By Michael Letendre

NEW BRITAIN – The Bristol Central girls track and field team put together a great effort at the recent Class L championships from Willow Brook Park in New Britain.

Overall, the Rams finished in 17th place – scoring 14 points – and had several athletes make big finishes over a loaded field.

“It was a great turnout,” said Central coach Kiara Bonilla-Jusino. “We had both relays in the top 10.”

And off those performances, the Rams will have representatives at the CIAC State Open event.

The top five finishers in each event move on to the Open Championship on Monday, also from New Britain. 

Junior Kylee Barnes will be competing in two of the jumping events at the Open thanks to her finish at the Class Ls.

In the long jump, Barnes took third place with a leap of 16 feet, 2.75 inches to punch her ticket to the biggest event in the state.

And to top that effort, Barnes nabbed a fourth place finish in the high jump – nailing the mark at five feet, two inches – to advance in the postseason.

“Kylee just continues to just excel at the jumps,” said Bonilla-Jusino of Barnes. “Unfortunately for her, the triple jump didn’t go as planned but I think this year for her, high jump and long jump have been her best jumps by far. She’s close to the national qualifying standard [in the high jump] which is 5-3 so she kind of has that in her mind.”

In Central’s lone victory in terms of an individual effort on the track, Sophia Stark made a great showing, scoring a 10th place tally in the 800 meters with a time of 2:24.2 – a good finish for the Central program. “Sophia, I mean, she’s had a great season, coming from last year at a 2:32,” said Bonillia of Stark. “She ran a 2:23 against Eastern all by herself. She blew herself out of the water, so she’s set her own standard for herself.”

The team also finished well in the short distance sprinting relays.

In the competitive 4×400 meter relay, the team of Stark, Gabriela Drewniak, Francesca Amara, and Lynae Lewis finished in 4:13.2 – good for seventh place overall.

And then Central’s 4×100 meter relay combination of Christina Browne, Rebecca Litwinczyk, Francesca Amara, and Lewis scooped up an eighth place finish in 51.47 seconds.

“My seniors, Christian and Becky, are big components of that 4×100” really as seniors said Bonilla-Jusino. “So, they’re going to be missed as far as that goes.”

Windsor ended up winning the Class L title behind a 105-point performance.

Edwin O. Smith was a distant runner-up (75 points) followed by New Canaan (71).

Hall of West Hartford (52 points) came in fourth place while Shelton (51) was one point behind.

Central did well this year, taking a smaller group to the task each and every day and doing quite well over regular and postseason action.

And the likes of Barnes, Stark, Drewniak, Amara, and Lewis all return next season and will help lead the program.

“A lot of those girls who qualified and performed are retuning,” said Bonilla-Jusino. “The team is young so we’re going to keep moving forward with that.” 

Bristol Central Girls Track & Field – Class L Championship

from Willow Brook Park, New Britain

Individual Results – Bristol Central

800 meters  

*10th Place – Sophia Stark, 2:24.2

4×100 Meter Relay 

*Eighth Place – Christina Browne, Rebecca Litwinczyk, Francesca Amara, Lynae Lewis (51.47 seconds)

4×400 meter relay 

*Seventh Place – Sophia Stark, Gabriela Drewniak, Francesca Amara, Lynae Lewis (4:13.20).

High Jump 

*Fourth Place – Kylee Barnes, Five feet, two inches

Long Jump 

*Third Place – Kylee Barnes, 16 feet, 2.75 inches