Girls place fourth at NVL meet
TORRINGTON — The Naugatuck boys track team showed the overall balance and depth that led the Greyhounds to an undefeated regular season as they claimed the Naugatuck Valley League title at the championship meet in Torrington May 21.
The Naugatuck boys scored 116 points to outpace three-time defending champion Derby (76 points). Kennedy finished a distant third with 66 points.
The Naugy girls finished fourth with 81 points, behind Watertown (115), Woodland (100) and Seymour (96).
The win marked the boys’ first NVL championship since 2015.
“The boys showed themselves well,” Naugatuck head coach Ralph Roper said. “We had a lot of one-two finishes, and they came out here and took care of business.”
The Naugy boys showed their depth throughout the meet.
Zach Koslosky finished first in the 300 hurdles in 41.01 seconds, followed by Cameron Jacobs in second (42.69). Koslosky also won the pole vault at 12 feet, 6 inches, with Sean Carey taking second (12-0).
Koslosky added a second-place finish in the 110 hurdles (15.98).
Ben Healy landed second place in the long jump (21-1), with Carey taking third (20-11). Healy also came through with a fourth-place finish in the 400 and a fifth-place showing in the triple jump.
The ‘Hounds continued to score points in bunches.
Jon Volpe took third in the 800 in 2 minutes, 7.06 seconds, and Paul Marsh was fourth in the high jump (5-10).
Nick Tarmey finished fifth in the 300 hurdles. Charlie Marenghi took fourth in the 3200 with a personal-best time of 10:52.77 seconds, and Brendon Soubannarath finished sixth with a personal-best time of 10:54.83 — a 13-second improvement.
Soubannarath added a fifth-place finish in the 1600, Matt Nofri was seventh and Marenghi eighth.
The boys picked up points in the relays, as well.
The 4×800 team of Sammy Daniel, Taylor Trowers, Volpe and Soubannarath finished second with a personal-best of 8:42.67. The 4×100 team of Rodsir Vaughn, Marsh, Sean Evardo and Chris Akindura finished third (45.15), and the 4×400 squad of Volpe, Isaiah Williams, Jacobs and Trowers was fourth (3:41).
The 81 points the Naugy girls scored was their highest point total since a 78-point, third-place showing in 2015.
“We are high achievers, and I feel we left a lot of points out there for the girls,” Roper said. “Yes, we did well but we left a lot of points on the table.”
Allison Murphy led the girls with a pair of second-place finishes in the 400 (1:00.29) and the 800 (2:20.90). She got edged out in the 800 by Sacred Heart’s Jenna French, who set a new NVL record at 2:19.09.
The girls showed their depth in the 100 hurdles with Kylie Neretich first (15.69), followed by Brianna Soubannarath in second and Alyssa Zarrella in fourth. Zarrella also took fourth in the 300 hurdles with Liz Krooss placing seventh.
Julia Dudek was seventh in the 400, Neretcih was eighth in the 200, Rachel Huculak finished sixth in the 200, and Kaylee Jackson finished eighth in the 1600 and 3200 to score for Naugy.
Soubannarath took sixth in the pole vault for the only field points for Naugy.
The girls finished in second place in all three the relays. The 4×100 team of Zarrella, Huculak, Neretich and Paige Cruz finished in 52.03. The 4×400 squad of Evelyn Diaz, Cruz, Dudek and Huculak posted a time of 4:21.45, and the 4×800 foursome of Jackson, Julia Kropo, Tori Lawson and Murphy finished in 10:20.69.
“What I will say is every kid competed and they left everything they had on the track, and that is what I’m most proud of,” Roper said. “We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores carrying a heavy load and we wouldn’t be in this position without them. The future looks bright.”
