At the Southern Connecticut Conference (SCC) Western Sectional meet on Jan. 28, the Hamden High indoor track team finished with the boys earning 113 points and the girls earning 85 points. Points are awarded based on individual results in the top eight, and overall, the boys came in second after Xavier High School, and the girls came in second after Mercy High School. James Hillhouse High School hosted the meet, and many athletes qualified for the next level of state competition on Feb. 7. 

Xavier and Mercy were HHS’ main competitors. Senior Alexander Medina said that they “load up on the distance events.” Xavier got 27 points just from the two-mile. “Whatever we did wasn’t enough. They had too many points.” Medina ran the mile, 4×400-meter relay, and his favorite event, the kilometer, winning all three. 

Marc Bennett had been trying to break 20 feet in the long jump for a long time, and he did, winning the event for the first time. “It was like I was making [the team] proud,” he said. “My coach told me that I was not just jumping for myself but for the team.” He did his skips and warmups and took some deep breaths before jumping. 

Senior captain Shanez De Roche won the 55-meter dash, along with the 4×200-meter relay. “It felt great,” De Roche said of her performance. “It feels like I have achieved something to be able to keep pushing myself for this team.”

Sophomore Samantha Bankowski did the high jump and ran the 4×800-meter relay, her typical events. Bankowski said she “practiced all week, ate good food, drank lots of water.” Bankowski said she ran well, as she got third place in the relay and seventh in the high jump.

Julian Quintero-Perez, a sophomore fresh off an IT band injury, said that he “tried everything, but came up a bit short.” He ran the Sprint Medley Relay (SMR) and the 4×800-meter relay, winning second place in both. “I am confident that I’ll do well at the Championship meet,” he said. “I’ll put everything on the table.”

This meet was senior Cameron Saunders’ first meet back after an injury. The shot putter broke his wrist, and despite a “tedious recovery with lots of checkups,” he managed to win the event by throwing the shot a whopping 47 feet. He credited this success to both stretching his forearm muscles and his mindset, “I was focused and spent the whole time in my own mind, preparing.”

Torsten Wallin got cleared to compete the day before the meet, and it was his first time back after an injury. The pole vaulter tore his hamstring and did not have adequate time to prepare for the meet. In spite of being “just out of shape,” Wallin vaulted 13 feet, earning his team 10 points. “My form is worse. Need to fix and clean that up in the coming weeks,” he said.

This meet signals the start of the championship phase of the team’s seasonal plan, according to coach Michael “Migs” Migliore.