By Senior Correspondent Marty Ogden, Editing and Graphics by Ron Knapp
Many Connecticut athletes traveled to compete at the Penn Relays Carnival in Philadelphia the past few days with Bloomfield’s Ja’Mari Manson shining the brightest in the oldest continuously run track and field meet in the world.
It used to be a tradition that someone received a gold watch at the end of their career when they retired. Even though Ja’Mari Manson has been participating in track and field for nearly a decade, he only started the high high jump last outdoor season and is just getting his career started in the event. Even though he was New England champion this past indoor season, the biggest win of his young career was Thursday when he won the boys high jump with a height of 6-feet, 6-inches, one inch less than his lifetime best. The junior who grew up competing for the Central Connecticut Jaguars Track Club most likely has drawers full of ribbons and medals, but at the Penn Relays this champion received a gold watch that is now a treasured reminder of such an outstanding athletic achievement.
Boys 4x800m Relay
The meet started on a strong note for state athletes on Thursday with two of New England’s best relay teams running solid races. Hall HS, the defending New England 4x800m relay team ran a solid race, finishing in a state leading time of 7:59.65. Isaac Mahler, Colin Goldschmidt, Ethan Striff-Cave and Fareed Abu Rabia just missed making finals (top 12) like they did last year finishing 5th in their heat and 16th overall.
Danbury High School’s relay team of Josh Roos, Kyle Jeffers, Devon Rosemark and Michael Komisky was 12th in their heat running 8:08.89, the second fastest CT time this season.
Boys 4x100m Relay
During one of Manson’s post-race interviews, his teammates were blazing around the track, winning their heat of the 4x100m in a time of 44.21, the 14th fastest time among 160 teams in their section.
Other CT 4x400m results included:
84 Conard High School – 45.65
101 Naugatuck High School – 46.05
96 Wilton High School – 45.52
163 William H. Hall High School – 50.36
High School Boys’ Prep School 4×100 Independent
2nd Loomis Chaffee – 44.52
6th Hopkins School – 47.90
Boys 4x400m Relay
The past several years, Hall has been especially strong in the relays, and it looks like the trend will continue for the Titans this spring. Jon York, Gabel Sisk, Fareed Abu-Rabia and Sam Sandler took fourth in their heat of the 4x400m, taking over the state lead with…
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