The Ridgefield girls’ team and Danbury’s boys’ team both won FCIAC indoor track and field championships and many conference athletes steadily improved and achieved peak performances in championship meets at the end of the season.
Danbury’s boys also had a pair of high placings in both state championship meets. Danbury was runner-up at the 2024 Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Boys Indoor Track and Field Class LL Championships and the Hatters followed that up with placing third at the CIAC State Open.
Ridgefield senior Ava Malagasi won the two longest races to lead the Tigers to the team title at the 2024 FCIAC Girls Indoor Track and Field Championships. They scored 83 points to finish 24 points ahead of runner-up Staples (59). Greenwich placed third with 54 points, Danbury (46) was fourth, and Wilton (43) completed the top five.
Machai Henry, Marciel Gomes Do Amaral, and Kyle Jeffers of Danbury each won one race, Danbury won two of the four relay races and the Hatters racked up 96 points to easily win the FCIAC boys championship meet. Defending champion Greenwich placed second with 51 points and was followed in the top five by Staples (49), Trumbull (46) and St. Joseph (42).
Two seniors from the FCIAC, Esme Daplyn of Greenwich and Ben Lorenz of Staples, won their respective races both the Class LL and State Open championship meets. Daplyn was the only girl from the FCIAC and Lorenz was the conference’s only boy who won an individual event at the State Open.
The FCIAC Championships on Feb. 1, the CIAC state class championship meets the following week, and then the CIAC State Open on Feb. 17 all were held at the Floyd Little Athletic Center at Hillhouse High School in New Haven.
Daplyn won her 600-meter race at the State Open with her time of one minute, 36.78 seconds. That was 0.26 of a second faster than runner-up Gabriella Hernandez (1:37.04) of E.O. Smith. A couple weeks later Daplyn ran 2.79 seconds faster with her 600 time of 1:33.99 when she was runner-up at the New England High School Indoor Track and Field Championship on March 2 in Boston. Daplyn got the strong finish to her indoor track career going when she won the 1,000 (2:58.37) at the FCIAC championship meet and then the 600 (1:34.42) at the CIAC Class LL meet.
Malagasi was the only girl who won two individual events at the FCIAC Championships when she led her Ridgefield Tigers to the championship. Malagasi first won the 1,600 in 5:09.58 and then won the 3,200 in 11:10.11. Later in the postseason Malagisi placed fourth in the 2-mile run at the New England Championships after she was runner-up in the State Open 3,200 with her time of 10:51.46 which was just 0.4 of a second behind winner Hannah Andrejczyk (10:51.06) of Shelton. Malagasi’s 2-mile time of 10:48.9 at the New England Championships was a significant improvement from her State Open 3,200 performance because the 2-mile race measures out 18.68 meters longer than the 3,200.
Norwalk junior Layla Roberts cleared the same height of 5 feet, 2 inches to win the high jump at both the FCIAC and state Class LL meets. Roberts placed fourth at State Open (5-0) and then soared three inches higher when she and Staples junior Addison Coughlin both cleared 5-3 to tie for 12th at the New England Championships. Coughlin previously had the same heights of 5-0 when she placed second at FCIAC, third at Class LL, and tied for fifth at the State Open.
Darien’s Julia Blake won the FCIAC 600 with a 1:37.76 and she later placed third at Class LL and fourth at the State Open.
Lauren Smith of New Canaan was the FCIAC shot put champion (38-5.25), the Class L runner-up (39-6.25), and fifth at the State Open (36-10).
Zen Blanks of Fairfield Warde was the FCIAC shot put runner-up (35-1.25) who went on to become the Class LL shot put champion (33-9).
The five other girls who won their individual events at the FCIAC championships were Danbury sprinter Aaliyah Cook (55-yard dash, 7.4), Wilton hurdler Anna LaBant (55 hurdles, 8.81), Stamford’s Bralynn Jacobs (300, 43.05), Fairfield Ludlowe long jumper Abigail Cerny (17-0) and Staples pole vaulter Daisy Seaborne (10-0).
Mya Salvino of Wilton placed sixth in 1,000 (3:05.06) at State Open and then lowered her time down to 3:04.62 when she placed 11th at the New Englands.
Casondra Caldwell of Bridgeport Central was third in the long jump (17-04.25) at Class LL and she improved by 2¼ inches to place sixth with a 17-6.5 at the State Open.
Glastonbury’s girls’ team won the Class LL and State Open team titles. From the FCIAC, Greenwich placed eighth with 23 points and Ridgefield was 13th with 10 points at the State Open nine days after Ridgefield finished in a three-way tie for fifth place with 28 points and Greenwich placed eighth with 24 points at the Class LL meet. Staples was third among FCIAC teams, placing ninth overall with 20 points.
The Danbury boys had a runner-up score of 66 points at the CIAC Class LL Championships and were just six points behind champion Hall. Five FCIAC teams placed among the top 10. Staples (31.5 points), Ridgefield (24) and Trumbull (22.5) placed 5-7 and Greenwich (18) was 10th. The Windsor boys won the State Open with 45 points. Lyman Hall placed second with 38.33 and Danbury was close behind in third place with 36. Staples placed ninth with 14 points and Ridgefield was 12th with 11.
Danbury’s boys team utilized the victories of sophomore sprinter Machai Henry in the 55-meter dash (6.51), Marciel Gomes Do Amaral in the 55 hurdles (8.16), and Kyle Jeffers in the 1,600 (4:28.23) as they led the Hatters to the program’s 21st FCIAC indoor championship, which is the conference record for most team titles.
Henry was also a member of Danbury’s winning 4×200 relay team, and he placed fourth in the 300. His postseason times in the 55-meter dash were quite consistent as he was the Class LL runner-up with a 6.53 and then he placed fourth (6.54) at the State Open.
Jeffers, a junior, and his senior teammate, Devon Rosemark, ran right with each other for the most part while placing 1-2, respectively, in the Class LL 1,000. Jeffers won with a 2:33.29 and Rosemark had a 2:33.68. Jeffers then placed second in the 1,000 (2:31.87) at the State Open and 12th in the 1,000 (2:33.63) at the New England Championships. Rosemark was again very close behind Jeffers at the State Open when Rosemark placed third with a 2:32.14.
Loren, got his successful postseason going by winning the FCIAC 3,200 in 9:42.46. He then won the 1,600 (4:27.54) at the Class LL state championships. Lorenz had a big drop in his time when won the 1,600 at the State Open by 2.13 seconds with his winning time of 4:16.44. The 1,600 is also known as the “metric mile” and Lorenz did actually run faster at the New England Championships when he placed third in the mile race with his time of 4:16.77 because the mile is 9.34 meters longer than the 1,600.
Jason Lambert of St. Joseph was the only boy who won two individual events at the FCIAC Championships. Lambert won the 600 in 1:28.55 and the 300 in 35.93.
Fairfield Warde senior Parker Broderick won the 1,000 (2:33.31) at the FCIAC Championships. He then moved up in distance and placed second in the Class LL 1,600 (4:28.02). Broderick had a season-best clocking of 4:20.53 when he finished third in the 1,600 at the State Open.
The four other winners of individual events at the FCIAC boys’ championship meet were shot-putter Edgardo Torres (44-1.25) and long jumper Henry Wilkins (21-5.75) of Norwalk, St. Joseph high jumper Christopher Recupero (6-0), and Westhill pole vaulter Nate Eisner (12-6).
NOTES: When Danbury’s boys team won the FCIAC indoor championship for the first time in 1993, the Hatters were co-champions by tying Staples at that meet. That was the 11th conference crown for Staples, then the FCIAC record. That year began Danbury’s incredible run of 21 conference championships in the last 32 seasons. Staples has the second most, having won its 17th two years ago, and Ridgefield (four) has the third most.