Several athletes from West Hartford competed at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor Championships in Philadelphia.

Hall’s Liam Wright placed first in the Rising Stars Boys Pole Vault, clearing a height of 15 feet 5 inches. Courtesy of Hall Athletics

By Howie Lam

Last weekend, Hall High School sent a handful of individual athletes and relays down to the University of Pennsylvania’s famed Franklin Field for the New Balance Nationals Outdoor Championships to cap off a historic season – and year – for the cross country and track and field programs. 

On the first day of the championships, Colin Goldschmidt, Ethan Striff-Cave, Avery Allen, and Isaac Mahler competed in the Championship Boys 4xMile relay. Mahler, the anchor leg, brought home a 15th place finish in the relay in a 4:23 split for a collective time of 17:58.18, a new school record.

To kick off Friday’s competition, Joe Nham, Julian Serrano, Maximus Fite, and Bryce Blodgett finished 25th overall in the Championship Boys 1000m sprint medley relay (100m-200m-300m-400m), in a time of 2:06.42, the second-fastest performance all-time for the Titans.

After a long delay that was enforced due to a passing thunderstorm in Philadelphia, Avery Allen, Aaron Sandler, Lucas Pyrro, and Ethan Striff-Cave scored a ninth place finish in the Rising Stars Boys Distance Medley Relay (1200m-400m-800m-1600m). Anchor leg Striff-Cave bounced back after the previous 4xMile race to split a 4:25 for the 1600m, advancing the team by three places from when he first received the baton. 

Following the DMR, Jacob Szalewicz, Jack Pastor, Connor Mayr, and Jeremy Baun fought hard for a 17th place finish in the Rising Stars Boys 4x800m in a time of 8:13.23. From the gun, Szalewicz started from the back and moved his way up throughout the race. Szalewicz handed off to Pastor in fifth place, where the Titan ran just shy of his personal best for a 2:04.33 split. The third leg, Mayr, was able to hold his place for the team with a 2:02.23 leg, finally handing it off to Baun who finished in 2:06.25.

The Hall Girls placed first in their heat and third overall in the Rising Stars 4x800m. Pictured left to right, top to bottom: Rylan Priest, Abigail Sanderson, Julia Zydanowicz, Madeline Peterson. Courtesy of Hall Athletics

Abigail Sanderson, Julia Zydanowicz, Madeline Peterson and Rylan Priest ran a dominating race that won their heat and placed them third overall in the Rising Stars Girls 4x800m. The girls collectively finished in a time of 9:31.79, which is a little over a second shy of their season’s best (which is ranked second all-time for the school). All four athletes are returning juniors and seniors, so the record is at high risk of being broken next year.

Ending off Friday night was the Championship Boys 4x800m relay. Isaac Mahler started the race off for the team strong, handing off the baton in fourth place for a 1:57.91 split. His teammate, Gabriel Sisk, chased down the teams ahead of him and was able to eventually catch two of them on the final homestretch to give the baton to Fareed Abu Rabia in second place. Abu Rabia maintained the team’s positioning, before anchor leg Jonathan York ran a blistering 1:54.88 final leg split to secure a sixth place finish overall. Their official time of 7:45.49 puts the squad less than two seconds away from the school record, and earned the Titans All-American honors.

The Hall boys earned All-American Honors with a sixth place finish in the Championship Boys 4x800m. Pictured left to right, top to bottom: Gabriel Sisk, Jonathan York, Fareed Abu Rabia, Isaac Mahler. Courtesy of Hall Athletics

Anna Siciliano edged out the school record for the Rising Stars Girls Discus on Saturday morning, throwing a distance of 118-8 feet, bettering the school record by almost a full foot and earning a 12th place finish in the event.

Jacob Walters finished seventh overall in the Rising Stars Boys Javelin Throw with a new personal best of 161-6 feet, improving on his personal best that he set a few weeks ago by over five feet. His teammate, Dominic Russos, finished 17th in the Javelin Throw with a final distance of 153-9 feet.

In what was most arguably the most thrilling event of the meet for the team, the conference, division, and state open pole vault champion Liam Wright was on the center stage for the Rising Stars Boys Pole Vault. Throughout the afternoon, the team cheered him on as he advanced further and further. Once he cleared 14-7.25 feet (4.45m), things got exciting. Shortly after on his second attempt at 15-1.75 feet (4.60m), Wright cleared the height and set a school record. However, Wright wasn’t done there. On his first attempt at 15-5 feet (4.70m), Wright cleared the bar and broke the school record once again. Wright was able to secure the win over DM Stags’ Ashton McCullers by one miss that McCullers had made on his 15-1.75 foot attempt.

Joe Nham, Jordan Brice, Maximus Fite, and Aaron Sandler ran the second fastest time in school history for the 800m sprint medley relay (100m-100m-200m-400m), as the group ran a time of 1:38.44.

A few hours later in the Championship Boys Sprint Medley Relay (200m-200m-400m-800m), Samuel Sandler was out of the blocks as soon as the gun went to run a monstrous first half-lap before Thomas Nash received the baton to also sprint a solid leg. Nash handed off to Jonathan York, who ran a 47-second split for the 400m leg, and Gabriel Sisk closed off the race to finish 17th overall.

Colin Goldschmidt, Julian Serrano, Fareed Abu Rabia, and Isaac Mahler finished 11th overall in the Championship Boys Distance Medley Relay (1200m-400m-800m-1600m), with splits of 3:12.45 (Goldschmidt), 52.29 (Serrano), 1:58.61 (Abu Rabia), and 4:15.76 (Mahler). 

The Hall girls placed 12th overall in the Rising Stars 4x400m. Pictured left to right: Kathryn Moskal, Julia Zydanowicz, Lauren Moskal, Rylan Priest. Courtesy of Hall Athletics

Lauren Moskal, Julia Zydanowicz, Kathryn Moskal, and Rylan Priest secured a 12th place finish in the Rising Stars Girls 4x400m relay. The first two legs managed to stay in a solid second place, before Moskal was able to catch a team ahead of her on the final turn. Priest ran a ridiculous 58.23 second split for the anchor leg, as the team collectively totaled to a time of 3:59.67, a little over half of a second off of the current school record.

To finish off the astonishing weekend, Samuel Sandler, Gabriel Sisk, Thomas Nash, and Jonathan York stepped onto the track at Franklin Field one more time for the Championship Boys 4x400m. With strong splits run by all athletes, York was able to drop the hammer and dash through the line splitting 47.78 as the anchor, which ultimately earned them sixth place and All-American Honors for the relay. 

This year for the Hall Track and Field program was one that will not be forgotten for years to come. To achieve State Open titles in all three seasons (Cross Country, Indoor Track and Field, Outdoor Track and Field), the Hall boys joined the just two other teams in the state to have completed the feat (Danbury in 2008 and Xavier in 1987). Not only that, but numerous records were broken and the all-time performance lists were re-written by many athletes. 

Conard

A handful of girls from West Hartford’s Conard High School also competed at the New Balance National Outdoor Track and Field Championship in Philadelphia last weekend.

Twins Tess and Liv Sherry, who just completed an outstanding sophomore season for the Red Wolves, ran in the 800m and 1 mile Championship races. Tess finished 21st in the 800m (2:11.45), and Liv finished 36th in 2:12.65.

In the mile, both turned on the jets to finish strong, with Tess crossing the finish line in 15th place (4:49.20) and Liv in 21st place (4:51.68).

Both Sherrys also ran in the 4x400m Rising Stars Girls relay, teaming up with fellow rising junior Daphne Brewer and recent graduate Macy McPhee, finishing in 20th place in a time of 4:03.42.

Princeton-bound Audrey Kirkutis cleared 5-03.00 in the high jump Championship, while rising junior Lizzy Bidwell jumped 5-03.25 in the Rising Stars high jump to take 11th place.

Ronni Newton contributed to this report

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