MHS Boys Going for the Gold at Track and Field State Open

The task before the Manchester High School boys track and field team is daunting yet the payoff is as prestigious as it gets in the sport. Within the Indians’ grasp is the opportunity to leave the track on Monday as the best team in the state – no arguments accepted.

So the anxiety and excitement, to attain such a lofty status, have been intertwined for Manchester in preparing for the CIAC State Open in track on Monday at Willow Brook Park in New Britain, starting at 2:30 p.m.

After combining hard work and strong performances – with a dose of good fortune – , the Indians will be among the favorites on Monday to add the State Open title as well. Manchester has the ability and depth to capture the Open championship but just as easily the Indians could have impressive performances throughout all their events and not walk away with a trophy.

The competition is that stiff.

The State Open – reserved for elite athletes only – simply is that demanding. Standing most firmly in Manchester’s way is Class LL runner-up Danbury, considered by many the favorite before the LL competition, and Class L winner Windsor, which lost to Manchester by 90-60 on April 19 in Manchester but defeated the Indians by 138-126 for the CCC North championship on May 25.

In Class LL, Manchester edged Danbury 75-74 on the last event, the 4x400-meter relay, even though the Hatters finished second for eight team-scoring points and the Indians third for six points. Danbury needed more of an advantage over Manchester in that event, and the gustiness of the four Indians in that relay prevented that from happening. Manchester coach Thayer Redman acknowledges it will be tough to beat Danbury for a second straight week at the championship level.

Manchester, which went undefeated in the dual-meet season, might have the ingredients to beat every team in the state head-to-head. But this is the State Open, whose qualifiers were the best performing athletes in the five class championship meets last week – LL, L, MM, M and S (Hillhouse-New Haven won MM, Bloomfield M and Canton S).

The races will be run, the field events will be contested and Redman is looking forward to seeing just how well his team can do.

Either way, he is already gushing with pride in his athletes; his appreciation for their hard work and improvement is hard to measure. The season is already a huge success in Redman’s view. This has been a theme of his since the start of the season in early April when he realized this group would be special.

“We are so young and inexperienced that anything can happen,” Redman said. “We can be free and have fun, or we can tighten up. What we did last week was amazing. I have so much pride in how we stepped into that.

“We are going to go out, do our best, have fun and see what happens,” Redman said. “If we finish in first or in 20th, who’s to say which one is more of a success. I want us to pour our hearts out, give up our fear, pride and anger. Those things can motivate you, but they are only stumbling blocks. They won’t make you do any better.”

The goal for the State Open, according to Redman, “is to see if we can get a little better.” The top six finishers in each event will qualify for the New England Championships June 11 in Burlington, VT. Manchester athletes reaching that stage of the season, with only the Nationals to follow, will only add to the season’s accomplishments, Redman said.

“I have complete confidence in my teammates that we’ll just go up there and run and have great performances,” said one of the captains, senior Brian Boudreau, competing in the 300 meter hurdles but a mainstay before the Open in the 110-meter high hurdles and the 4x400-meter relay as well.

“We have definitely made it known that we are a team that can compete with all of the other big names in the state," Boudreau said. “This is just another chapter in the book of our season.”

Boudreau, too, amplified Redman’s claim that the focus Monday is not on winning the team championship. “We’re focused pretty much on putting on a good show,” Boudreau said. “We don’t have superstar athletes but somehow we come through as a hole. We have a lot of depth and that’s how we won LL. We have a lot of great performers, a lot of great runners, great pole vaulters – the whole team is the key to our success.”

The best way to score points at the Open is to win an event, which is worth 10 points. Manchester’s highest-seeded athlete is senior Algernon Johnson in the 100-meter dash. He has the sixth best time from the five class championship meets at 11.24 seconds.

“We don’t have a lot of athletes who are going to win but we have some who can get second- or third-placed,” Boudreau said. “It’s all about depth. We can do well.”

Junior Kodjo Erasmus, too, is sixth in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles in 40.76 and 16th in the 100-meter high hurdles in 15.73, followed by senior junior Kweku Aidoo eighth in the triple jump at 43-4 and 15th in the high jump at 6-feet, Chris Choiniere 11th in the pole vault at 12-feet-6 inches, Boudreau 20th in the 300 hurdles in 42.94 and junior Shamar Smith No. 21 in the 200 at 23.15.

Senior Seth DeValve is 24th in the shot put at 45-9 and senior Taylor Johnson is 19th in the discuss at 127-7. The 4x400-relay is seeded fourth, the 4x100-relay 14th.

Last year, Danbury finished 13th at the State Open, with Windsor tied for fifth. Manchester earned no points and was not among the 67 teams that scored.

“This team has been a blessing for me,” Redman said. “I’m grateful for their efforts. Can they give their best effort? You cannot always have best performances every time you compete. A lot of good things have happened to my team, to go undefeated, to win the JI meet and to win LL. The reward is getting there with a chance to compete."

For the Manchester girls, who finished sixth of 22 teams in Class LL on May 31, junior hurdler Arianna Rivera has the most impressive seeds. She won the 100-meter high hurdles and 300 hurdles in LL and for the State Open is ranked first in the 100 hurdles and third in the 300, just 1.24 seconds slower than the top seed. Senior Emily Anderson is 10th in the 1,600 and sophomore Nicole Clemons is No. 22 in the 100. The 4x100 relay is No. 4.