By: Andrew Maglio 

This past weekend on Friday, January 10th, and Saturday the 11th, the fervor radiating from Coxe Cage was palpable. Nearly two dozen athletes represented Conard High School at the annual Yale Interscholastic Track Classic, held in New Haven, CT. Competing with dozens of teams from all across the Northeast, our Chieftains had a very strong showing, setting ‘PR’s (personal records), securing medals, and even climbing in state and national rankings!

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On Friday, both boys and girls participated in a myriad of races. In the 4x200, the boys team placed second out of 43 teams with a time of 1:33.22, shattering the school’s previous record! Brenden started the race quickly moving into a close second. During the first handoff, Chris Maglio slid into first. John Gabinelle grew the lead and Nate Rinaldi secured the win in an all out sprint. Also, notably from boys sprinting on Friday was the bronze medal they secured in the 4x400 (Connecticut large section) with a time of 3:37.40- many of the same runners whom had just medaled in the 4x200. (Evan Belabe also ran in the 4x400.) On the distance side of racing, the boys DMR (distance medley relay) placed second, beting St. Raphael by only .15 seconds! The four athletes in this race were Sophonias Dires, Vebjoern Roeed, Callum Sherry and Gavin Sherry.

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On Saturday, in the morning, Conard junior, Chloe Scrimgeour placed third out of more than 240 girls in the 3000m championship! In the afternoon, sophomore Gavin Sherry placed first in the boys mile race with a time of 4:18.11, a personal record for him. After holding the lead in the beginning, dropping back into second and battling it out with Aidan Puffer (a sophomore from Manchester), he emerged victorious. Gavin’s mile time is one of the fastest this season nationally! Conard also had two other top-15 finishes: Vebjoern Roeed and Callum Sherry who placed 7th and 13th respectively.

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Two sprinters, Brenden Hill, a junior, and Chris Maglio, a senior, advanced from over 120 sprinters to the semi-finals of the 55m dash. Both runners achieved personal bests with Brenden Hill finishing in 6.73 seconds and Chris Maglio finishing in 6.76 seconds.

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On the ‘field’, Allison Schneider competed and placed fourth overall in the high jump amidst a fierce line up of competitors.

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At Yale Track Classic, the Chieftains showcased their dominance in field, long distance and sprinting events. Conard achieved great success where school and personal records were broken and many athletes came home with awards or top finishes. Conard Indoor Track continues their season with several other meets before Connecticut’s championship races which will take place in mid February.