By Senior Correspondent Marty Ogden, Associate Correspondent Brynn Sherry, Editing, Photos and Graphics by Ron Knapp
Photos – Track & Field Events by Ron Knapp
Under less than ideal conditions, athletes from the six state region converged upon New Britain’s Veteran Memorial Stadium on Saturday for the 78th Annual New England Interscholastic Outdoor Track & Field Championships. By the end of the dreary, cold and wet day, Connecticut athletes claimed 15 gold medals with countless other top six finishes.
We are living in the glory days of CT throwing and we should appreciate the talent of these athletes, because in the words of Bruce Springsteen, “Glory days… they will pass you by in the blink of a young girl’s eye.” Between the two genders there were six gold medals up for grabs and Connecticut athletes took home four of them. Simsbury’s Marshall Potter has gone undefeated this year in the discus with wins at The Loucks Games, Middletown Invitational, CCC, Class L and the State Open. On Saturday, he popped off a seven foot personal best of 192-07 and came within three inches of Gary Moore’s CT state record while adding the New England meet record to his resume. This throw moves him up to 33rd in the national and #2 in CT history. He also finished 4th in the shot put with a throw of 60-5.5 which gives him six throws in his life over the 60 foot mark.
Backing him up in the discus was his friendly rival, Thomas Matlock of East Lyme who finished 4th with a PR throw of 175-6. The Viking led a 2-3-4 finish for CT as he took home the silver medal with a distance of 62-5.5 with Chris Amy of Norwich Free Academy reaching a distance of 61-8.0.
The boys javelin was dominated by Thomas Bannon of Rockville. The senior who will compete for UConn next year had three throws over 197 and landed a mark of 211 feet, 9 inches which move him up to #6 nationally and #3 all time in CT history, a mere foot off Stephen Simalchik’s 16-year old state record. His toss earned a New England meet record bypassing the 207-07 mark set in 2010 by Kyle Quinn of Somerset MA. Also earning a medal was Haddam-Killingworth’s Trevor Dixon who took 5th with a 165-11.
Boys 300m hurdles
Davian Johnson of East Hartford came back from his disappointment in the 110m hurdles and delivered a sensational performance in the 300m hurdles, breaking the 31-year old meet record held by Aaron Hayes with a time of 36.90. Johnson’s time marks not only…
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