By Senior Correspondent Marty Ogden, Editing and Graphics by Ron Knapp
When a meet like the New England Championships features state records are broken left and right other notable performances are overlooked. MySportsResults has always recognized outstanding track and field athletes and this regional competition brings together many of the best athletes in the Northeast in the biggest meet for many of these athletes. Connecticut girls took home eight first place plaques while the boys earned six victories in the 13 events. In Addition to the events covered previously, the following winners and significant performances came from the Nutmeg State.
Girls 55m Hurdles
One thing that stands out after reading Leonaya Knox stats on Athletic.net is that she has competed in 23 55m hurdles trials and final races and she has won 21 of those races. The Hillhouse senior added two more to defend her title on Saturday. While her winning time was .09 seconds off her PR of 7.99 from the Class M championships, she has gone under 8.10 in each championship race. Next up will be nationals where she is ranked 13th in the nation and will try to earn All American honors at Nike Indoor Nationals. Joining Knox on the podium were Cheshire’s Squirrel Lanz (5th-8.40) and Windsor’s Kareema McKenzie (6th-8.40).
Girls 600m
Gabby Hernandez came into the season with Precious Holmes’ state record of 1:30.79 in her sights after running just under a second within that time last year. Her season didn’t quite go as planned and she struggled to get close to her PR all season. On Saturday, the E,O. Smith senior, who will attend the University of Alabama next year, showed a glimpse of her old self, going right to the front and defending her New England title, running a season best of 1:32.31.
Hanging on for 2nd place in the 600m was State Open champion Esme Daplyn of Greenwich who ran her lifetime best of 1:33.99. The performance moves her up to become the 8th fastest girl in CT history and is ranked 12th nationally. Her time just barely missed the Greenwich school record held by multiple time All American Emily Philippides by .67 seconds.
Girls 1000m
Less than two hours after her anchor leg on the CT and New England meet record 4x800m, Brooke Strauss ran with the confidence of an athlete who knew she was going to win a second event. Even though she went out very hard in her 800m leg and obviously put some lactic acid in…
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