The Darien Times

Field events lead Wave at FCIAC meet

Monday, February 06, 2012 02:52 PM

Boys Indoor Track and Field

Darien High boys indoor track and field showcased its talent and grit in equal measure finishing sixth out of 18 teams at the FCIAC title meet.

The Wave scored 25 points, tying Norwalk, at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven on Feb. 2.

Strong in field events, with two Blue Wave athletes named All-FCIAC, long jumper Nicholas Lombardo led DHS taking second with a 20-08.50 leap.

Lombardo also placed fifth in the high jump with a 5-08.

Also at the fore, Will Lochtefeld, who made the All-FCIAC team too, finishing second in the shot put with a 44-02.25 throw.

“We got a couple of bad bounces today, but our guys kept pushing, and were very solid across the board,” said Darien coach Tyson Kaczmarek. “And a few of our guys had a really fantastic meet, like Nick Lombardo and Will Lochtefeld.

“I’m proud of the whole team.”

The rest of the Darien squad also excelled, across a range of sprint and distance running events. Darien’s 4x200 relay team of Spencer McMullin, Elliott Helgans, and co-captains Corey Eppley and Matt Pik finished in 1:37.07 for fifth place.

The 4x400 relay team of Patrick Reilly, Marcus Iqbal, Harlan Smith and Elliott Helgans came in sixth in 3:45.

The 4x800 team of Billy Siemers, Sean Lee, Andrew Xiong and Eli Converse ran 8:46 for seventh place.

But it was the 1600 sprint medley relay that showed the Wave’s determination and heart.

C.J. Raia, Cameron Smith and Marcus Iqbal ran well in the first three legs of the race and the Blue Wave was in the hunt for a top three finish.

Darien’s Andrew Xiong was running strong in the final leg, when a competitor kicked the baton out of his hand and sent it flying into the long jump pit.

In a Blue Wave FCIAC first, Xiong had to leave the track to retrieve the baton and then finish his leg of the race.

Xiong gutted out the rest of the race, and the team managed an 11th place finish, in 4:09.

In the 55 dash, Eppley finished in 6.91 for eighth, in the 300 sprint, he ran a 37.29, for seventh.

Pik, who was close behind in 37.63 for 10th, also finished eighth in the 600.

Brian Davey placed eighth in the 1000 in 2:51.14.

In the 1600 Darien place three runners in the top 10: co-captain Michael Johnston finished fourth in 4:35, co-captain Michael Coe was seventh in 4:41 and co-captain Charlie Baird ran a 4:45 for 10th.

The Wave also had a solid showing in the 3200 with Johnston running a 9:53 for sixth, while Baird posted a time of 10:13 for ninth and Coe was 11th in 10:18.

Next, the Class L meet Saturday back at Floyd Little Athletic Center at Hillhouse High School, 480 Sherman Parkway in New Haven.

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