Moriello 8th in 2-mile at national meet

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Naugy's Rosa Moriello, pictured at the Connecticut Class L championship meet, finished eighth in the two-mile Sundat at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships.
Naugy's Rosa Moriello, pictured at the Connecticut Class L championship meet, finished eighth in the two-mile Sundat at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships.

NEW YORK — In the final indoor race of a brilliant career, Naugatuck’s Rosa Moriello ran her fastest two miles ever Sunday at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships, finishing eighth, in 11 minutes, 6.09 seconds.

“I just can’t shake this eighth thing,” she joked Monday. “I guess that’s my number.”

Moriello has finished eighth at several other big meets, including the 2008 New England Cross Country Championships and the one-mile runs at both the 2009 and 2010 New England Indoor Championships.

She did run an 11:04.16 at the Connecticut State Open Feb. 20, but that was a 3,200-meter race, not a true two-mile, which is approximately 3,219 meters.

Lindsay Crevoiserat of Glastonbury won Sunday’s event at the New Balance Track and Field Center, in 11:30.60, a particularly impressive showing, given that on Friday she had been in Boston at the Nike Indoor Nationals, where she dominated the 5,000. The junior’s time of 16:51.88 at the Reggie Lewis Center set a meet record and was more than 12 seconds faster than her closest competitor’s.

In New York, Moriello also teamed with Tori Pisco, MartyAnn Chromik and Natalia Carvalho to finish 16th in the distance medley relay, in 12:38.03. Pisco ran the opening 1,200 meters, Chromik the next 400, Carvalho the next 800, and Moriello the final 1,600.

On her own, Pisco placed 24th in the 800, in 2:20.75, a deft adaptation from the 600-meter distance she has been running all season. Similarly, the Greyhounds’ Amanze Williams claimed 12th place in the triple jump, at 44 feet, 2 1/4 inches, after competing in the long jump and high jump throughout the indoor schedule. Connecticut contests neither the 800 nor the triple jump during its indoor season but adds the events to its outdoor repertoire.

Woodland’s 1,600-meter sprint medley relay team of Jake Pinho, Tyler Murphy, Brandon Fowler and Chris Savvidou won its heat and finished 16th overall, a major improvement on its seeding.

“We were lane one, heat one,” Hawks coach Tim Shea said, “which basically means we came in last [in a field of 32]. … It was our first time ever being there, and the kids were pretty excited. They dropped three seconds off their fastest time.”

Woodland also sent its four-by-400 meter relay team to the Nike meet Sunday in Boston, where the foursome of Savvidou, Kyle Cranney, Murphy and Fowler finished third in a New England race. Shea said he was proud of the boys’ performance because despite a fall by Cranney during a baton exchange, they still ran a 3:35.03, edging the fourth- and fifth-place teams by .57 and .62 of a second, respectively.

With the indoor season finally complete, both the Woodland and Naugatuck track and field teams are taking breaks from organized practice this week and are scheduled to begin outdoor practice Monday.