Track and field isn’t any normal high school sport. It isn’t dashing through to an endzone with pigskin between your arms. It also isn’t smashing a ninety-mile-per-hour ball out of the stadium. Track and field is a very diverse sport, including running, jumping, and throwing. The sport isn’t super popular within the state as a whole, but some may argue that this sport is bringing out the best talent in athletes around here.

West Hartford has schooled some of the most talented track and field athletes ever. In 2019, Hall High School won the sprint medley relay at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor, racing to a time of 3:26.26. This relay incorporated the best of Hall’s athletes in their respective events: Yovan Rivera (200 meters), Joseph Morin (200 meters), Muhammad Ali (400 meters), and Miller Anderson (800 meters).

In this 2021-2022 school year, astonishing performances were shown throughout the cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track have been outstanding. Conard Senior Gavin Sherry has run a personal best of 4:02.69 in the mile this indoor season, placing him fourth at the New Balance National Indoor competition. He also won the 2-mile at the New Balance Nationals Indoor with a speedy time of 8:48.59. In Gavin’s junior year of cross country, he was named one of the country’s best cross country runners by DyeStat.

Following right behind Gavin is his twin brother, Callum Sherry, who had been on a roll this indoor season and dropped some of his best times ever. At the 2022 Penn Relays this late April, Callum fell short in second place with a time in the 3000-meter of 8:25.86. Not to mention his indoor times, racing to a personal best of 4:09.80 in the mile at the New Balance Nationals Indoor. It didn’t stop there, because his excellent second-place performance in the 2 miles at the NBNI brought him a second-and-a-half from catching first place, none other than his brother, Gavin.

Conard’s Audrey Kirkutis became the runner-up of the high jump at the 2022 Penn Relays Competition at the University of Pennsylvania, clearing a mark of five feet, six-and-a-half inches. Kirkutis had a first-place finish at the 2022 New England Championships, jumping five feet, seven inches, and a fourth place finish at this year’s New Balance Indoor Nationals.

On the weekend of May 14th, Sophomore Gabe Sisk and Senior Sean McDaniel [Insert photo to the left] ran a huge personal best performance at the 54th Annual Glenn D. Loucks Games in White Plains, New York. Ranking tenth and twelfth overall in the 800-meter run, Sisk ran a blistering 1:55.77, and McDaniel not too far behind in a 1:55.83. These two times placed both boys in first and second in the Class LL division. In addition, the class of Freshmen/Sophomores of Hall traveled down to Bowen Field at Hillhouse High School to compete in the 6th Froshmore Championship Meet. Blowing away the rest of the field with a whopping 187 points and seven first-place finishes, the class proved that they are here to stay in the coming years. Notable performances include :

• Sophomore Nick Xavier 1st in the SP & the Discus
• Sophomore Colby Yingling 1st in the pole vault
• Freshman Ben Lewis 1st in the 1600
• Sophomore Bryce Blodgett 1st in the 300 hurdles
• 4×8 1st place – Frankie Dewander, Howie Lam, Owen Murphy, Connor Mayr
• 4×4 1st place – Fareed AbuRabia, Tommy Nash, Julian Serrano, Jeremy Baun
• Sophomore Izu Nwachucku 2nd in the Discus
• Sophomore Tommy Nash 2nd in the 400
• Sophomore Jeremy Baun 2nd in the 800
• Sophomore David Ladieu & Freshman Duncan Caruk tied 2nd in the pole vault
• Sophomore Declan Kerr 3rd in the 300 hurdles
• 4×1 3rd place – Amecca Freeman, Griffin Margolis, Shawn Middletown, Kam France
• Freshman Zahir Butler 4th in the Shot Put, and 1st freshmen

The talent in this field is endless. The freshmen-sophomore class has proven its dominance in Track and Field this weekend, and for years to come, the team’s strength in every event will become even stronger.