By Michael Letendre

NEW BRITAIN – The Bristol Central boys track and field team finished in the top-25 as a unit from the 2021 CIAC Connecticut State Track and Field Open from Willow Brook Park in New Britain on Thursday.

The Rams scored 10 points as a team, placing 24th overall, while a couple athletes had tremendous showings to score team points for Central.

Senior Nate DeAngelo, UMASS Lowell bound in the fall, had his hands full in a loaded 1600 meters field.

DeAngelo had to battle Conard’s all-world talent Gavin Sherry and Nicholas Bendtsen from Wolcott in a star-studded event.

The senior from Central made an amazing finish, seizing fourth in the field and once again put himself into the pages of the BCHS records book. 

“Senior Captain Nate DeAngelo was awesome once again, running 4:12.54 for 1600 meters, [made] a fourth-place finish and lowered his own school record” time said Central coach Tamara Stafford-Kirk. “He also placed fifth in the 3200 with a time of 9:23.03.”

Sherry finished the 3200 in under 9:00 minutes and there wasn’t any one in the field that was going to catch the speedster though DeAngelo had excellent showings in both the one- and two-mile challenges.

Central’s sophomore sensation Treshawn Blair placed eighth in the triple jump with a leap of 41 feet, 7.75 inches. 

Senior co-captain Jakob Salinas placed 11th in the javelin with a toss of 148 feet, eight inches.

And just getting through the event proved to be one heck of an effort by Salinas as he dealt with a rather bizarre situation.

His javelin ended up malfunctioning.

“Jakob Salinas had a tough day in javelin,” said Stafford-Kirk. “His trusty javelin broke in half in the air during his first throw. Literally no one has ever seen that happen before. He had a tough time using a borrowed javelin after that.”

Also for Central, Victor Rosa placed 16th in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.26 seconds and while Frankie Porrini didn’t clear the opening height in the high jump, the sophomore “gained a lot of valuable experience,” during postseason competition said Stafford-Kirk.

Hillhouse, the Class L champions, won the Open behind 50 points while Hall of West Hartford – the squad that scooped up the Class LL title – came in second with 44.

2021 CIAC Connecticut State Boys Track & Field Open 

from Willow Brook Park, New Britain 

Boys Team Scores (Top 25 teams): 1) Hillhouse 50; 2) Hall 44; 3) New Milford 35; 4) Haddam-Killingworth 34; 5) Conard 29; 6) Weston 23; 7) Greenwich 22; 7) Norwich Free Academy 22; 7) Seymour 22; 10) Wilbur Cross 21; 11) Shelton 20; 12) Staples 18.50; 13) Naugatuck 17; 13) Stonington 17; 15) Coventry 16; 16) Wolcott 14; 16) Cheshire 14; 18) Windsor 13; 18) Daniel Hand 13; 18) Newington 13; 21) Simsbury 12; 22) Fairfield Prep 11; 22) Woodstock Academy 11; 24) Middletown 10; 24) Bristol Central 10; 24) Wilby 10; 24) Waterford 10.

Individual Results:

1600 Meter Run: 1. Gavin Sherry, Conard, 4:01.88; 2. Nicholas Bendtsen, Wolcott, 4:06.09; 3. Colin McLaughlin, Westhill, 4:08.44; 4. Nate DeAngelo, Bristol Central, 4:12.54; 5. Patrick Gibbons, New Fairfiel, 4:14.50

3200 Meter Run: 1. Gavin Sherry, Conard, 8:59.80#; 2. Aidan Puffer, Manchester, 9:03.85; 3. Nicholas Bendtsen, Wolcott, 9:07.59; 4. Eamon Burke, Xavier, 9:08.53; 5. Nate DeAngelo, Bristol Central, 9:23.03

Triple Jump: 1. Messiah Harling, Wilby, 46-04.25; 2. Maxson Pierre Louis, Norwich Free, 44-04.50; 3. Mehki Tyson-Slaughter, Capital Prep, 44-04.25; 4. Israel Henriques-Setho, Hall, 43-08.75; 5. Sam Menders, Waterford, 43-07.50; 6. Jayden Villafane, Windham, 43-02.75; 7. Zerion Montgomery, Derby, 42-04.50; 8. Treshawn Blair, Bristol Central, 41-07.75.