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Sports

Boys Track & Field Takes Runner-Up At Class MM

Christopher Ackell and Djenne Parris earn state championships.

Fresh on the heels of their impressive SWC championship, the boys track and field team looked to defend their Class MM title on Tuesday at Middletown High School.  The Bobcats ran up against a tough Hillhouse team that would not be denied and Brookfield was dethroned, finishing as runner-up with 71.50 points well behind Hillhouse’s 117.

The girls team had a strong showing of their own, finishing in eighth place, which was good for second best among other Class MM SWC teams.

“We had high expectations,” Brookfield coach Ed Butt said of the boys team.  “We were confident but we ran into an efficient machine called Hillhouse.  We were still happy with our performance.”

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The boys were led by senior captain Christopher Ackell who scored 24 points on the day.  Ackell took home the state championship in discus while finishing second in shot put and third in javelin throw.

“He has worked so hard,” Butt said of Ackell.  “He stepped up big time.”

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Brookfield had a strong showing in discus overall as senior Alex Van Hoof and junior Joel Wamser scored points with fifth and sixth place finishes.  Sophomore Austin Pacific finished one spot out of the points with a ninth place finish.

Senior captain Spencer Mannion also had a strong day for Brookfield, finishing third in the 800 meter run and fourth in the 1600 meter run.

“Spencer’s senior season was all him,” Butt said of Mannion.  “He decided what he wanted to do and set a goal.”

Fellow senior Dan McArdle was a few spots behind Mannion in the 1600, coming in seventh to gain much needed points for Brookfield, who finished only two and a half points ahead of third place finisher Tolland.

Ackell and Mannion both qualified for the state open in their respective events with their top five finishes, as did Van Hoof.  They will be joined by fellow seniors Jack Gernert and Tyler Appleby, who placed second and fourth respectively in the high jump. 

The Bobcats 4x400 relay team of Ryan Murphy, Kevin Peterson, Leaon Gordon and Colin Burke also qualified for the state open with a second place finish that secured runner-up position for the team at the meet.

The boys 4x100 relay team of Kirk Gardner, Murphy, Gordon and Burke finished in the points at sixth place but were one spot out of qualifying for the state open.

Gardner, a senior, had an overall tough day.  One of the top point scorers on the team during the year, Gardner finished a fraction of a second out of the finals with his preliminary run in the 110 meter hurdles and he failed to height in the pole vault, eliminating his chance to make the state open.

“He was probably our best overall athlete,” Butt said of Gardner.  “He was a big point scorer for us this year.”

Murphy, also a senior captain, earned the team points with his seventh place finish in the long jump and Burke, a junior who was selected as a captain by the seniors, scored for the Bobcats with a seventh place finish in the 400 meter dash.

“All the seniors all had one thing in common, they were all more concerned with the team,” Butt said of the group of seniors who over the past two seasons were a part of two indoor state championships, one outdoor state championship, one indoor SWC championship and one outdoor SWC championship.  “We like that about them.  They have great team chemistry.  They were all great, they all contributed.”

The girls team was led by sophomore sensation Djenne Parris who became the 200 meter dash state champion with her first place finish.  Parris also finished third in the 100 meter dash and fifth in the 400 meter dash.

“She was awesome,” Butt said of Parris, who enjoyed a breakout year.  “She’s a thinker, she knows what she needs to do and she worked hard in indoors.”

Parris qualified for all three events at the state open and she broke the school records for all three events during the season.

The Lady Bobcats 4x400 relay team of Tia Weise, Julia DePoi, Paulina Harron and Aileen Tobin scored points for the team with an eighth place finish as did the 4x800 relay team of Tobin, Weise, Burke and Samantha Carlucci.

Tobin, a senior captain competing in her final meet for Brookfield, finished 16th in the 800 meter run, her only individual event of the day.

“They're great kids,” Butt said of Tobin and fellow captain Carlucci, who provided leadership for the team.

Nicole Clayton, a junior, came up with a big jump to earn third place in the high jump and qualify for the state open.

“She wasn’t happy with the SWC,” Butt said of Clayton, who didn’t fair well in the conference championship.  “She recovered.”

Fellow junior Angela Berardi also qualified for the state open with a fifth place finish in the javelin throw.

Freshman Samantha Mazur earned points for the team with an eighth place finish in the discus throw.

“Coach Kolodziej has taken our throwers to the next level,” Butt said of the former Danbury coach who has helped boost the team.  “He is one of the best in the state.”

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