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01/29/2016 11:00 PMBranford’s indoor track program competed at the SCC West Sectional Championship on Jan. 26—a day highlighted by two athletes on the girls’ team recording the first individual postseason victories of their careers.
Seniors Claira Janover and Etta Hanlon were the Hornets who made their way to the winner’s circle at Floyd Little Athletic Center. Last year at the West Sectional, they ran on the triumphant 1,600 sprint medley relay. This time around, Janover and Hanlon broke new ground by taking top honors in the 55-meter hurdles and long jump, respectively, while helping Branford place third as a team.
Janover notched the fastest time in the preliminaries of the 55 hurdles by running 9.18 seconds and then came back with a 9.17 in the finals to edge Mercy’s Ava Coleman (9.19). Meanwhile, Hanlon eclipsed 16 feet in five of her six long jump attempts and posted a personal-record (PR) of 16 feet-5 inches for her last leap to get past North Haven’s Erica Marriott (16-3). Janover also claimed fourth in the high jump at 4-10 and Hanlon reached 7-6 in the pole vault to finish fourth and qualify for states.
“Claira had a remarkable meet. She really hadn’t run the hurdles until a few weeks ago because she had a problem with her foot and was a little cautious about it, but she went all out at this meet. She’s at her best right now and I’m so excited for her. She was smooth, quick, and it’s great she got to do that,” Coach Connell said. “Etta wanted to get in the mid 16s and she did, which was also exciting. It’s one of those things with the long jump that everything has to hit just right and be in sync and she had it going that day. It was the best long jump series she’s ever had and that’s what you want to see—a senior come up big when they have to. She looked great and responded to the challenge. They both did.”
On the boys’ side, Branford placed eighth and was led by its 1,600 sprint medley relay (SMR) of seniors Luke DiStasio, Zach Ellison, and Emmon Duffy, plus freshman Marzio Mastroianni, who crossed the finish line in 3:57.32 as runner-up to Notre Dame-West Haven. Ellison also had the Hornets’ best individual showing by taking third in the long jump with a PR of 19-7.5. Head Coach Rich Biondi said the SMR has designs on breaking the school record of 3:49, while Ellison is aiming to hit 20 feet in the long jump.
“Notre Dame ran the first heat of the SMR and we were in the second heat and our kids would have ran a better time if they had the opportunity to run with Notre Dame. We won our heat by so much, but didn’t have the chance to be pushed by Notre Dame. The SMR’s goal is to break the school record and, hopefully, they can do that at SCCs or states,” said Biondi. “Zach works hard and has high expectations for himself, so even though he finished third, he wasn’t really happy. Zach’s driven, wants to do well, expects to get better week by week, and has done a very good job.”
Getting back to the girls’ meet, Coach Connell pointed out some other stellar showings that aided his team’s third-place finish, including one that was accompanied by a new school record. Senior Issy Bysiewicz carved out that piece of Hornets’ history by notching a time of 1:44.05 in the 600-meter run to grab third place and break Maggie Fitter’s mark of 1:44.50. She was also sixth in the 55 hurdles (10.67).
“One of the great efforts was Issy Bysiewicz in the 600. She had a heck of a race and a chance to win the race,” said Connell. “Issy took on a lot of duties that day. She wanted to do the hurdles and I told her that the finals were right after the 600, but she felt she could do it, and she also ran the 800 leg of the SMR. Cyrene [Nicholas] was stuck in South Carolina with the snowstorm and didn’t get back to Branford until that morning. She was running on empty, so Issy stepped up to run the 800 leg, which is not the part of the relay she signed on for, and I give her a world of credit.”
Connell also noted junior Keira Integlia’s throw of 29-5 in the shot put, which was 1.5 feet longer than her previous best and put her in fifth place; in addition to senior Anneliese Troidle, who took fifth in the 1,000 by running 3:21.73, which was nearly six seconds faster than her seed time and close to a PR.
“Keira came to us as a basketball kid who decided to do track and wanted to get better in the throwing events. She’s doing everything we ask and it’s paid off. She’s on the verge of 30 feet and that’s an exciting threshold to get over,” Connell said. “Anneliese ran a very smart race in the 1,000 and I was happy for her because her seed time was 3:27. She really stepped up and I was very excited about how she performed.”
Additionally for Branford, junior Courtney Cosgrove raced to a pair of top-six performances by taking fifth in the 1,600 (5:54.95) and sixth in the 3,200 at 12:59.79. Nicholas placed fourth in the 3,200 behind a time of 12:36.08. The Hornets were also well represented in the pole vault as Hanlon’s fourth-place finish was complemented by a third-place showing from Taylor Brown (7-6), a fourth-place effort by fellow sophomore Bridget Wirtz (7-6), plus a sixth-place performance by another sophomore in Leah Pendl-Robinson (7-0). Branford’s 4x200 relay of freshman Liante Claude, Brown, Wirtz, and Hanlon took fifth place (1:55.63), while the SMR of Claude, Janover, Bysiewicz, and Nicholas found sixth (4:51.14).
One other athlete who Coach Biondi pointed out for the boys’ squad is Seraphin Tala, a first-year senior who reached 5-6 in the high jump to claim fourth. Biondi said Tala is one of several athletes who exemplifies what his program is all about as even though the Hornets may be a little short on numbers right now, they certainly aren’t short on effort or progression.
“Seraphin is new to the sport and has done very well in relays and, particularly, the high jump. He’s qualified for states and been a pleasant surprise,” said Biondi. “Seraphin is a hard worker and a great kid and that’s the thing—these kids are all great kids who work really hard and it’s been a lot of fun from a coach’s perspective because you have a core group of kids that work hard and are getting better. We’re just not deep enough to place high at these meets.”
Also placing in the top six for the Hornets’ boys were junior Harrison Smith in the pole vault (6th, 9-6); the 4x200 relay of DiStasio, sophomore Jael Greene, Ellison, and Duffy (4th, 1:41.05); as well as the 4x400 relay of seniors Marshall Borrus, Dan Lau, Joe Borst, and Tala (6th, 4:02.61).
From the Sidelines
The senior captains for the Branford boys are Zach Ellison, Marshall Borrus, Eamon Duffy, and Joe Borst. Borrus qualified for states in the 600 at the sectional meet by running a personal-record time of 1:33.79 to take eighth. He had previously won the 1,000 at the SCC Novice Meet in 2:59.81.
The girls’ senior captains are Etta Hanlon, Issy Bysiewicz, Claira Janover, Cyrene Nicholas, and Anneliese Troidle.
The assistant coaches for both teams are Scott Jenkin and volunteer John Case.