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Valley Indoor Track Teams Shine at Shoreline, State Championships

For the Valley Regional boys’ and girls’ indoor track teams, the entire campaign has been one of growth in both abilities, along with postseason qualifiers. And so the recent Shoreline and state championship meets saw the full fruition of the Warriors’ efforts all winter long.

At the Shoreline Conference Championships on Feb. 2 at New Haven’s Floyd Little Athletic Center, the Warriors girls’ team placed fourth overall with 46 points. Meanwhile, the boys came in eighth place with 30 points for the day. Old Saybrook claimed the girls’ conference crown with 109 points, while Cromwell was the boys’ championship counterpart with a team tally of 106.

Sophomore Addie Guzallis came in eighth for the 55 meter dash in a mark of 8.36 seconds. In the 300, sophomore Anahi Matute was 13th in a time of 51.38 seconds. Junior Kendall Costello saw 14th for the 600 race (2:10.67).

Two Warriors found the top 10 for the 1000, with sophomore Rowan Herlihy (eighth place in 3:32.89) and freshman Kaleigh Cornett (10th with a personal-best time of 3:42.71). Sophomore Madelyn Riebold pushed to third for the 1600 heat, clocking in at 5:48.03. Sophomore Sonya Xaypanya saw a personal-best mark of 6:39.56, to come in 11th for that same event.

“Rowan is a special athlete,” said Head Coach Brian Drinkard. “She has the ability to compete at a high level, but more impressively, she has been a leader on this team in just her sophomore season. Madelyn has put together consecutive seasons as a runner in one of the toughest events in the Shoreline. She has qualified for states in both her freshman and sophomore seasons. She was also a member of the 4x800 relay team.”

In relays, third place belonged to the 4x200 group of Abby Reardon, Clara Shea, Guzallis, and Sara Delouchry in 1:58.23. The 4x400 group of Emilee Surber, Riebold, Reardon, and Delouchry was sixth (4:41.97). Also placing third was the 4x800 relay (in 11 minutes and 2.66 seconds) with Riebold, Cornett, Herlihy, and Surber. The 1600 sprint medley relay came in second for Valley with Reardon, Shea, Delouchry, and Surber (4:42.16).

Junior Campbell Massey came in third for the high jump (4-8, a personal record), and then Lily Belcher tied for fourth (also with a 4-8). Seniors Sharmel Rivera and Hannah Schwartzman tied for 14th (3-8). Massey was additionally third with the pole vault (personal-best throw of 8-0) and Costello was 12th (6-6).

For the boys’ performances, senior Aidan Babek (Second Team All-Shoreline Team selection) was the runner-up for the 55 meter dash in a personal-high mark of 6.9 seconds. Following close behind were senior McKinley Hartt in fifth (7.12) and junior Cooper Mondelci (personal-best 7.12). Freshman Jalen Harrell finished 20th for the 300 (43.66 seconds). Senior Avi Siegel placed 10th in the 1000 race (3:05.02, a personal best).

In the 1600, senior Zachary Scott was 17th (personal-best 5:12.40) and sophomore Olivier Proctor was 26th (in 5:36.96, personal best). Scott then legged it out to 18th in the 3200, in a mark of 11 minutes and 46.3 seconds.

The 4x200 relay team was sixth (in 1:41.32) with Babek, Harrell, Hartt, and Mondelci. The 4x400 relay with junior Edward Johnson, Proctor, junior Lyle Pitman, and Siegel, was ninth (4:20.86). Fifth place went to the 4x800 relay foursome of Pitman, Proctor, freshman Jonathon Howley, and Scott (10:05.83), and the 1600 sprint medley team of Johnson, Howley, Siegel, and Mondelci was also fifth (4:22.50).

In the shot put, senior Chris Lopez came in 21st (32-10). Babek was fifth for the high jump, with a leap of five feet and four inches, and then Hartt was 10th (5-2), plus Pitman came in 16th place (personal best of 4-10). Howley was also a 20th-place participant for the long jump (14-8).

Additionally notching Second Team All-Shoreline honors were Reardon, Shea, Surber, and Delouchry. Earning Honorable Mention were Guzallis, Massey, Cornett, Herlihy, and Riebold.

Both squads took part at the Class S State Championship on Feb. 10 at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven. On the girls’ side, Herlihy placed ninth in the 1000 event in a time of three minutes and 22.10 seconds. In the 1600, Riebold placed 10th for the race, with a mark of five minutes and 46.04 seconds.

For the high jump, Belcher came in 12th, with a leap of 4’8”, while classmate Massey followed her in 19th place (4-6). Massey was additionally eighth in the field for the pole vault (8-0).

In relays, the 1600 sprint medley group of Shea, Reardon, Delouchry, and Surber finished ninth in a mark of four minutes and 47.14 ticks. Also, finishing 18th was the 4x200 relay foursome of Shea, Reardon, Delouchry, and Guzallis in 2:00.66. The girls’ squad as a whole earned 0.25 points, to place 37th overall in the team standings. Bloomfield captured the state crown, with a score of 80.5 points.

For the boys in Class S, Babek came in 23rd for the 55 meters in 6.99 seconds. Hartt placed 41st for the same event (in 7.15), and Mondelci finished 51st in 7.28 seconds.

Babek was then sixth-best for the high jump, with a height of 5’10”. Also, the 4x200 relay unit in Hartt, Harrell, Mondelci, and Babek, was 17th for the run in a minute and 41.37 seconds.

“It was a good year for indoor track. The most impressive accomplishment was the girls’ team finishing fourth at Shorelines,” said Drinkard. “The teams were dedicated to working hard at practice in their individual events, with a nice balance of building a family-like team atmosphere. The coaching staff was particularly proud of all the relay teams we were able to put on the track this year.”

Captains for the boys’ squad this winter were Babek, Lopez, and Pitman. Meanwhile, those leadership roles for the girls’ group were occupied by Reardon, Shea, Massey, and Herlihy. Drinkard was quite complimentative of his final-year contributors in his closing remarks, for not only their efforts and athleticism, but also their perspective of the bigger program picture.

“We had a great senior class, many who have been three- and four-year members of the team,” said Drinkard.”They did a great job both on and off the track, practicing hard and making younger athletes in the program feel comfortable. This contribution by the seniors should ensure the continued success and future growth of the program.”

The 2023-2024 Valley Regional boys’ indoor track team roster is comprised of seniors Jonathan Alberto, Babek, Stephen Courcy, Hartt, Alex Lenda, Lopez, Scott, Siegel, Welch; juniors of Johnson, Cooper Mondelci, Pitman, Andrew Thomas; sophomores of Jackson Carson, Proctor; plus freshmen Mark Condon, Harrell, Howley, Finn Recchia, and Brodie Whelan.

The 2023-2024 Warriors girls’ roster includes seniors with Reardon, Sharmel Rivera, Schwartzman, Shea, Madeline Siegel, Surber; juniors Belcher, Costello, Danna Lopez-Criollo, Delny Marsden, Amelia Martinez, Massey, Cecilia Wilkens; sophomores Guzallis, Herlihy, Anahi Matute, Riebold, Carly Sonn, Xaypanya; along with freshmen Cornett, and Delouchry.