Hall Track and Field Dominated the Class L Championship

On Tuesday May 29th, the Hall High School boys and girls Outdoor Track and Field teams bused down to Middletown, CT to compete in the Class L State Championship Meet. Both the boys and girls teams had plans of finishing as one of the top teams however that was not going to be easy.

The competition on the boys side was fierce; 22 competing teams with 5 teams favored to battle for the state championship title. Hall was one of the teams that was seen as a “possible threat” for the title however they were seeded to finish in fifth. Based on seeds before the meet, the overall scores were predicted to be Middletown in first with 79 points, Bristol Central in second with 69 points, Xavier in third with 61 points, New Milford in fourth with 60 points, and Hall in fifth with 54 points (in track, the team with the most amount of points wins). These seeds didn’t have the Hall coaches worried, they had faith that the team could do better than fifth.

The meet had a very exciting start on both the boys and girls side. The first event was the 4×800 meter relay; the Hall girls were seeded to get 10th place in this race. The young, talented team was composed of Mia Healer (Fr), Rose Kitz (So), Emily Cubbage (So), and Jenna Zydanowicz (So). After an intense first three legs, it all came down to the anchor. Zydanowicz received the baton in second place and after one lap of trailing the leader, she made her move and finished the race in first place with a team time of 9:49.91! The amazing upset gave the girls team 10 points and a qualification for the State Open.

The boys 4×800 meter relay was equally as exciting as the girls race. The team was composed of Cole Canarie (Sr), Dylan Rendon (Jr), Mo Ali (Jr), and Miller Anderson (Jr). They were favored to win, but not by much; Xavier High School posed a big threat to Hall as they looked for the victory as well. The first three legs for the Hall team were ran very strong and gave the team the lead as the baton was handed to the anchor leg in first place. However the race wasn’t over yet as Xavier was just behind Hall. Anderson made a ballistic move at the very start to try to surge and get away from Xavier. He furthered Hall’s lead allowing him to cruise to the finish in first place with a team time of 8:09.49. This race also gave the boys 10 points and a qualification for the State Open. It was an incredible start to the meet for Hall.

Throughout the meet, Hall was performing very well and remained among the top teams. The meet was very close, scoring and placement changed after every event; sometimes Hall would be in the lead but sometimes an event left them trailing behind. There was no way to tell which team would come out victorious, it was clear that every point would matter.

After the 3200 meter run, the coaches realized that the 4×400 meter relay was going to determine the winner of the meet. Middletown was in first place at the moment but they did not have an eligible 4×400 meter relay team as their usual runners had all ran the maximum amount of events per meet. That meant that if Hall’s 4×400 meter relay finished in 4th place or better, Hall would win the meet.

Hall’s relay team of Naji Middleton (Sr), Jason Farrell (Jr), Mo Ali (Jr), and Miller Anderson knew what was on the line, but they didn’t let the pressure get the best of them. With a very strong performance, the 4×400 meter relay team finished in second place gaining eight points and putting Hall in first place for it’s very first Outdoor Track and Field Class L State title! “Going into the meet I knew we could pull off the upset and we did” said Miller Anderson, a Hall Junior who helped gain twenty-six points.

On the girls side, Windsor High School had already secured the win but the 4×400 meter relay was a crucial event for the final scoring as the fight for second, third, and fourth place was tight. A sixth place finish in the 4×400 by the Hall girls kept them ahead of simsbury by two points which allowed them to finish in second place overall!

This was the first time that Hall has ever won an Outdoor Track and Field Class L Championship. “I was expecting everyone in a Hall uniform to give it their best, and I thought if we did that, we would end up with a good team finish, but a win and a runner up finish? That was pretty sweet. While it was a possibility it seemed unlikely to end the day with those results” said Coach Everett Hackett. With a State Championship for the boys and a runner up finish by the girls, the strength of the Hall Track and Field team was shown in a superior fashion. Teams throughout the state now know Hall is a powerhouse team and with so many young athletes, Hall’s future look bright and has the coaches anticipating next year already. When asked about the future of the team, Coach Hackett answered, “The hard work put in by many of the seniors and juniors inspire the sophomores and freshman. As long as the torch continues to be passed Hall Track and Field will be strong teams for many years to come”.