A record day by Lewis helps NFA girls win ECC track & field title
East Lyme — Allyson Lewis was seeded second in the long jump at Monday's Eastern Connecticut Conference track and field championships.
Lewis' seed was 16 feet, 5 inches. She did that in her first meet on her first jump in April. She was only doing it for points, and it was good enough to win, so it was her only jump.
Saturday was Lewis' second practice in the event, but she was working on getting her landing down. It's not like the long jump is her primary event, unlike the high jump.
Lewis sprang 19-1.5in the long jump Monday as she not only won the event — she shattered a 26-year old record and helped NFA to its third straight ECC championship and 10th overall.
"I was not expecting that, honestly," Lewis said about her long jump.
Ah, yeah.
"It was a pretty big surprise," Lewis said. "Honestly, I thought I had a 17-foot jump in me. I wasn't expecting anything over 18. I thought maybe 17-8, the high 17s, maybe.
"After I saw 18 (during the preliminaries), I was, like, 'woah!'"
Lewis also won the 200-meter race and high jump, leading Ledyard boys' coach and public address announcer Jose Sanabria to joke, "She jumped longer than three-quarters of my boys."
Teammate Paige Martin won the triple jump and pole vault.
It was just the third time Martin competed in the triple jump this season.
"I don't really practice it," Martin said. "I only practice pole vault."
Martin paused and grinned, "Somehow, I can pull it out. It was a foot below by PR, but I'm not mad. I still won."
NFA outdistanced Bacon Academy, 119-79.5, to win the team title. East Lyme was third (75), followed by Plainfield (54), Stonington (53.5), and Montville (52).
"I tell the girls I like to see how many can get all-conference," NFA head coach Kara Kochanksi said.
Kayla Park (second in the 800, third in the 3,200), Jazlynn Touissaint (second, 100 hurdles), Eve Buckridge (fourth, 3,200), Lewis and Martin made all-conference.
"They came together as a team. Kayla, at the back end of the meet, ran the 800, the 3,200, and ended the (4x400 relay), which we ended up third in."
Killingly's Amy Stuyniski held the previous long jump record, leaping 18-6 in 1993. Lewis was an inch off the record on her first jump in the preliminaries.
"When I got here today, I was like, 'just do as good as you can. It's your last conference meet. Just try to make it big'," said Lewis, who The Day's 2018 All-Area Girls' Outdoor and Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year.
"My first jump (in the finals) was big, but it was off (the record) by the tiniest bit. I said, 'I want this record.' My second jump, I ran down the runway with everything I had and it was 19-1½. I was honestly really surprised. The long jump is not even my main event. I was really happy with that."
Lewis added another championship moments later in the high jump, in which she was seeded first at 5-8. Lewis won with that same height and tied the meet record she set a year ago, joining another ex-NFA athlete Nicole Kadyszewski, who first set the record in 2000.
"That's my third 5-8 this season," Lewis said. "I'm pretty happy. ... but I'm chasing 5-10. That's my goal. I want to get it at states or the State Open. That's the one thing I need to get over."
Lewis won the 200 in 25.74 seconds.
Martin was the top seed in the pole vault and cleared 11-6. She narrowly beat Montville's MacKenzie Clark to win the triple jump, 35-6.5 to 35-6.
St. Bernard's Brigid Kunka was involved in the craziest event of the day as she and Jordan Malloy of Bacon Academy finished in a dead heat for first in the 3,200 (11:54.75).
"That doesn't happen in distance events," said a happy but exhausted Kunka. "I knew Jordan was fast. ... She just won the mile. She's really good. I knew if I could just stay with her until the last lap and then just try to sprint finish, I would have a good chance, but she also sprints good finishes. I just tried to match her kicks at the end.
"It was so hard. It was so fast."
Keegan Donohue, Emma Small, Lindsey Orr and Jessica Detwiller won the 4x800 for Stonington (10:09.76).
n.griffen@theday.com
2019 ECC OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
At East Lyme
Team results
1. NFA, 119; 2. Bacon Academy, 79.5; 3. East Lyme, 75; 4. Plainfield, 54; 5. Stonington, 53.5; 6. Montville, 52; 7. Killingly, 51; 8. Fitch, 50; 9. Ledyard, 38; 10. St. Bernard, 27; 11. Waterford, 22; 12. Woodstock Academy, 21; 13. Griswold, 18; 14. Lyman Memorial, 15; 15. New London, 14; 16. Windham, 8. 17. Tourtellotte, 5.
Individual results
100-meter dash: 1. Marina Monrabal Romeu (WA), 13.02 seconds; 2. Cleondra White (BA); 3. Saige Deveau (EL); 4. Gwen Anderson (S); 5. Nadia Helme (L); 6. Abigail Rogers (F); 7. Audrey Strmiska (G); 8. Juliet Brady (SB).
200: 1. Allyson Lewis (NFA), 25.74; 2. Anderson (S); 3. Monrabal Romeu (WA); 4. Rogers (F): 5. Deveau (EL); 6. Michaela MacCracken (M); 7. Ashley Spreng (F); 8. Brady (SB).
400: 1. Kate Carleson (Pl), 59.66; 2. Katherine Harris (EL); 3. Spreng (F); 4. Emma Grace Ricketts (NFA); 5. Akheena Farrior-Parcak (NL); 6. Hannah Siegmund (K); 7. Riley Marquis (F); 7. Vanessa Benjamin (S).
800: Cassandra Carleson (Pl), 2:19.15; 2. Kayla Park (NFA); 3. Sophia Duhig (SB); 4. Catherine Saucier (Wat); 6. Resia Baran (Win); 6. Alicia Sanders (Wat); 7. Brianna Am Ende (EL); 8. Jessica Detwiler (S).
1,600: 1. Jordan Malloy (BA), 5:24.24; 2. Mady Whittaker (M); 3. Eve Buckridge (NFA); 4. Linsey Arends (WA); 5. Emily Moran (Pl); 6. Lindsey Orr (S); 7. Rylee Valliere (Win); 8. Sophia Jones (NFA).
3,200: 1. (tie) Malloy (BA) and Brigid Kunka (SB), 11:54.75; 3. Park (NFA); 4. Buckridge (NFA); 5. Serena Britner (SB); 6. Sarah Praisner (BA); 7. Jessica Carey (LM); 8. Julia Adrian (F).
100 hurdles: 1. Jessica Savage (BA), 16.22; 2. Jazlynn Touissaint (NFA); 3. Darya Mikusova (EL); 4. Lauren Ross (M); 5. Janay Burley (F); 6. Kaleigh Bolduc (S); 7. Olivia Crawford (L); 8. Meredith Brown (G).
300 hurdles: 1. Isabella Newbury (Pl), 46.11; 2. Savage (BA); 3. Mikusova (EL); 4. Crawford (L); 5. Bolduc (S); 6. Sarah Merchant (G); 7. Ross (M); 8. Elena Korinek (S).
4x100 relay: 1. Plainfield (Lindsey Price, Newbury, C. Carleson, K. Carleson), 50.58; 2. Fitch; 3. Stonington; 4. Killingly; 5. Ledyard; 6. (tie) East Lyme and Waterford; 8. Lyman.
4x400 relay: 1. Plainfield (Emily Moran, Newbury, C. Carleson, K. Carleson), 4:11.04; 2. East Lyme; 3. NFA; 4. Fitch; 5. Montville; 6. Stonington; 7. Ledyard; 8. Lyman.
4x800 relay: 1. Stonington (Keegan Donohue, Emma Small, Orr, Detwiler), 10:09.76; 2. Lyman; 3. St. Bernard; 4. East Lyme; 5. NFA; 6. Waterford; 7. Fitch; 8. Ledyard.
High jump: 1. Allyson Lewis (NFA), 5 feet, 8 inches (ties meet record set by Lewis in 2018 and NFA's Nicole Kadyszewski in 2000); 2. Ellie Lokken (Wat); 3. Mikayla Charles-Haley (F); 4. (tie) Strmiska (G), Paylynn Sormrude (L) and Kiera O'Brien (T); 7. Alana Chappelle (M); 8. (tie) Kayleigh Adams (Wat) and Maile Blumberger (BA).
Long jump: 1. Lewis (NFA), 19-1.5 (meet record, old mark 18-6 by Killingly's Amy Stuyniski in 1993); 2. Abigail Burgess (K); 3. Sofia Riker (EL); 4. Strmiska (G); 5. MacKenzie Clark (M); 6. Taylor Bialowas (G); 7. Kathryn Solinsky (EL); 8. Tahlia Bryant (NFA).
Triple jump: 1. Paige Martin (NFA), 35-6.5; 2. Clark (M); 3. Riker (EL); 4. Burgess (K); 5. Solinsky (EL); 6. Kristen Goodrich (LM); 7. Resia Baran (Win); 8. Abby Millbach (L).
Discus: 1. Natalie Rolon-Issa (BA), 113-2; 2. Jax (K); 3. Alarcon (M); 4. Isobel Sutherland (EL); 5. Miranda Chesnut (L); 6. Sydney Rosen (K); 7. Grace Nichols (K); 8. Deja Driscoll-Smith (F).
Javelin: 1. Savage (BA), 101-9; 2. Kira Kassim (L); 3. Cecilia LeBlanc (K); 4. Kara Beaupre (M); 5. Solana Parra-Polimeni (NL); 6. Nichols (K); 7. Sjodin Fedikovich (EL); 8. Rori Johnson (T).
Shot put: 1. Rolon-Issa (BA), 42-2.75 (meet record, old mark 41-9.25 by NFA's Mechil Artis in 1992); 2. Jax (K); 3. Marissa Parker (NL); 4. Alarcon (M); 5. J'Onnelle Davis (F); 6. Natalie Poulton (L); 7. Niela Sylvestre (NFA); 8. Lindsey Reilly (BA).
Pole vault: 1. P. Martin (NFA), 11-6; 2. Madison Martin (NFA); 3. Lila Rich (S); 4. Hannah Elliot (NFA); 5. Leah Mikkelson (NFA); 6. (tie) Donohue (S) and Megan Delillo (EL); 8. Sydney Comstock (F).
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