The matchup between the Crusaders and Greyhounds had plenty of excitement, along with a bunch of sunshine and a temperature around 80 degrees.
WCA got individual wins from Langstun Racine in the 400 (53.4) and James Richardson in the high jump (5-8). The Spartans fell to 3-7 on the season.

Holy Cross’ Meah Austin, right, swept the 100 and 300-meter hurdle events
at Tuesday’s meet. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69)

GIRLS
There were three close final scores in these matchups, with Naugatuck claiming a 78-72 win over Holy Cross and an 82-68 victory over WCA. The Spartans outlasted the Crusaders 78-72. Naugatuck improved to 5-5 with the wins. WCA’s 1-1 day made it 4-6 while Holy Cross dropped to 4-6-1.
Naugatuck again won the 4×800 and 4×400 relays. WCA took the 4×100 in 52.1 behind the team of Valerie Lopes, Kiana Artis, Jayda Benjamin and Raianna Grant. Individually, Grant finished first in the 100 (12.6) and 200 (26.8). The Spartans also picked up first place finishes from Salma Gudaf in the 3200 (14:22), Lopes in the high jump (4-8) and Latavia Parker in the triple jump (26-2).
Holy Cross’ Sage Parker was a three-time winner, taking top honors in the javelin (94-7), shot put (26-2) and discus (65-9). Meah Austin swept hurdles, running 16.7 in the 100 and 50.3 in the 300. The Crusaders also got individual wins from Jasmine Thorpe in the 1600 (6:10), Raquel Rosa in the 400 (64.0), Devon Eason in the long jump (14-4.5) and Tara Garden in the pole vault (7-0).

GALLERY: Click here to see my photos from the meet.