Woodland races against state competition at Class S indoor championships

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NEW HAVEN — Capping off another successful indoor track season, the Woodland girls finished eighth at the Class S championships Feb. 7 at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven.

The Hawks earned 16 points thanks to fourth-place efforts by Jade Brennan, Jaden Young, Emma Slavin, and Jasmine Michie. Bloomfield ran away with the boys and girls titles, but the Woodland girls finished tops among all Naugatuck Valley League schools at the meet.

“We were very pleased with our performances all year long, boys and girls,” Woodland girls coach Jeff Lownds said. “It was a nice showing. The times the girls (Brennan, Young and Slavin) ran were really good, and Jasmine has been really consistent with her shot put all year.”

Brennan finished fourth in the 600 meters in 1 minute, 46.88 seconds, while Slavin placed fourth in the 1,600 in 5:25.37 — an improvement on her seed time by nearly 11 seconds. Young’s fourth-place finish in the 1000 with a time of 3:09.87 further lowered the school record she broke earlier in the season, and Michie also placed fourth in the shot put with a heave of 35 feet, 6 ½ inches.

“Quite honestly, nothing surprises me about these girls,” Lownds said. “Jaden broke the school record earlier in the year, and she lowered it even more in the state meet. These girls, when the bell rings, they’re ready to go.”

Each of the fourth-place finishes earned the Hawks four points in the team standings. Other top-10 finishes included Chloe Poulos in the 1000 (3:21.79) and 3200 (12:27.37), Slavin in the 3200 (12:16.96), and the sprint medley relay team of Brennan, Erica Poehailos, Kim Poulos and Jill Brotherton (4:55.82).

“Those girls whom we leaned on for the NVL meet, those are the same girls who did so well at the state meet,” Lownds said. “We’re very proud of them.”

Three Hawks competed at the State Open last Saturday in New Haven. Young was seeded 11th in the 1000, while Michie was seeded 13th in the shot put and Slavin was seeded 16th in the 1600.

The Woodland boys registered three top-10 finishes at the Class S meet.

Edit Krivca was the top individual for the Hawks, placing ninth in the 600 (1:29.60). He also led Woodland to a sixth-place finish in the 4×400 relay with Michael Falcone, Conrad Filippone and Ryan Swanson (3:43.17) to give the Hawks their only team point of the meet. The 4×800 squad of Falcone, Charlie Schwartz, George Hughes and Matt Iannone also placed 10th (9:19.55).