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03/18/2024 02:20 AMThe East Haven boys’ and girls’ indoor track team garnered plenty of notice from the rest of the Southern Connecticut Conference and Class M State Divisions’ field of school and competitors this postseason. Additionally, in the grand scheme of the entire campaign, the Yellowjackets also pushed themselves to set several high-water marks within the program.
The Yellowjackets finished in sixth and ninth places, respectively, for the boys’ and girls’ squads at the SCC West Sectional Championship meet on Jan. 24 at Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven. For the conference championship meet on Feb. 3 at that same venue, the boys nabbed 10 points to come in 11th place, while the girls did not place.
For the Class M State Championship on Feb. 10 also in New Haven, the boys placed 20th with five points for their combined efforts, plus the girls tied for 23rd with four points alongside New London and Windham. Head Coach Rusty Dunne explained that when it came to the top-tier competitors, himself and the fellow coaches wanted to make sure they got to shine on the state, and in some cases, the region’s biggest stages. They additionally were also looking towards the future in cultivating the youth of the program.
“Our goals for the season were ensuring that our top-level athletes went deep into the postseason,” said Dunne. “We also wanted to focus on developing some of our younger people, and I feel we were successful with those things.”
Beyond SCCs and states, a tandem of Yellowjackets went even further in terms of postseason action. Junior Dante Rodriguez competed in the pentathlon at the New York City Armory, earning 3,137 points to clinch a fourth-place showing. Senior Erica Canfield took part in the girls’ pentathlon and set a new school record, with a grand tally of 2,528 points to place runner-up. She additionally had a highlight postseason performance by finishing fourth in the 55 hurdles for the Class M state meet.
Sophomore Tyler Varveris set a new mark for the school in the 55 meter dash at the SCC Championship by clocking in a brisk time of 6.58 seconds.
“Tyler Varveris’ time in the 55 dash was huge in a tough meet,” Dunne said. “The team was a great group of upperclassmen and a few young standouts.”
In terms of showings towards earning points for both clubs at the Class M State Championship, Canfield timed herself at 8.95 seconds to place fourth for the 55 hurdles. Varveris raced to a 6.74-second pace to finish fifth for the 55 dash, and then was also fifth for the 300 dash in 37.42 ticks. Rodriguez saw sixth for the high jump with a leap of five feet and 10 inches. Lastly, senior Aniya Franklin came in seventh for the girls’ shot put competition (32-7.75).
For the total list of state championship qualifiers for East Haven, Canfield saw berths in the 55 hurdles, 55 and 300 dashes, the high jump, and long jump. Sophomore Mallory Boney was in the 55 hurdles, plus the high and long jumps. Senior Jill Sperduti also made the 55 hurdles, and then Franklin was in the shot put.
For the boys in that same category, Rodriguez saw his way through for the 55 hurdles, high and long jumps, along with the shot put. Varveris also made the 55 and 300 dashes and was part of the 4x200 relay squad, and his classmate P.J. Carangelo made the same trio of events. Also part of the 4x200 relay were senior Rich Ackom-Brew, sophomore Aiden Esposito, freshman Cru Faughnan, and sophomore Liam Gilson. Junior Rich Jones also qualified for the Class M shot put.
The Yellowjackets also handed out plenty of well-deserved team hardware after their campaigns concluded. On the boys’ squad, Rodriguez was awarded Most Valuable Athlete, Varveris garnered the Coaches’ Award, and Jones was named the Sportsmanship Award winner.
Their counterpart honorees on the girls’ slate were Canfield for Most Valuable Athlete, while the Coaches’ Award went to Franklin, and Boney went home with the Sportsmanship honor.
Dunne was additionally nothing but complimentative of the leadership and efforts on and off the track for his captains in both camps. Canfield, Sperduti, and Franklin were squad stewards for the girls, and on the boys’ side were captains in Ackom-Brew, senior Antonio Consiglio, and Carangelo.
“Canfield, Sperduti, and Franklin were great captains for the women,” said Dunne. “Rich Ackom-Brew, Antonio Consiglio, and P.J. Carangelo were great leaders for the men this season.”
Rodriguez finished the 2023-2024 season as the top point producer for the boys’ team with a whopping 49 tallies. Varveris was not far behind him in second with a sum of 41.25 points, while Jones came in third with a dozen points. Canfield paced the girls in terms of point total with 37.5, and then Franklin followed with 25, and Boney was next best with 10 tallies.
Canfield’s pentathlon school record came from her combined performances in the high jump, long jump, shot put, 55 hurdles, and 800 dash events. She additionally broke the school record for the 55 hurdles in a time of 8.95 seconds–besting the prior mark set by Alex DePalma in 2008 (8.98). Rodriguez tied the boys’ high jump record with a 6-0–previously set by John Wynne in 2009 and then Austin Thornburg seven years later.
Varveris also set a trio of new school marks in the 55 dash with a 6.58 second time (held prior by Jay Donaldson at 6.6 seconds in 2018), 300 dash at 36.85 ticks (set on a banked track by Jesse Gallo in 36.88 seconds in 2011, and then five years later on a flat track by Garrett Pates), along with the 400 dash in a time of 51.46–beating out Pates’ mark of 54.06 in 2016.
The boys’ roster for the 2023-2024 campaign was comprised of seniors in Ackom-Brew, P.J. Carangelo, Consiglio, Austyn Griffith, Eric Tapia; juniors of Nick Balesiro, Jones, Mark Chabla, Davione Davis, Daniel Lares, Dante Rodriguez, Dareon Streater; sophomores Kweku Antwi, Joe Carangelo, Dom D'Ambrosio, Esposito, Gilson, Anthony Lacen, Anthony Lucci, Sean McCrimmons, Diego Mendz, Will Mensah, Hermes Torrealba, Varveris; plus freshmen Jadyn Burgos, Chase Bussert, Tyler DeMartino, Faughnan, Dylan Lopez, Kevin Rodriguez, Alejandro Rosillo, Moiyad Shnan, Ean Theodore, and Danny Yanza.
The roster for the girls’ campaign was made up of seniors Canfield, Franklin, Sperduti; juniors Mercilyn Ackom-Brew, Samara Pasolini-Cali, Vania Zarate; sophomores in Boney, Giulia D'Onofrio, Gianna Dilapi, Ariella Guadalupe, Olivia Moody, Sarai Murphy, Kaylee Orellana, Mei Shnan, Isabella Velazquez; along with freshmen Prescious Aggrey, Azalea Cuvilie, Kiley Mazzucco, Admaris Pasolini, Arielyz Rios, Meghan Serrana, Jazlynn Suarez, Alexia Urbaez, and Melanie Vives.