The Guilford indoor track program began its postseason journey by competing at the Southern Connecticut Conference East Sectional Championship at Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven on Jan. 22. The girls’ team posted a fifth-place finish by scoring 41 points at the meet, while the boys’ squad finished in ninth place with 12 points scored.

Senior co-captain Meredith Bloss took first place in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:33.14 for Guilford, beating out runner-up Alex Kenealy of Shelton (5:37.52). Bloss later ran a time of 12:00.87 in the 3,200 to finish ahead of Hand’s Anna Steffen (12:22.52) for first place.

Junior co-captain Sofia Migani also earned a first-place finish for the Indians. Migani won the high jump with a height of 5-feet-3 inches, defeating Kyra Connolly of Sheehan (4-10) for the top spot.

The top finish for the Guilford boys’ team came in the 3,200, where senior Elijah Dillon took third place with a time of 10:27.65.

Bloss said that Guilford’s focus at sectionals was getting as many people from the team as possible to qualify for this week’s SCC Championship.

“With the weather being so spotty the previous week, we adapted, and did what we could on any given day,” Bloss said. “Our team is pretty small this year, but packs a strong underclassmen punch.”

Along with her two victories, Bloss finished fourth in the 1,000 by posting a time of 3:16.87. Sophomore Gianna Siciliano came in seventh place (3:21.27) for the event, while senior Kelsi Putnam placed ninth (3:26.24). Siciliano also finished fourth (5:40.08) in the 1,600. Junior Clara Wiesler finished in sixth (5:44.83), and freshman Julia Antony took seventh (5:46.85). In the 3,200, Siciliano finished ninth (12:50.28), and Wiesler was 10th with a time of 12:57.69.

In the 300-meter dash, Migani finished fifth with a time of 46.02 seconds, while Putnam took 13th place at 47.83. Migani also finished seventh for the long jump with a leap of 14-10.25.

On the boys’ side, junior co-captain Ben Crair earned fifth place for the 1,600 with a mark of 4:52.15. Junior Jacob Shiffrin finished 10th in the 1,600 (4:56.03), before placing sixth for the 3,200 (10:45.92). Freshman Jaylen Dolmus took 10th place in the 300 with a time of 40.42 for the Indians.

“I think that the team understands the importance of these championship races towards the end of the season, and that was reflected in their performance today,” Crair said. “A number of the guys stepped up to run their best races so far this season.”

Senior Mark Salib came in sixth place for the pole vault with a height of 10 feet. In the shot put, senior James Petritz took fifth place (41-10.25), and senior co-captain Connor Rose finished 10th (38-11.25) at the West Sectional meet.

As Guilford gets ready for the next stage of the postseason, Bloss said that quality is far exceeding quantity for the tight-knit Indians this winter.

“We are all excited to advance in multiple events,” said Bloss. “Even though we are a small team, we have a tight cluster.”

From the Sidelines

Jim Ford is the head coach for Guilford’ boys’ and girls’ indoor track teams. Ford also coaches the girls’ cross country team during the fall season. Stephanie Phillips and Jon Rivera are the assistant coaches this winter. Rivera is the head coach of Guilford’s boys’ cross country and girls’ outdoor track squads.

Hillhouse scored 148 points to finish in first place in the girls’ competition at the SCC East Sectional Championship. The rest of the team standings are as follows: 2. Sheehan (84 points), 3. Shelton (53), 4. Cheshire (50), 5. Guilford (41), 6. Amity (32), 7. Hand (27), 8. Lyman Hall (15), 9. Law (9), and 10. Foran (6).

In the boys’ meet, Hillhouse claimed first place by totaling 104 points at sectionals. Here are the rest of the standings: 2. Hand (88), 3. Amity (77), 4. Shelton (66.5), 5. Lyman Hall (36), 6. Cheshire (31), 7. Sheehan (23), 8. Foran (17), 9. Guilford (12), and 10. Law (10.5).

The SCC Indoor Track Championship will be held at 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 1. The Class L State Championship is at 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 8. The State Open Championship is taking place at noon on Saturday, Feb. 16. All three meets are at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven.