Tolland High Track Athletes Make Mark at Nationals

What had been established during the Connecticut high school track and field season was reaffirmed recently on the national stage by the performance of eight Tolland High School athletes at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in Greensboro, N.C.

Three Eagles’ javelin throwers and two girls relays performed well at the National Championship meet held on June 17 and 18.

“It was a very positive experience,” girls coach Corey Bernier, who along with three parents accompanied the athletes to North Carolina, said. “Everyone had a good time. They all learned a lot and, hopefully, they’ll go back next year and improve. They got the big-meet jitters out of the way. This is a much bigger stage than the State Open and the New England Championships.”

The best performance from Tolland during the national competition came in the girls 3,200-meter (4 by 800) relay, which had qualified for the championship division with one of the 19 best times in the country among teams that submitted entries.

The Eagles were seeded 19th and last, with the slowest seeding time, and improved five spots to finish in 14th-place with a time of 9 minutes and 22.96 seconds. A team from Bronxville, N.Y. won in 8:49.85. The Tolland 4x800 relay placed third in the State Open (9:25.44), first in the Class M Championships (9:48.92) and second at the New England Championships (9:21.20).

“There’s nothing wrong with being in the top 15 in the country,” Bernier said.

Kristin Carr ran lead-off in 2:19.13 for the Eagles in North Carolina, then handed off the baton to Emily Howard (2:17.85), followed by Alli Gallo (2:23.96), then Katy Sprout (2:22.03), a sophomore, as the anchor; the others are juniors.

“I was very happy with their performance,” Bernier said. “They more than exceeded my expectations for the year. They took 14 seconds off the old school record. I opened up with our two fastest runners. I wanted to make sure that we were in the race. We didn’t get faster down there but we were able to beat some teams.”

The 4x400 relay entered in the emerging elite division (slower times than championship division) and suffered the calamity of dropping the baton. Yet, the relay team did not finish last after a remarkable recovery (4:04.97). Cosby of Virginia won in 3:53.68; the Maryland Titans won the championship division in 3:46.16.

The Eagles were fourth at the State Open (4:01.4), first in Class M (4:01.96) and eighth in New England (3:59.38). Carr ran first, followed by sophomore Carly Dedominicus, Sprout, then Howard. The baton fell when Sprout was handing off to Howard.

“It was in her hand. One second it was there, then the next it wasn’t,” Sprout, who did not try to shirk responsibility for the mishap, said. “I don’t know what happened. I’ve looked at the video a million times.”

Bernier wouldn’t quite pin the blame on Sprout.

“I’d say we lost five seconds [from the dropped baton]. I cannot figure out what happened,” he said. “I thought they had it wrapped up. They [Sprout, Howard] are two of the most reliable [in the relay]. It was surprising; it was unfortunate. It can happen anytime. It’s happened to numerous good teams. You just cannot have that happen at the National Championships.”

Despite the drop, the girls are not discouraged about their changes at nationals in 2012.

“They’re all motivated to get back to the Nationals next year and finish up the race,” Bernier said

Sophomore Megan Lester placed third in the girls javelin emerging elite with a throw of 122-feet-3 inches. Bernier pointed out that when combining the results of the athletes in emerging elite and championship divisions, Lester’s throw was 13th best among those throwers. Lester was runner-up at the State Open (120-2), first in Class M (121-9) and fourth in New England (123-0).

Junior Taylor Hammeke was seventh in the emerging elite javelin at 104-3. She was 11th at the State Open (103-11) and fifth in Class M (101-1).

Junior Adam Boucher placed 15th and last in the championship division of the javelin in 138-05. Boucher won the State Open (187-2) and Class MM (182-3) and was fifth in New England (170-9).

“He just didn’t have a good day,” Bernier said.