BY KEN MORSE
CITIZEN’S NEWS
The Naugatuck girls 4×400-meter relay team finished fifth in the New England Championship at the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center in Boston on March 5.
The Class L and State Open champion foursome of Lily Jason, Julia Kropo, Lauren Sonski and Allison Murphy were awarded All-New England honors.
The boys 4×200 relay team of Lalo Lopez, Taylor Trowers, Matt Kilmer and Dan Anderson finished ninth with a school record time of 1:34.29, and Lopez also ran a personal best in the 600 meters, finishing 10th in 1:23.94.
It was the girls race that drew a lot of excitement with Jason heading into the first turn and suddenly elbows could be seen knocking her off her stride. Naugy did manage to recover but lost approximately a valuable two seconds according to coach Ralph Roper.
“The girls finished fifth at 4:05.66 setting a new school record but I was a bit heated at the turn of events,” said Roper. “We beat Windsor in the Class L and State Open so I told my girls that they would be coming after us doing whatever they could to not have that happen again.
“I did go to the executive director but was told it was incidental contact. The Windsor coach did come looking to speak with me after the race and the girl apologized to our girl. But that could have cost us the race.”
The Naugy girls 4×400 relayis slated to compete at the Nike Nationals in Staten Island, N.Y., on Saturday.
“We have certainly made the most of our opportunities this season,” said Roper. “Especially after not having a state competition the last two years.”
