By Senior Correspondent Marty Ogden, Editing and Graphics by Ron Knapp
MSR PHOTOS by Craig Rosenberg and Ron Knapp
No one likes to be called the favorite. It puts on expectations and unless you know how to maneuver around the added stress can cause some teams and athletes to lose their edge and falter when the stakes are at their highest. On paper, Glastonbury was overwhelmingly the favorite coming into the CIAC State Open at Floyd Little Athletic Center on Saturday afternoon. They met and exceeded all expectations scoring 52 points and held off challenges from Class L runner up E.O. Smith (36 points) plus West Harford’s Hall and Conard, both with 32 points.
Glastonbury coach Brian Collins has coached two indoor track teams to State Open titles in 2011 and 2020 plus others that haven’t quite lived up to expectations. But on Saturday his Guardians allowed him to breathe and enjoy the day as they were firing on all cylinders. They were led by strong relays and Brooke Strauss who, by the end of the meet, was one tired runner. The junior came away with one gold and two bronze medals in the three longest events of the day. In her first race of the day, she went against the past two State Open 1000m champions, Bria Benigni of Maloney who won in 2022 and Conard’s Liv Sherry, winner of last year’s Open. Strauss, who had a busy day in front of her, was content to sit behind the pair who were the early pace setters. She moved into second place after the 400m mark but bided her time until she unleashed a 33.2 last lap to take the win in 2:53.22. With short recovery between the events, Strauss was obviously tired going into the 1600m but still managed to take 3rd behind Newington’s Katherine Bohlke (4:55.24) and Tess Sherry of Conard (4:57.47). Strauss hung on and still managed a 4:59.39. Right behind her was Fairfield Warde’s Sophie Spelman who set a six second PR, finishing in a time of 5:01.92.
To cap off her day, the Guardian was challenged by newcomer Ava Malagisi of Ridgefield in the 3200m. Malagisi didn’t start running track until last spring but has quickly built up a resume to be proud of. Besides getting 3rd at the State Open in the 4x800m last spring she had very little track experience. Coming off of soccer season, she won the mile and two mile at FCIAC championships. On Saturday, the senior set the pace for more established runners Strauss and Tess Sherry who was New England runner-up last year. But lurking off the…
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