Marriott Wins the Long Jump for North Haven at States, Farley Takes 2nd in 55 Hurdles
Senior Erica Marriott added to her lengthy list of postseason victories by taking first place in the long jump for the North Haven girls’ indoor track team at the Class L State Championship last week. Fellow senior Robert Farley finished second in the 55-meter hurdles to lead the Indians’ boys’ indoor track team in its State Championship meet. The boys scored 14 points and finished in 13th place in the Class L standings. The girls’ team finished in 16th place by scoring 10 points at Floyd Little Athletic Center on Feb. 8.
Marriott recorded a leap of 16 feet-4 inches to win the long jump and score all 10 points for the North Haven girls at the state meet. Marriott’s winning distance was four inches better than that of Abigail Williams from Bunnell, who took second place by reaching 16 feet. Marriott qualified for this weekend’s State Open Championship with her performance in the long jump at the Class L meet. She had recently finished first in the event at the SCC West Sectional Championship with a jump of 17-10.75, followed by a second-place performance in the SCC Championship with a 17-6.
For the boys’ team, Farley placed second in the preliminaries of the 55 hurdles by running a time of 8.09 seconds, only finishing behind Richard Papa of Amity (7.85). Farley advanced to the finals, where he improved his time to an 8.06 to take second place overall, qualify for the State Open, and score eight points for North Haven. Papa finished first by posting a time of 7.69 in the final. Farley had won the 55 hurdles with a time of 8.05 at the West Sectional meet and then finished third at the SCC Championship with an 8.10.
In the pole vault, Spignesi cleared a height of 12 feet to finish in fourth place and score four points for the Indians. Spignesi also reached 12 feet when he won pole vault at sectionals and took second in SCCs. Farley also competed in the event at states, clearing 10 feet to finish in 18th place.
North Haven also received two points from junior Kyle Maruca in the shot put. Maruca finished fifth for the event by releasing a throw of 47 feet-4.5 inches. Maruca had finished second in the shot at the West Sectional Championship (43-10.25) and then took first place at the SCC Championship with a throw of 48 feet-1 inch.
The boys’ team saw four other juniors toss the shot put at states. Luke Maruca finished seventh (45-0), Matt Mullen placed eighth (43-1.5), Dominic Borrelli came in 21st place (37-11.25), and fellow junior Josh Blumenthal finished in 26th (36-10.25) for North Haven.
On the girls’ side, junior Courtney McFarland finished 13th in the shot put with a throw of 28 feet-10.75 inches.
In relays, North Haven’s 4x400 of junior Reagan Forbes, freshman Grace Finch, sophomore Sofia Fappiano, and freshman Lorelei King finished 15th (4:46.21); while the 4x200 featuring Marriott, junior Samantha Curcio, senior Katie Rogers, and freshman Grace Finch came in 19th place with a time of 1:58.79.
The boys’ team had three relays run at the Class L meet. The 4x800 of seniors Jonathan Opramolla, Jobin Valiyaveettil, Jackson Frank, and sophomore Patrick Rourke finished 14th (9:04.68); the 4x400 of Opramolla, senior Jacob Wurm, freshman Jack Pollard, and Farley placed 17th (3:46.05); and the 4x200 relay of junior Ethan Testa, senior John Crispi, Pollard, and Wurm came in 21st place by recording a time of 1:42.90.