The big event this week was the Randy Smith Journal Inquirer Greater Manchester Outdoor Track and Field Meet, a title, there is no doubt, Smith would have made fun of for being overly formal.
Smith, a long-time columnist at the JI, was known for his sharply crafted sentences and barbed wit, which he often directed at himself.
Manchester won the boys meet, but Windsor junior Zachary Langs was the individual star. He set two meet records in individual events and took part in setting another as part of the Warriors winning 4x100 relay team.
Langs was the first set of fingerprints on the baton for Windsor as it raced to a time of 43.49, beating the old record of 43.74, set by East Hartford back in 1988. Alexander Smith, Daniel Jamieson and Sherrod Perry were the other three runners. Perry crossed the finish line almost a full second ahead of second place East Hartford, which finished in 44.31.
Langs also set meet records in the 110 and 300 meter hurdles.
In the 110, Langs erased his own record, which was 14.86, completing the race in 14.46 ahead of Manchester’s Kodjo Erasmus, who finished in 15.84. In the 300, Langs again took down a record more than two decades old. He ran the race in 38.45, which was again ahead of second-place Erasmus (42.31) but also ahead of the old record of East Hartford’s Tom Anderson, who finished in 39.24 back in 1988.
The only other meet record to fall was in the 1,600, where East Catholics Evan Cedrone and Christian Librizzi both beat the old mark of Tolland’s Trevor Lafontaine, who ran the race in 4:50.33 back in 2009.
Cedrone finished first in 4:46.33 with Librizzi behind him at 4:47.75.
The 1-2 finish was one of the reasons East Catholic was tops among small schools at the meet.
But the individual heroics of Cedrone and Langs could not overcome the depth of Manchester, which won the meet behind first place finishes from Kweku Adioo in the high jump and Algernon Johnson in the 100 and 200 meter dashes, plus a raft of second and thirds.
Tolland was the top finisher among medium-sized schools. The Eagles got a 1-2-5 finish in the 3,200. Lafontaine (9:37.06) was first ahead of Matt Mensher (9:51.54). Colin Sauter (10:12.18) was fifth.
Windsor finished 1-2-3 in the triple jump. Greg Andrade (21 feet, 5 inches) was first ahead of Diallo Felicien and Kwency Crittenden. Andrade also won the triple jump and the Warriors also got a first in the shot put from Tosin Edwards and from the team of Dwight Meggie, Alexander Smith. Kymm Gordon and Aaron Cruz in the 4x400 relay.
East Catholic got first place finishes from Jacob Shippee in the javelin and Andrew Hastings in the discus while East Windsor’s Matt Graham won the pole vault after clearing 12-feet.
ANOTHER NO-NO
A high school baseball team can go decades without pitching a no-hitter, which is why fans of Somers should make certain to hold this season in their memories.
Jake Alvaro pitched the second no-hitter for the Spartans this season on Wednesday. Alvaro no-hit Suffield as Somers won 5-0. On April 27, Jake Scheuer no-hit Coventry in a 5-0 Somers victory.
Alvaro’s gem, he walked two and hit a batter and allowed only one ball out of the infield, has propelled the Spartans to a four-game winning streak as the climb the seeding chart in the Class S tournament.
Somers (11-7) has climbed to 10th in the Class S rankings. The Spartans have games this week against Windsor Locks and Hale Ray and should be able to fine tune their rotation for the post-season.
Suffield (9-9) is also in the tournament but will need to play good baseball this week against Enfield and Bacon Academy to avoid heading into June on a losing streak. The Wildcats beat Enfield Tuesday, a 3-2 victory built on sturdy pitching and timely hitting from Kyle Eheander (the losing pitcher against Alvaro). The win was part of a four-game winning streak for the Wildcats. The streak is over and a tough schedule remains.
There is no such thing as a Patch curse. Really. Yes, there was a lengthy feature on East Catholic’s baseball team appearing on Manchester Patch. Yes, the Eagles had won 14 straight games when the feature appeared. Yes, East Catholic’s winning streak was snapped at 15 by Glastonbury Saturday. But there is no Patch curse.
Ellington (12-6) had nine days off before beating Windsor Locks 4-1 Saturday. The Purple Knights, who remain alive in the race for the NCCC title, have relied on a mix of seniors Dustin Mocadlo, Justin Vamvilis , Kevin Dwire, Zack Graves, Matt Janiga and Ryan Anderson along with younger players such as Jack Gagne, Mike Cleary, Garrett Palmer and Matt Kramer. The Knights have Enfield and Granby left on the schedule.
Enfield looks ahead at a crowded week with games against Suffield, Ellington, Fermi and Granby.
Rockville was off for seven days during the stretch of biblical weather. The layoff came as the Rams were riding a three-game winning streak. They built the streak to four with a victory over Hartford Public but a loss to RHAM-Hebron was marked with the kind of lapses that occur without enough practice. Rami Jadallah and company will hope to shake away the rust when they meet CCC East leader Fermi on Monday.
AROUND AND ABOUT
The forecast looks better for the Enfield volleyball team than it did two weeks ago. Not only did the Raiders avenge a loss to crosstown rival Fermi with a convincing 25-14, 25-18, 25-14 victory but they also notched a win against Glastonbury. The key has been the play at the net of Jeremy Chevalier, Zach Thurston, Hugh Lindo and Mark Sanzo.
Fermi (12-4) responded with a 3-0 win over Rockville built on the play of Nick Roberts and Josh Cheney.
After a 1-3 start, the E.O. Smith tennis team has won 9 of 10 matches. The Panthers are led by John Brvenik, Martin Porebski , Aidon Larson, John Mindek and Matt Kaminsky.
