For both the Haddam-Killingworth boys’ and girls’ indoor track teams, they did not emerge from their conference or state title meets with championship hardware. Yet the Cougars did claim a great deal of prominence among its fellow peers of the league, with several high placements and personal record performances across the board.

At the Shoreline Conference Championships on Feb. 2 at the Floyd Little Athletic Center, the boys’ squad came out of it boasting a solid second-place showing with 100 points–finishing only six points behind champion Cromwell (106 tallies). The girls’ group finished seventh with a 40-point performance collectively, where Old Saybrook notched a score of 109 to take their crown.

“The meet went head to head with Cromwell, along with Portland and Coginchaug. The determination of the outcome was not known until the last event was decided,” said Head Coach Dick Dupuis, who shares coaching duties for both clubs with Kristie Kaminski. “Prior to the meet itself, I analyzed the conference teams as a whole, and determined that Cromwell would be the favorite, with H-K possibly second, and Portland and Coginchuag in the mix. I told the team we were not the favorite, but we had a chance.”

In the boys’ 300 meter race, sophomore Eli Hamann-Shay was second in 37.59 seconds, just off the pace of winner Sam LaMalfa of Portland (36.59 ticks). Moving to the 600, junior Matthew Lara posted a personal-record mark of one minute and 26.19 seconds. This led to a runner-up placement to LaMalfa, who crossed the finish line in 1:24.21. Additionally in the top 10 for the H-K boys were sophomores Cash Smigel (ninth; 1:33.80) and Jake Wolfradt (10th; 1:40.25).

Moving into the longer distance heats, senior Luke Hedges came in sixth for the 1000 at a time of 2:47.90. Then, not too far behind him were sophomores Alexander (eighth; 2:49.31) and Anthony Fredericksen (ninth; 3:02.97). The Cougars saw a 3-4 finish with respect to the 1600, with Hedges (in 4:47.12, personal best) and sophomore Daniel McCourt (4:48.25), plus junior Jack Cozean was seventh in four minutes and 52.21 seconds.

The 3200 saw a foursome of H-K competitors crack the top 10, with Hedges and McCourt again finishing third and fourth, respectively. Also, Cozean was sixth (10:44.63) and Alexander Fredericksen placed seventh (10:53.06).

“Most of the potential scorers from the distance group were well known to us, and Kristie did a great job preparing them for the championship meet, including their role in that meet,” said Dupuis. “If you look at the results, you would see that our expectations for them were realized.”

For relays, the 4x200 grouping of junior Samuel Greenwood, junior Liem Criscuolo, senior Luke Staskelunas, and Hamann-Shay was second in 1:39.24 to Portland, who prevailed in 1:37.43. The 4x400 foursome with Greenwood, senior Alexander Battistoni, senior Dylan Churyk, and Staskelunas was third, in a total time of three minutes and 48.43 seconds. Also runner-up was the 4x800 unit of Cozean, McCourt, Smigel, and Lara (in 8:44.94) to Cromwell (8:40.37). Lastly, in the 1600 sprint medley relay, Greenwood, Hamann-Shay, Lara, and Staskelunas paced to third (4:06.86).

Senior Andres Montes was a third-place competitor for the 55 hurdles, with a time of 8.95 seconds. Junior Mitchell Kelsey found fifth for the shot put (personal record heave of 43-0). In the pole vault, junior Koen Thomen was second (personal-record toss of 10-6) to East Hampton’s Brian Collisson (12-6), plus senior Ryan Ruggiero finished fourth (10-0).

Rounding out the field for the team standings were Coginchaug a distant third (74 points), Portland with 65 points sat fourth, East Hampton and Hale-Ray tied for fifth, with 52 tallies apiece, Old Saybrook produced 45 points to come in seventh, eighth-place Valley Regional had 30 points, Old Lyme was ninth (21 points), North Branford was 10th (19 points), Morgan was 11th with eight points, and Westbrook nabbed a point to place 12th.

“From the beginning, Kristie and I felt positive with the possibilities of the team. Numbers make the difference, and while we did not have the numbers we were used to prior to COVID, we had 40 boys on our roster. There were eight seniors and all but one, who was a first timer, were to play a role in our efforts,” Dupuis said. “Three of them, along with a junior, were captains and were selected for their leadership qualities, but the rest were regarded as leaders, as well. That was particularly important for our team, as while we had a significant number of juniors, we also had a large number of sophomores, and we needed to tap into that group if we were to achieve any success.”

For the girls’ racing events, sophomore Amelia Riggs achieved a personal-best time of six minutes and 2.65 seconds to place fifth. Following her were junior Keira Sehl-Albert in seventh (6:08.28) and freshman Emilia Schweitzer in ninth in 6:14.75. Sehl-Albert finished fourth for the 3200 (13:28.12), then Schweitzer came in eighth at 13:48.81, and then Riggs was right behind her in crossing the finish line ninth (13:48.82).

The Cougars cleaned up in the 55 hurdles, with a quadruple of top 10 performances. Junior Caley Napoletano was third in 10 seconds flat, and then her classmate Jayani Bennett was a close fourth in 10.19 seconds. Sophomore Brielle Kent rushed to seventh (10.7 ticks) and fellow sophomore Chloe Felder was eighth (11.14).

Moving to the shot put, junior Gabrielle Williams was sixth (26-6.5), and subsequently behind her in seventh finished Napoletano (25-5). Senior Kayla Rodriguez was a runner-up for the pole vault, with a throw of 8 feet-6 inches–second only to Allison Vigue of Coginchaug (11-0). Sophomore Mikayla Ruggiero was 10th (personal record of 7-0). The Cougars saw an 8-9-10 finish for the long jump with Napoletano (13-11.25, personal best), Kent (13-10.5), and Felder (13-5).

In the girls’ team standings after Old Saybrook followed Old Lyme at runner-up (97 points), Coginchaug at third (90 points), Valley Regional (4th, 46 points), East Hampton at fifth (42 tallies), Cromwell for sixth (41.5), H-K, then Hale-Ray and Portland in eighth (36 apiece). North Branford was 10th (28.5), Morgan came in 11th with 11 tallies, and Westbrook produced four points.

At the Class S State Championship a week later at the same venue on Feb. 9, the boys placed in a tie for ninth place with Shoreline Conference colleague East Hampton with 15 points. The day was highlighted by a victory from the 4x800 relay squad, in a time of eight minutes and 29.39 seconds with Hedges, Cozean, McCourt, and Lara.

Elsewhere, in the 1600, Hedges was fifth (4:45.38), and McCourt followed in seventh (4:55.55). The 4x200 foursome was sixth (1:38) with the efforts of Greenwood, Criscuolo, Staskelunas, and Hamann-Shay. Hamann-Shay placed sixth for the 300 (36.88 seconds), as did Lara in the 600 (1:27.96). Ruggiero placed 10th for the pole vault (10-6).

For the girls, they did not place in the final team standings, but Napoletano finished 10th for the 55 hurdles by clocking in at 9.95 seconds.

“As the season progressed, it became evident that the attitude of the vast majority was positive, and their talents emerged as we went through the regular season. We focused on providing an array of different events with determining what was best for the athletes and for the team,” said Dupuis. “The objective for all of our athletes was to qualify as many for the Shoreline state championship meets. One of the measurements I spoke to them often about was earning personal records.”

The boys’ team roster is comprised of seniors Battistoni, Churyk, Hedges, Montes, Ruggiero, Staskelunas, Benjamin Werner; juniors Cozean, Criscuolo, Sawyer DiMatteo, Greenwood, Eduardo Karkutt-Kulak, Kelsey, Lara, Elias Lowrey, Colin Mitchell, Ryan Rafferty, Thomen; sophomores in Jack Bailey, Jameson Conte, Lucas Dias, Alexander Fredericksen, Hamann-Shay, Michael Johnson, Adam Livingston, McCourt, Smigel, Adam Stall-Ryan, Wesley Stevens, Kellen Thompson, Wolfradt; along with freshmen Evan Berardino, Paul Birkmeyer, Dylan Brown, Chase Keeling, Hugh Law, Desmond Thompson, and Wyatt Voegtli.

The girls’ squad roster includes senior Rodriguez; juniors Bennett, Adriana Garoppolo, Skylar Hale, Trillian Havens, Natalya Mallon, Napoletano, Sehl-Albert, Madalyn Seward, Williams; sophomores Felder, Kent, Riggs, Ruggiero; plus freshman Schweitzer.