The 2018 indoor season is starting to heat up and many of the top Connecticut athletes will be competing at the SCC Coaches Invite this Saturday. Several events have nationally ranked athletes and returning All Staters who might contend for a class championship or even a State Open championship this winters.
Here are some of the top competitors on the boys side entered in the meet:
The boys 55m is bringing together athletes with five of the top eight times in the season so far this winter.
Shelton sophomore Erik Lorent has the #2 time in CT with a 6.61. He ran that time in his first high school race ever. Only a few hundredths of a second behind are junior
Jaylon Nealy of Bloomfield, sophomore
Chris Pigatt of Hamden and fellow
seniors Jay Donaldson of East Haven and
Chris Cledera of Danbury. Clerda is the top returner from last year's
State Open with a 4th place finish.
The 600m will be interesting because the top seeds are established distance runners are moving down to the 600m to test their speed. Ken Little of Derby has run a 1:07.84 for 500m and has also run a 4:20 1600m to show his range.
Ian Bartlett of Fairfield Ludlow is the state
leader in the 800m with a 2:00 from the Marine Corps Holiday Classic and was
the Class L champion in the event.
Three of the state's top ten 300m runners are signed up
for the SCC meet. Only .03 separate top
seeded Sean-Michael Parkinson of Danbury and Montville's Greg Clark who was 4th
in the 200m at last year's State Open.
Last year's Class LL champion Andrew Rison of Glastonbury is seeded right behind them with a 36.52 seed.
The top seed in the 1000m is defending State Open 1600m champion Alex Korczynski of Windham. The senior is the state leader in two events with a 2:33 in the 1k and 4:19 for the 1600m.
Trumbull's Tyler Rubush was 2nd at the North Shore Invite at the Armory with the 18th fastest time in the US running 2:34.51.
One possible surprise might be junior Malcolm Going of Danbury who is the state leader in the 600m and was part of Danbury's New England champion 4 x 800m teams last year. He had strong cross country season and is looking to move up in distance.
The boys 3200m could be the hottest race of the day. Brendan Murray of Cheshire, fresh off his victory at the Dartmouth Invitational in the 3200m leads the field. His 9:36 time is 12th in the US so far this year but he ran a 9:14 last outdoor season to show his true potential.
Little of Derby is entered in the 600m but could easily come back to double in the 3200m. While he hasn't run a 3200m this season, he recently ran a 4:20 1600m and was 10th at the cross country State Open.
Korczynski is scheduled to double back from the 1000m. While he normally runs the mile, he did run 9:36 last indoors, so consider him a factor.
The FCIAC cross country champion Ben Seiple was an integral member of Staples's team this fall. He has run a 4:30 mile this winter and was 3rd last spring at New Englands with a 9:13.
Not to be overlooked is the current state leader in the 3200m, Dan Nichols of Danbury. Nichols ran 9:41, winning the North Shore Invitational and ran 9:23 to take 5th in the State Open last spring.
Dyshon Vaughn of Career Magnet popped off three jumps over 22ft last weekend at the Elm City Relays with a state leading 22'5.5 which is the 21st best jump in the country.
Trumbull's Jack Jones is only a five inches behind and should give Vaughn a run for his money.
The pole vault is another event that has a great deal of depth. Six of the top 10 vaulters in the state are entered on Saturday. Nate Llanos from Danbury is the top returner from last year's indoor State Open and leads the state with a 13'6 jump.
Behind him Zachary Burleigh of Southington, Aiden Jasinski of Newtown, Joey Hinkley of Stonington, Jackson Hemphill and Nick Petruzzelli have all cleared 13 ft this year which mean anything can happen.
Staples' Chet Ellis has already cleared 6'8 this season in the high jump which is ranked 5th in the US so far this season. Fellow junior Jakwan Hale of Derby has cleared 6'4 which is the 2nd best in the state this year.
Defending shot put State Open champion Ed Radzion of Shelton is entered in the meet. While he only has the 3rd best throw so far this season, he is working on the spin and once he masters it, good things will happen. Look for a potential throw in the mid to upper 50s in the next couple of weeks.