By Senior Correspondent Marty Ogden, Editing and Graphics by Ron Knapp
Some people claim Fairfield County is more like New York than New England and from the lineup of the Fast Times at Ridgefield High Invitational you would certainly think so tonight. With the New York border being less than a mile from the entrance to Ridgefield High, meet director and Ridgefield boys coach, Bryan Kovalsky has attracted some of the best distance runners from both states for an evening of 3200m races starting at 6 pm tonight.
Boys’ Top Entries
Sophomore Ryan Sykes of Horace Greeley was the NY Federation Champion in cross country and top 10 in NY in all the distance events this winter. Last year as a freshman, he ran 9:04 for 3200m so we just might be catching the rise of the next big national class distance runner and those in attendance on Saturday can say “we saw him before he was famous.”
New York is a much bigger state and it makes sense there would be more depth. Last year, Saratoga Springs’ Darren Pasek finished 6th in the 3200m in the time of 9:04.23 at the NYSPHSAA Outdoor State Championship and this year he has already won the NY Relays in 9:25 and beat his young rival Sykes by only .03 seconds. This should be a great rematch and provide plenty of excitement between these two Empire State boys.
John Jay High School in Cross River is only a 15 minute drive to Ridgefield, so this is almost a home meet for the Wolves. They are sending Andy Condon who was 2nd in the 3200m at the NYPHSAA Indoor State Championships with a time of 9:07.24. He has been undefeated so far this season in eight races over various distances so we will see if he is able to keep his streak alive.
Connecticut will be well represented. Of course Ridgefield’s top three will be there. The trio of Charles Lovett, Magnus Manley and Trevor Fuller were part of the New England record settinging 4x800m relay this winter and have serious distance credentials as well. Lovett ran 9:13 last year at this meet and was 13th at NXR-NE despite being injured for most of the cross country season. Manley ran 9:11 and finished right in front of Lovett at the Fast Times meet and was 3rd in the State Open in the fall. Fuller, despite running 9:19 for 3200m last year was not part of the record setting 4x800m and DMR last spring but he has worked his way into the “A” squad this year and improved to become All State and All New England this fall.
Amity’s Luke Cushing was State…
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