East Haven indoor track competed at the Southern Connecticut Conference Western Sectional Championship on Jan. 24 and saw senior Kelli Carfora take second place in the 55-meter dash with first-year junior Destiny Coward claiming second in the shot put to lead the girls' team at Floyd Little Athletic Center.

Carfora's time of 7.62 seconds put her just behind victorious Chaslynn Sauicer of Cross, who ran 7.44. Fellow Yellowjackets' senior Danielle Stevens was right behind in fourth place with a mark of 7.71 for Rusty Dunne's squad. Carfora and Stevens also both ran on a pair of relays that placed in the top five.

Meanwhile, Coward, who's already the school record-holder in the shot put, threw 31 feet-7¾ inches at Sectionals to finish as the runner-up behind North Haven's Kristina Klemenz (34-8¾). As a team, East Haven finished seventh out of nine competing clubs with 27 points. Branford won the meet by scoring 107 points, ahead of runner-up Mercy's 85.

"Kelli and Danielle are two of the top sprinters in the SCC and will be in the mix at the state meet as both have improved their times greatly as the season has progressed. Kelli set a school record in the 55 last year at 7.61 and came close to breaking it at the Sectional meet. Danielle recently ran her best time of 7.65 at the Haddam-Killingworth Invitational and is doing a great job, as well. The two of them are also our strongest legs on the 4x2 and sprint medley relays," said Coach Dunne. "Destiny has also really come on in her first season, breaking the school record in the shot put a few weeks ago and then re-breaking it at the HK meet. The sky is the limit for Destiny. She's become one of the best throwers in the area and our shot put coach Jeff Cretella does a great job in working with her."

As far as the aforementioned relays go, Stevens led off the 4x200 with Carfora doing the anchor leg and Rachael Massey and Rebekah Vineyard running in between to aid a fifth-place showing with a time of 1:54.65. In the SMR, which took fourth at 4:48.76, Carfora and Stevens did the first two legs and were followed by Massey and Taylor Maffeo. Coach Dunne additionally credited Maffeo for running 1:55.30 to take seventh in the 600, an event in which she's on the cusp of making states.

Also scoring points for the Yellowjackets' girls' by virtue of placing in the top six was Vineyard, who claimed sixth in the long jump with a season-best distance of 14-9¼. Dunne was also pleased with the showings of Alexis Hernandez, who ran to 12th in the 1,000 at 3:36.48; plus junior Brittany Rowe, who was 19th in the 300 at 48.83 and is close to making states. Vineyard additionally ran 10.41 in the 55 hurdle preliminaries, a mark that gained her a state berth.

Meanwhile, on the boys' side, Marc Cacioppo led the Yellowjackets by placing fifth in the pole vault with a height of 9 feet while fellow senior Ed Gaites took sixth in the high jump at 5 feet. Gaites also made states by running 10.10 in the 55 hurdles prelims. East Haven finished 10th out of 10 teams with 2.5 total points. Xavier won the meet with 119 points, besting two-time defending champion Branford's mark of 90.

"Mark is a diligent kid who works hard and gets the most out of his ability. He's made himself a point scorer in the hurdles and pole vault and is a good team member and a good kid," said Dunne. "Ed has good athletic ability and can do a lot of good things when he's focused."

Dunne also noted some other showings as positives for his squad, including Brady Reynolds, who took 10th in the 600 at 1:32.26; senior Ryan DePalma, who was 17th in the long jump (17-0½); junior Chris Maio, who ran the preliminaries in the 55 dash and 55 hurdles; and freshman Garrett Pates, who posted a split of 60.35 in the 400 leg of the 1,600 sprint medley relay that made states by finishing seventh at 4:15.26 and also featured DePalma (200 leg), freshman Mike Griffith (200), and Reynolds (800).