NEW HAVEN – Danbury had a runner-up finish and then a third-place finish in team scoring in the two boys indoor track and field state class state championship meets, while Benjamin Lorenz of Staples was the lone FCIAC athlete who was an individual champion in both meets and Ridgefield won the 4×800 relay event in the two meets.
Those were the significant achievements and there were several more conference teams which placed high in the team scoring and athletes who placed high in races and field events in both meets.
Danbury placed second at the 2024 Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Boys Indoor Track and Field Class LL Championships and was then third at the State Open. Both meets took place at Floyd Little Athletic Center.
William Hall High School from West Hartford won the team title by six points over Danbury in the Class LL boys state championship meet on Feb. 8. Hall scored 72 points, Danbury had 66 while leading a group of five FCIAC teams which placed in the top 10, and Manchester placed third with 61 points. As for the other four FCIAC teams in the top 10: Staples (31.5 points), Ridgefield (24) and Trumbull (22.5) placed 5-through-7 respectively, and Greenwich (18) was 10th.
Nine days later, on Feb. 17, Windsor won its first State Open in school history with 45 points. Lyman Hall placed second with 38.33, Danbury was third with 36 and Hall was two points behind Danbury in fourth place. Staples tied for ninth with 14 points and Ridgefield was 12th with 11 points.
Lorenz won his second 1,600-meter state championship at the State Open with a time of 4:16.44 which was 2.13 seconds ahead of runner-up Colby Bornstein (4:18.57) of Tolland. Bornstein later won the 3,200 (9:19.08) at the State Open. Lorenz ran 11.1 seconds faster in his State Open 1,600 for a significant drop from his clocking of 4:27.54 in his victorious Class LL race. Lorenz then placed second in the Class LL 3,200 (9:43.05) and his teammate, Samuel Zwick-Lavinsky, was about a second behind him while placing third with a 9:44.04.
Two FCIAC athletes were individual champions at the Class LL state championship meet as Brien McMahon’s Jayden Triana won the 300 in 36.09.
The Ridgefield 4×800 relay team of Magnus Manley, Pearse McInerney, Aidan Nelson, and Steven Hergenrother won the State Open with a time of 8:01.82 which became the fastest time in the state and the 23rd fastest time in the country. Nine days earlier the quartet of McInerney, Charles Lovett, Manley and Hergenrother teamed up to win the Class LL 4×800 in 8:07.66 and that became the fastest time in the state and the 61st fastest time in the country at that point.
Danbury received some big performances and plenty of team points from sprinter Machai Henry and 1,000-meter runners Kyle Jeffers and Devon Rosemark in both state championship meets. Jeffers was the winner with a clocking of 2:33.29 and Rosemark (2:33.68) was runner-up in the Class LL race, and then they both improved on their times at the State Open when Jeffers (2:31.87) and Rosemark (2:32.14) placed second and third respectively.
Henry, just a sophomore, ran the anchor leg on the 4×200 relay team which won the Class LL race in 1:33.79 and then eventually recorded the state’s second fastest time (1:31.95) of the season with its runner-up finish behind Windsor (1:31.21) at the State Open. Nasir Ricketts, Julian Farmer Campbell, and Tobeos Kelly sprinted the first three legs for the Hatters in both meets. Henry was also runner-up in the 55-meter dash (6.53) at the Class LL championships and he placed fourth at the State Open 55 dash with a 6.54.
Two more Danbury Hatters contributed big points at the Class LL meet by placing third in individual events – Jonathan Joyner in the long jump (20 feet, 10.75 inches) and Jalen Ward in the 55 hurdles (8.13).
Another FCIAC relay team won a Class LL state championship as Trumbull’s foursome of Sebastian Perez, Timmy Keane, Liam O’Keefe, and Harjaap Singh teamed up to win the 4×400 relay with a time of 3:34.03 which was 1.96 seconds faster than runner-up Hamden (3:35.99).
Fairfield Warde’s 1,600 runner Parker Broderick also ran very well in both meets. He was runner-up to Lorenz in the Class LL meet with a 4:28.02 and, similarly to Lorenz, Broderick had a big improvement at the State Open when he dropped his time down to 4:20.53 while placing third.
Three more FCIAC athletes placed among the top three in individual events at the Class LL state championship meet. Westhill pole vaulter Nate Elsner vaulted 12 feet, six inches to place second, Ridgefield’s Kieran Boyle placed third in the 55 dash (6.57), and Trumbull’s Mason Sweeney tied for third in the high jump (5-10).