By Senior Correspondent Marty Ogden, Editing and Graphics by Ron Knapp
The FCIAC West and East divisional championships were conducted on Saturday morning at Staples and Wilton High Schools. In the Western Division at Staples HS, the Greenwich girls defended their title while Staples boys won their fourth consecutive title. In the East division meet at Wilton, the Darien boys won their first title since 2017 and the New Canaan girls claimed the top prize in a very close battle winning their first title since they won seven straight from 1997 to 2003.
How the West Was Won
Host Staples boys defended their title scoring 155 points with Danbury and Norwalk tying for runner-up honors on their 160m flat track, scoring 78 points. Several top athletes from a few teams did not compete in this meet, so there is sure to be a shake up in the standings come Thursday’s FCIAC Championship in New Haven.
The Wreckers won six events sweeping all the individual events from the 600m and up plus two relays. Sebastian Rodriguez won the 600m in 1:32.26 and ran a leg of the winning 4x400m. Morgan Samuel won the 1000m (2:48.29) and returned to finish third behind Ben Lorenz (4:48.88) and Samuel Zwick-Lavinsky in the mile. Zwick-Lavinsky turned the tables on Lorenz and won the 2 mile in 10:29.60. Staples also won the sprint medley to add ten more points to their team title.
The Norwalk trio of Saul Liles (46-2), Edgardo Torres (43-11) and Jayden Baker (43-7) took the top three places in the shot put with Henry Wilkins setting a PR in the long jump (20-8.5) and running a leg of the winning 4x240m relay.
Danbury’s State Open runner-up cross country runners stayed behind to do a workout on Saturday, but the Hatters still did well in the straightaway races to add points to their total. Sophomores Machai Henry (6.81) and Tobeas Kelly (6.82) went 1-2 in the 55m with senior Nasir Ricketts (6.90) grabbing 5th. In the 55m hurdles senior Jalen Ward (8.20), Marciel Gomes Do Amaral (8.28) and Kemar Boswell (8.48) swept the top three places, good for 24 points.
Greenwich girls, fresh off their State Open championship in cross country, used their distance runners to pull ahead of the field. They scored 136 points with Staples at 115 points and Danbury taking 3rd with 72.
The Cardinals scored the bulk of their points on the track and were led by All New England 1000m runner Esme Daplyn who used this meet as a tune up workout for FCIACs on Thursday. She won the 600m in CLICK HERE to Read the Full Original Article at RunnerSpace News…