NEW BRITAIN – The Bloomfield girls track team has won 14 Class S state outdoor championships since 2008.
This year, the Warhawks were moved up to Class M, but it didn’t matter. They dominated once again.
Bloomfield won the Class M championship Tuesday with 169 points at Willowbrook Park. Runner-up Sacred Heart had 73.
The Warhawks, who won the State Open last year, have a new infusion of young talent. Freshman Saphyr Brown won the 100 meters and the long jump. Sophomore D’Asia Duncan, who moved to Bloomfield from Florida, set meet records in the 100 hurdles (14.32) and the 300 hurdles (44.05).
Class M: D’Asia Duncan of Bloomfield sets the meet record in the 100 hurdles winning in 14.32 and she just set another meet record in the 300 hurdles (44.05) #cttrack pic.twitter.com/PUgHJo0ERQ
— Lori Riley (@lrileysports) May 29, 2024
“It was my goal coming in here,” Duncan said. “I saw the records and I said, ‘I definitely can do this.’ I was happy with my performances.”
Bloomfield had 13 girls qualify for the 200 meters and had seven in the top 10, including winner Jahniya Barclay, who also led a 1-2-3 Bloomfield finish in the 400.
It’s almost an all Bloomfield 200 meter fast heat, Jahniya Barclay beats her teammates to win in 25.12 for the Class M title #cttrack pic.twitter.com/3GA9aKsdmL
— Lori Riley (@lrileysports) May 29, 2024
“They love the 200,” Bloomfield coach Anne Burrows said. “That’s their thing. How can you tell a kid running 26 (seconds) flat they can’t run the 200? It’s not their fault eight of their teammates are running 25 (seconds).”
Bloomfield even survived what Burrows called a “mishaps” in the 4×100 relay, where her team ended up as a DNF (did not finish) in the race. Burrows didn’t want to elaborate on what happened.
“The 4×100 ended in heartbreak,” she said. “But they took their misfortune and capitalized on it and did what they had to do. They bounced back.”
Bloomfield ended the meet by breaking the 4×400 relay record (3:53.24) with the team of Duncan, Barclay, Soleil Dixon and Kiylah Williams. The record was set by Hillhouse (3:55.70) in 2018.
“They have so much talent,” Burrows said. “This is the biggest class we’ve brought to the state meet by like 10 kids. I usually only have 20.”
The Sheehan boys won their first title since 2014, when the Titans won their first ever outdoor state championship. Coach Dale Nosel thought his team had a shot but a lot of things fell into place.
“Thursday night the entries came out, then I went to work – I had a spreadsheet to tabulate everything,” he said. “We were second place trailing by 2 ½ points.
“We had a team meeting Friday. I said, ‘Here’s where we’re at. We can do something that’s only been done once for the boys in school history outdoors.’ They were focused and locked in and in seven events, we scored more points than we were projected. We got done what we needed to get done.”
Sheehan had two winners: Wilson Moya, who won the javelin (180 feet, 1 inch) and Zayan Ahmed (triple jump, 43 feet). Dan Phoenix was second in the shot put and Jayden Dougherty and Ahmed finished 2-3 in the long jump.
“Everybody knew what they had to do,” Nosel said.
Suffield’s Griffin Mandirola wins 3,200
Tolland’s Colby Bornstein beat Suffield’s Griffin Mandirola in the 1,600. Mandirola returned the favor in the 3,200, trailing for the entire race then outkicking Bornstein in the final 100 meters to win in 9:16.32. Both Mandirola and Bornstein (9:16.68) went under the meet record of 9:17.48.
Suffield’s Griffin Mandirola outkicks Colby Bornstein of Tolland to win the Class M 3,200 title in 9:16.32 #cttrack pic.twitter.com/blud4URqVQ
— Lori Riley (@lrileysports) May 29, 2024
“The plan was to go through the mile and see how it feels and with a lap left, see if I could take him,” Mandirola said. “I kind of got a second life with 300 left and the last 100, I kicked it in.
“He’s a great athlete. It’s always a good race when we race.”