Double win highlights strong week for CHS track

It was a very good week for both Canton High indoor track teams as the boys’ team beat Milford 59-27 for its first win in two years while the girls’ team improved to 2-1 overall with wins against both Milford and Stoughton.

Senior Somto Ofonagoro was the leading point scorer for the boys’ team as he won three events: the 55-meter dash (7.09 seconds), 300m (39.43 seconds), and long jump (16’3”). Junior Liam Collins also had a strong meet, winning the mile in 5:03 and placing second in the two-mile in 11:49.

Senior Matt Derbin won the 600 (1:32) and ran the fastest split as the anchor leg for the winning 4×400 relay team, and Dan Bronstein and Joe Clancy both posted personal-best times in winning the 1,000m (2:59) and two-mile (11:05), respectively.

“Our distance runners continue to blow us away with new [personal records] every meet,” said head coach Dan Ashman. “[Clancy’s] two-mile was 10 seconds faster than his previous best, and [Bronstein’s] 1,000 was more than 12 seconds better than his previous best. The seniors are really stepping up as we hoped they would.”

“We didn’t know exactly what to expect from our kids, having not competed in almost four weeks, but we are very proud of the way they performed,” added Ashman. “We told them it would be clear which teams and which kids really worked hard over the break, and they obviously took that to heart.”

In the girls’ meet, senior Rachel Campagna won the 55-meter dash (7.99 seconds) and long jump (15’1”) and placed second in the 300 (45.74 seconds). Sophomore Catherine Song won the mile (5:48) and 1,000m (3:25), and senior Michaela Kelly won the 600 and qualified for states with her time of 1:43.

Ashman was also impressed with the performance of the high jumpers, who are all brand-new to the event. “Now we have three girls — sophomore Tamara Auguste, senior Alexa MacQuarrie, and senior Ellie Teague — who can all consistently jump four feet, four inches or higher, and this is a huge improvement for us,” he said.

Three days after facing Milford, the Bulldogs took on Stoughton in a rescheduled meet, and the girls eked out a two-point victory (48.5-46.5).

Teague tied for first in the high jump, placed second in the 55-meter hurdles, and placed third in her first-ever attempt at the long jump.

Song qualified for states in both the 1,000 and the 4×400 relay, and Kelly won the 600m and ran the fastest split on the 4×400 team.

Other winners against Stoughton included senior Amanda Eagles in the mile and sophomore Wonser Mahn in the long jump. Auguste and MacQuarrie both tied with Teague for first in the high jump, while sophomore Masha Smirnova, MacQuarrie, and freshman Selena Cho all ran state-qualifying times in the 55-meter dash.

The boys’ team did not fare as well against the Black Knights, losing 70-21. However, Ofonagoro continued his hot streak, qualifying for states in both the 300 and 55-meter races.

In other results, Collins won the mile, freshman Ian Ozer placed second in the shot put, and the 4×200 relay team of junior Kenny Ofonagoro, freshman Evan Tondre, sophomore Oren Vishny, and Somto Ofonagoro qualified for states.

Both Canton teams were due to face Sharon on Monday and Foxboro next Thursday, January 23, at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Jan 16 2014. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.