BOSTON — In the fastest indoor mile in New England championship history—three girls broke the previous meet record—Naugatuck’s Rosa Moriello placed eighth Friday at the Reggie Lewis Center, in five minutes, 12.01 seconds.
Arianna Vailas of Manchester Central, N.H. won, in 4:56.37, followed closely by Barrington, R.I.’s Sarah Barry, in 4:56.93, and Newton South, Mass.’s Kathy O’Keefe, in 4:58.96. The New England meet record was 4:59.96, set by Colleen Wetherbee of Dennis-Yarmough, Mass. in 2006.
“Unfortunately, when the gun went off, Rosa was pushed to the back very quickly,” Naugatuck track and field coach Ralph Roper said. “At this level of competition, that cannot be a good thing. That’s not a good sign. …
“Probably the third, fourth lap into it, her face was flushed and you could see that her day was pretty much done. Even though she started to move her way back through the crowd … there was a lot of contact, a lot of bodies and elbows and arms—a lot of body activity. And, you know, Rosa’s not the biggest kid.”
Among Connecticut runners, only Sophia Harrington of Conard, who finished seventh, in 5:10.13, beat Moriello.
The Greyhounds’ Tori Pisco claimed 11th in the 600-meter run, in 1:38.69, good for third among Connecticut entries.
“In some cases, she was where she needed to be,” Roper said, “and as she tried to make certain moves, she was denied.”
Cecelia Barowski of Bishop Guertin, N.H. set the pace, with a 1:33.71, more than a second faster than her closest competitor, Connecticut State Open champ Paris Taft of Career, who ran a 1:34.76.
The Woodland boys’ four-by-400 meter relay team also finished 11th, four spots higher than its seed, in 3:32.75. Though the quartet of Chris Savvidou, Kyle Cranney, Tyler Murphy and Brandon Fowler didn’t achieve its goal of breaking the 3:30 mark, it won its heat by posting its fastest time of the season.
