By Senior Correspondent Marty Ogden, Editing and Graphics by Ron Knapp
There were three meets in state on the past weekend that made significant dents in the state rankings. The grandfather of all meets, the Greater Hartford Invitational, in its 93rd year and the Old Saybrook Running Rams meet displayed the talent of the smaller schools in the state. On top of those two was the 9th Froshmore Invitational that provided fans of CT track and field a preview of the stars of the next few years. Altogether there was a busy weekend of action throughout the Nutmeg State.
The 93rd Greater Hartford Invitational
It is fun watching some of our all time greats develop and continue to drop time. Davian Johnson was running low to mid 15s in the 110m hurdles as a freshman and was in the high 14s as a sophomore. But this winter, the hurdlers were incredibly deep and the East Hartford junior stepped up a level and won the Open in the 4th best time in state history. Now he is getting closer to state records and the championships haven’t even started yet. Only Josh Mooney’s state record of 13.48 is left for him to challenge. Last week at the Middletown Invitational he broke the meet record with his 13.75 finishing time, the 2nd fastest in state history. On Saturday the Hornet broke two meet records, running 14.08 in the 110m hurdles and 38.17 in the 300m hurdles (17th CT all time). He follows two-time New England indoor 55m hurdles champion Lucas Andrade in the regional 110m hurdles rankings and has the top time in the 300m hurdles. For his performances, Johnson was awarded Bill Baron Athlete of the Meet.
There is a reason Glastonbury girls won their 6th State Open title in 17 years this fall. They always seem to replace graduating seniors with future stars. Freshman Lauren Parrett won the 3200m in 10:52.10, the fastest time among underclassmen this year. She was followed by her teammate, senior Lila Garbett in 2nd place with a PR of 11:08.97. Not too far behind the duo was another Guardian, Carolyn Kamp who just missed qualifying for the New Balance Nationals Outdoor Freshman 2-mile race by 3 seconds with her time of 11:38.95. Glastonbury already has five of their top seven returning for cross country next year and if Kamp joins the team, she will provide added star power for the next few years to come.
The past couple of years Daniel Hand High School has been producing great long sprinters that have combined for outstanding relays. They have broken their…
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