By Michael Letendre
Both the boys and girls indoor track teams from Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern performed well at the ultra-competitive State Open event on Saturday as three of the four squads earned points that day.
The showdown, held at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven, saw the Bristol Eastern boys squad score nine points for 15th place while Bristol Central notched sixth (19th place) in Class L competition.
Eastern’s Jack Mulcunry was simply outstanding in the 600 meters, just missing out on a State Open title.
He was the runner-up in the event, finishing the race in 1:23.91 just a hair behind the winning mark established by Xavier’s Nick Cassarino (1:23.62).
His finish means that Mulcunry is heading to the New England Championships.
The Lancers’ other point came via sixth place in the 1600 sprint medley.
The foursome of Preston Poirier, Rayshon Andrews, Dominic Tartarelli and Mulcunry took home a time of 3:48.81 for its stellar finish.
Andrews just missed out in qualifying for the 55-meter dash finals (6.68 seconds), Tartarelli nabbed eighth place in the 1000 meters (2:45.94) and Eastern’s 4×200 relay team of Andrews, Mulcunry, Zion Otero and Poirier took seventh in 1:37.80.
All of Central’s points came off the third-place finish by senior sensation Frankie Porrini.
He ended the 1600 in 4:27.64, placing just behind the top-scoring duo from Xavier, and established a new school record in the process.
Porrini will join Mulcunry at the New England Championships as well.
Also for the Rams, pole vaulter Jude Browning finished in seventh place with a make of 10 feet even.
Xavier earned the State Open title behind a 74-point showing with second place Windsor (68) just six points behind.
On the girls side, Eastern tied for 19th place with one point while Central did not score at the meet.
The Kingstreeters scored its point in the 1600 medley event.
The combination of Julia Armington, Darlissa McElroy, Kate Patterson and Kaelyn Gonzalez took sixth place at 4:35 even – belting its seeded time of 4:42.78 completely out of the park.
Gonzalez nabbed ninth place in the 1000 meters behind a time of 3:19.64 – a tremendous finish by the standout freshman.
She also placed 11th in the 3200 (12:18.57).
Eastern’s Ryan Braccia took 10th place in the girls high jump with a make of four feet, eight inches.
Central’s Sophia Stark held her own in the 600 meters, making a tenth-place finish in 1:48.63.
And in the 4×400, Stark and the team of Rebecca Litwinczyk, Emily Blanchette and Lynae Lewis ended the relay in ninth place with a finish of 4:30.42.
Windsor (82 points) won the State Open title for the girls followed closely by runner-up Edwin O. Smith (77).
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