The 2023 CIAC Boys State Open Outdoor Track and Field Championship has arrived. On Monday afternoon, the top teams and individuals will descend to Veterans Park in Willow Brook Park in New Britain to compete against the best in the state from each class meet. In addition to the team competition, athletes are seeking to become State Open champions in individual events as well as finishing in the top six places in order to qualify for the New England Championships in Bangor, ME next Saturday. Many are also chasing a new personal record or a season best. MSR takes a look at some of the top contenders in the chase for the individual titles.
Track Events
4x800m Relay
One never knows what to expect in the 4x800m. Once you put all these teams together, athletes always step up when there are so many runners so tightly packed together and some teams sub in faster. EO Smith is the defending champion but Hall has many cards in their deck to substitute runners if needed. New Milford and Wethersfield battled it out in the Class L championship race and were close until the last 200m when the Green Wave pulled out the win. Danbury has such a great history in this event and it is a source of great pride for the Hatters. But don’t count out indoor State Open champion Xavier who could also insert some runners to put themselves in contention for the win.
4x100m Relay
Windsor already holds the state records in the 4x100m, 4x200m, 4x400m and 800m SMR and are consistently a factor in the sprint relays. Once again they have the state’s fastest time in the 4x100m. Amity held off Harding High to win the Class L title and will get the honor of being placed in lane five of the fastest heat. It’s looking like it will take a sub 43-seconds to make it to New Englands.
110m Hurdles
We are living in the glory days of CT hurdling and we need to take a moment to recognize what has already happened this year. Leinaya Knox has already become the first girl to finish faster than 14-seconds for the 100m hurdles and Josh Mooney became the 4th boy under the same barrier for the boys in CT history. Mooney will once again face his future UConn teammate Michael Johnson of Lewis Mills. The pair traded off titles last year with Johnson winning the Class M and New England titles and Mooney taking the Open crown. This year Mooney has found another level as he tied the indoor state record in the 55m hurdles and ran the state’s 3rd fastest time in 110m hurdles. Xaver’s Sam Forte,…
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