Greyhounds leave their mark

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MIDDLETOWN — The Naugatuck High School track team left its mark on the Class L championship Tuesday at Middletown High School.

The Naugatuck boys finished ninth among 25 competitors, while the girls settled into 21st place out of 27 teams competing.

The Greyhounds made some noise along the way. Senior Fejiro Onakpoma defended his 2015 triple jump title by winning the state championship again with a leap of 46 feet, 10 inches.

Onakpoma took home another championship title by winning the long jump in 21 feet, 9 inches. He will represent the Greyhounds at next week’s State Open.

“Fejiro had a real good day,” Naugatuck head coach Ralph Roper said. “What really impressed me was the dedication and commitment shown by our volunteer coach Matt Basile, who came down with his whole family to watch Fejiro and support him. Matt has been working with Fejiro and you can see what all that hard work and commitment has done. It certainly paid off.”

Naugatuck was missing its long distance threat Mark Zamani, who was in Florida on a college visit.

“We certainly missed Mark but this was a very important visit for him and we wish him the very best,” Roper said.

Naugatuck senior Antoine Sistrunk finished fourth in the triple jump. Junior Graden Beasley took sixth in the 1600 meters, and freshman Jacob Fazekas raced to eighth in the 110 hurdles.

“We had some athletes who had a real good day,” Roper said. “Grady did good job in the 1600, and our freshman Fazekas put up a real strong effort and we will be looking for big things from him next season.”

For the girls, Erin Schofield finished as the runner-up in the javelin with a throw of 119 feet, 4 inches. Schofield led the entire way until the final throw when she was edged out.

Ariana Alvarado placed seventh in the 100 and 14th in the 200 meters. Freshman Kimani Grey finished eighth in the high jump at 4 feet, 8 inches, and Kyla Magalhaes finished ninth in the 300 hurdles.

The 4×100 relay team of Renell Clarence, Rachel Garcia, Magalhaes and Alvarado finished eighth for the Greyhounds.

“We had another freshman on the girls’ side, Kimani, who had a personal best,” Roper said. “Erin did good job for us throwing and Ariana had a tough day. But I like what we have coming back, especially these younger athletes who are stepping up for us.”