The final day of competition on Saturday at the New Balance Outdoor Track and Field Nationals was devastating to the Connecticut State Record books as five state records were reset at the meet hosted by North Carolina A+T University in Greensboro, NC. Leading the record onslaught were the Hamden Boys Distance Medley Relay team of Nick Saba, Kevin Tran, Isiah Whiting and Chris FitzSimons as they won in a US#6 all time 9:56.50. FitzSimons took the lead for good with 200m remaining in a come-from-behind 1600m anchor split of 4:05.70 to erase a 4-second deficit to win over runner-up Warwick TC in 9:59.03 The former State Record of 9:59.42 had been set by Danbury at the national meet last season.
At the start of the day, the Daniel Hand (Madison) 4x1 Mile Relay quartet of Brendon Fish, Dave Cotton , Andrew Haff and Daniel Nestor placed third at 17:23.42 in a close finish with winner Haddonfield Memorial TC (17:20.21) and runner-up Bishop Hendricken TC (17:21.59). Their finish time broke the State Record of 17:24.49 set by Glastonbury at the 2007 national meet. Also finishing close to the top was the Weston quartet of Stephen Vento, James Bloom, Ryan Gilmore and Steve Piscatelli that placed 7th in a time of 17:40.38, their new school record.
The Girls 2000m Steeplechase was the next event to feature a state record performance as State Champion Jackie Nicholas of Nonnewaug placed second in 6:54.67 behind winner Mary Kate Anselmini of NY in 6:42.78. Nicholas lowered her State Record of 6:56.22 set earlier in the week at the State Championship event. Annemarie Tuxbury of New Hartford placed 11th in 7:08.06.
The girls from Windsor were next to reset a state record in the Girls 4x400m Relay Championship as their team of Brianna Allen, Ashley Graves, Sydnee Over and Shayna Presley placed fourth in 3:47.16 behind the winning time of 3:40.65 from the Benjamin Cardozo Track Club. Their mark surpasses the 3:50.84 State Record set by the Danbury team at the 2009 New England meet.
The remaining state record performance came from the fleet feet of freshman Sydnee Over of Windsor in the Girls 400m Run Championship where she placed seventh in 54.41 behind winner Briana Nelson of SC in 53.14. Over lowered her state best mark of 54.77 set earlier this season at the HPHS Outdoor Invite.
Top performances by other state athletes on the final day included:
The Danbury Boys quartet of Eduardo Nunez , Daryle-Michael Dennis, Shane Mendelsohn and TaQuan Chatman placed 6th in the Boys 4x100m Relay Emerging Elite event in 43.83.
In the Boys Shot Put Championships, Enis Bukalo of Derby finished 8th with a toss of 58'2".
Chris Rose of Classical Magnet placed 13th in the Boys 400m Run Championship with a time of 48.56.
In the Boys 2000m Steeplechase, Danny O'Heron of Torrington placed 11th in 6:16.80 while Connor Stauffer of Joel Barlow TC placed 17th in 6:20.77.
Further meet coverage is available from the New Balance Outdoor Nationals website and from the Dyestat Metro website.