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06/14/2023 08:11 AMFor the first time in 13 years, the Hand girls’ outdoor track team was standing atop the podium as a collective group as state champions after prevailing at the Class MM State Championship on June 1 at New Britain’s Willow Brook Park in a thrilling meet that went right down to the wire.
The Tigers scored 64 points to take the title and outlasted runner-up Hillhouse who had 61 points, and Bethel with 59 points in third. Woodstock Academy (4th place, 46 points) and Ledyard (5th, 42 tallies) rounded out the top 5 in team standings.
Hand won the crown in dramatic fashion, as it trailed entering the final event of the day in the 4x400, but then claimed 10 points after a first-place showing in a time of 4:05.92 with the foursome of freshman Alice Agovino, plus seniors Vivian Glaser, Michelle Jiang, and Julia Coric. The triumph gave the program its first state crown since 2010 and second overall.
“It was exciting to see the meet unfold the way it did,” said Head Coach Steve Swift. “It was a microcosm of the way this season played out to come down to the last few, and especially the very last, event. The meet started rough for us, but we got better all along the way, focusing on what to do next instead of what happened in the past. Everybody’s focus and determination improved throughout the course of the meet.”
Also winning a solo state crown for Hand on the track was freshman Annecy Vlieks in the 3200, who took the top slot by clocking in at 11 minutes and 16.22 seconds, beating out second-place Guilford runner Alexa Suchy (11:21.22).
For the field events, junior Redmond Sullivan won the shot put (39-11.5) over Foran’s Kelly Aspras (36-6) and saw second in the discus (117-02) to Belle Smith from Torrington (123-02). For the high jump, sophomore Brooke Anderson was also a runner-up (leap of 4-10) to Bethel’s Rosa Linda Volpintesta (5-0). In the long jump, senior Bella Portley found 12th place (14-9.75). Sophomore Alexis Kuszpa was seventh (8-6) for the pole vault. In the triple jump, Anderson was 14th (31-2.25) and sophomore Morgan Flickinger found 20th place (29-10.5).
“The environment of this team at practice is exceptionally positive. Therefore, if any team deserves to take home a state championship, it is Hand,” said Anderson. “Even though most track events are based on individual performance, my teammates truly make it a team sport. The energy on the track during the 4x400 race was surreal. The race moved us from third to first place. When they won, everyone was ecstatic; tears were shed and hugs went all around. It was a long day with loads of work. Every point counted, and I am so proud of each and every member of this team.”
Elsewhere in the running lanes, in the 100 meter dash, freshman Grace Burton finished eighth (time of 13.19 seconds); Coric came in seventh for the 200 with a time of 26.16 seconds and Burton followed in 20th (27.46); Coric was the runner-up with regard to the 400 (58.07), finishing just behind Brookfield’s Olivia Walters, who prevailed in 56.95. Glaser was 10th for that same event (1:01.83), Jiang finished 19th (1:03.49), and Agovino came in 20th (1:03.74); junior Jordan Kells came in 10th for the 800 (in a time of 2:30.22); and Vlieks topped out at third for the 1600 by clocking in at 5:18.88.
Rounding out the relays, the 4x100 squad was 14th in a time of 51.81 seconds with freshman Jane Barrett, Burton, Agovino, and freshman Matea Thibeault.
“Our relays were strong spots for us all season with kids stepping in where needed and being able to train harder while towards the team goal,” said Swift. “A lot of credit for this kind of team development has to be given to the youngsters, such as our 4x100 relay group, who came together with energy and focus, ready to work and see where it could take them, until all four had qualified for states in the 100 and 200, and the relay itself set the school freshman record [51.81], finishing ninth at the SCC Championship and 14th in Class MM, but also being a constant source of energy that the team could build around through the course of the season.”
Earlier in this postseason, Hand first started strong with a second-place showing with 97.5 points at the SCC West Sectional Championship on May 16 at North Haven High School, with only eventual conference champion Shelton (123 points) ahead of the Tigers. The Tigers were then fifth at the SCC Championship (59 team tallies) on May 23 at Bowen Field in New Haven.
Swift noted that while the Tigers may have appeared to stumble out of the gate, the individualistic nature of the sport actually corralled momentum for the club as each piece started to progress and pull themselves together towards greater collective goals that inevitably manifested to a state crown.
“Similarly, it was a hard season at the start that began with a lot of doubt. I had team goals that must have felt like a reach or too far away to think about in the middle of March,” said Swift, whose squad finished 4-4-1 in dual meets for 2023. “We wanted a winning dual-meet record and top 5 finishes in the SCC Championship and State meet, but we started slowly in competition, losing our first four contests. As we kept working, though, kids began to step up every week along the way, noticing improvements in themselves, realizing that we needed to do more than a little bit per meet and that they could each grow and carry more of the load. Little by little, the message caught on and kids started to believe in what could happen for them. Having the state championship meet come down to the final events felt like we reviewed one more time what had happened through the course of the season, that each week we could add a little more if we stayed focused and let things accumulate to a good finish.”
Additionally, several athletes were named to the All-SCC Second Team, including Vlieks (1600 meters), Sullivan (discus) and the 4x400 meter relay team of Agovino, Glaser, Kells and Coric. Sullivan, Coric, Vlieks, Glaser, Jiang, and Agovino also made the All-State squad.
At the State Open Championship on June 5 at the same venue, Hand posted a proud ninth-place finish with 23 points. Coric was third for the 400 in 57.93 seconds. Vlieks followed up her 3200-championship sprint by coming in fourth for the event (11:04.56). Sullivan finished fifth for the discus (114-11), but she was then runner-up for the shot put (38-0.5). The 4x400 relay squad placed 15th in four minutes and 9.57 seconds. Anderson also qualified for the high jump but did not place.
The 2023 Hand girls’ outdoor track roster is comprised of seniors Adelynn Arroyo, Kailey Connelly, Coric, Kennedy Courtney, Glaser, Maya Howard, Jiang, Portley, Sullivan; juniors of Tessa Burch, Kells, Eva Lugo, Danielle Luongo, Martha McFadden, Ava Millen, Alexandra Price; sophomores with Anderson, Flickinger, Kylee Bolding, Elizabeth Calia-Bogan, Olivia Consiglio, Amanda Coric, Claire Corwin, Martha Cursaru, Alayna Grenier, Abigail Kustra, Kuszpa, Piper Lea, Abby Scherban, Isabelle Smethurst, Hannah Staron; and finally freshmen in Grace Ackerman, Agovino, Sofia Andrin, Barrett, Maya Bell, Burton, Analise Duques, Angelina Egidio, Ashley Fiorella, Kathryn Franson, Lily Leonte, Neila Paradiso, Ella Schroeder, Lilyana Signore, Ella Speerli, Thibeault, Vlieks, Hailey Yahara, and Geneva Zucconi.