The Hall boys end the season undefeated after a win over crosstown West Hartford rival Conard at Monday’s track and field meet.

By Howie Lam. Photos by Bridget Bronsdon and Craig Rosenberg

It’s every West Hartford high school track and field athlete’s favorite dual meet – the annual Hall vs. Conard meet. From the competitive sprints, to the thrilling distance races, all the way to the 4x100m relay with throwers, the meet never fails to be one of the most anticipated competitions for both high schools during the track and field season.

Hall’s boys team ended its normal season of meets undefeated against all of the teams in the CCC Conference, going 7-0 and defeating their West Hartford rivals 91-59 on Monday, while Conard’s boys team boasted an impressive 5-2 record for the season, only losing to Hall and Glastonbury.

Hall’s girls team also managed to pull out the win over Conard on Monday, with the score being 89-61.

To start off the meet on the track for the girls, Julia Zydanowicz, Abby Sanderson, Maddy Peterson, and Rylan Priest were able to put down five points for Hall’s girls team in the 4x800m relay, beating Conard’s Bridget Dawson, Lucia Rittlinger, Hailey Wojciechowski, and Emily Fleischmann, with a time of 10:41.90 to 11:17.16.

Following that, both Conard and Hall boys teams assembled two freshman 4x800m teams to duke it out for the first event. Conard’s team (Samuel Burgio, Conrad Kalke, Jack Clayton, and Andrew Bennett) were able to edge out Hall’s team (Kedem Noyman, Jonah Rosenberg, Ian Wolfe, and Max Prince) to put down five points for the Red Wolves.

In the girl’s 4x100m relay, Conard’s Gracelyn Williams, Macy McPhee, Mariana Temponi, and Keyera Craig edged out Hall’s Katheryn Hynes, Lauren Moskal, Katie Moskal, and Kiki Melick. On the boy’s side, Minso Tumbahangphe, Anthony Catanzaro, Giancarlo Fedolfi, and JeanCarlo Barquinero put down a fast time for Conard of 43.36, with Hall’s Charlie Cameron, Jordan Brice, Sam Sandler, and Shawn Middleton finishing just behind in 43.60.

Not only did the Conard boys win the 4x100m, they also returned in the open 100m to sweep the podium 1-4, with Giancarlo Fedolfi who led the “Red C” in 11.15s. Hall’s top boy finisher, Jordan Brice, clocked a time of 11.74, qualifying himself for the Class LL state meet. Gracelyn Williams also brought it home for Conard in the girl’s 100m dash in 13.03, topping Hall’s Lauren Moskal who finished just behind her in 13.30.

Following into the boy’s 1600m, Conard’s Grant Walters was able to put down the hammer on the last lap for the win in a time of 4:29.81, over Hall’s Fareed Abu Rabia, who finished behind in 4:32.35.

Tess Sherry and Liv Sherry gave the girl’s 400m a 1-2 punch, going 58.42 and 58.91 respectively, a personal best for both girls. They both returned later in the 4x400m to help their relay team qualify for the New Balance Outdoor Nationals, along with Hall’s girls team who finished ahead of them in a time of 4:00.51. The boys for Hall’s A team in the 4x400m relay won by a fair amount, as they finished in a time of 3:38.34. Conard’s team trailed behind and finished in 3:49.63.

Hall’s Sam Sandler held off Giancarlo Fedolfi in the 200m in a season best of 22.36 for the boy’s 200m. Fedolfi followed in a personal best of 22.70.

In the 3200m, boys from both Hall and Conard were paced to qualifying times for the state Class LL championships as well as the CCC championships. Donovan Connole, Uri Noyman, Evan Piccioli, and Jonathan Pincus were all able to slide under 10:10 to qualify for Class LL, while Thijs Doot, Neev Kanwar, Andrew Greden, Nathan Yingling, Diego Acker Candela, Isaiah Cyr, Apurv Manjrekar, Jonah Schulman, and Tommy Boulter all finished under the 10:50 mark to qualify for CCCs.

Over in the field, Hall’s boys swept 1-5 in the varsity shot put, led by senior Miguel Herrera. In the javelin throw, Hall’s Dominic Russos won by 6 feet, as he threw an impressive 149-06 feet. Hall’s Josh Horenstein qualified for the state Class LL championships, as he set a new personal best of 143-07 feet. Jacob Walters followed in third for Hall in a throw of 132-07 feet.

In the boys high jump, 110m and 300m hurdle winner William Ladd added a third win to the evening, clearing a height of 5’ 10.

In addition, Hall’s Madi Vargas launched the shot put to a new best of 34-05.00 feet. Conard’s Lizzy Bidwell won the high jump, as she cleared a height of 5-02.00 feet.

Angela Dulnuan scored another 10 points for Conard with a clearance of 9-00.00 feet in the girl’s pole vault, followed by Hall’s top scorer, Pri Magavi with a height of 8-06.00 feet.

In the girls javelin, Hall’s Madison Maxwell won with a PR of 93-04 feet, leading a sweep by the Hall girls in the event.

Next Tuesday, both teams will be traveling to Willowbrook Park in New Britain for the CCC West division championships. This meet will bring all seven teams of the west conference together: Avon, Conard, Farmington, Glastonbury, Hall, Northwest Catholic, Simsbury, and Southington to compete for the title of CCC champion.

Will Hall continue to defend its title and roll its way into the rest of championship season? To follow along, click here (https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/498116/info) for more information regarding the meet.

Like what you see here? Click here to subscribe to We-Ha’s newsletter so you’ll always be in the know about what’s happening in West Hartford! Click the blue button below to become a supporter of We-Ha.com and our efforts to continue producing quality journalism.