Video: Coginchaug Track Competes in Shoreline and State Championships

The Coginchaug Boys' team went into the Shoreline Conference Championship as a title contender, the girls as a team looking to establish themselves. The boys walked away nine points short of a title, placing third. The girls earned a fifth place finish, far from a title but much improved from a tenth place finish last year.

Despite neither team winning team titles, there were plenty of noteworthy individual performances. Aleksandr Morin was the first to earn First Team All Conference honors by winning the 1000m run in 2:44.41. Alex followed up his win in the 1000m with a a second place finish in a controversial 1600m, in which a runner being lapped by Alex made contact with him during the final 100 meters of the race, pushing him into Lane 3. Alex finished second by .33 of a second, with a time of 4:31.55. In the 3200m, Alex ran another close race, falling less than a second short of first again, losing by .42 of a second with a time of 10:11.54. Ian Kopcik capped off a dominate indoor season in the hurdles by taking the shoreline title in the 55m hurdles in a time of 8.24 seconds, earning First Team All Conference honors. Lastly, Yuri Morin, brother of Alex, won the High Jump by matching his personal record of 5'10'', earning him a place on the all conference team. Yuri also set a personal record in the Long Jump at 19'8'', placing second. Another notable performance came from sophomore Jeremy Brown, who placed fifth in the 1600m and fourth in the 3200m, establishing himself as possibly the next premier Coginchaug distance runner.

In the end, the boys' team lost because of their lack of depth, which was obvious when it came to the relay events. Coginchaug scored seven of a possible forty points in the relay events, whereas the winners, Old Saybrook, took 28 of a possible forty.

While the girls were still far off from the winners, Old Saybrook, they showed themselves to be possible contenders in years to come. Emily Halligan showcased her versatility by concentrating on sprinting events, the 600m and 300m, during the championship meet. Emily took second place in the 600m with a time of 1:44.93, earning Second Team All Conference Honors. However, the highlight for the girls team, and maybe the meet, came in the High Jump, where Lora Manley broke the school record with a jump of 5'4'', tying the meet record as well. Lora also won the Class S State Championship in the high jump in 2009. Lora took second place in the long jump as well, with a mark of 15'9''.

Even though the girls vastly improved from last year, they were unable to win because of their lack of quality. They have a young team with a lot of qualifiers but still have a hard time competing with some of the more polished, older athletes. This should change in the next couple of years as the athletes continue to develop.

Class 'S' State Championship

Both the boys and girls teams entered the state championship with no realistic shot at taking the team title, making it solely about the individual.

On the boys' side, the Morin brothers established themselves as the best sibling duo in Class S, scoring 14 points combined. Alex took fifth place in the 1600m with a 4:42.31, but ran an impressive 2:35.81 in the 100m, breaking his own school record by four seconds and earning a second place finish. The time will qualify Alex for the State Open meet to be held on Saturday, Feb. 19 at Hillhouse High School in New Haven. Currently, Alex is the fifth seed in the race. The top six finishers qualify for New Englands in Boston. Yuri also had a successful meet, setting a personal record in the long jump, with a mark of 20'3'', earning a fourth place finish and an outside shot at the State Open. Only the top 16 seeds in the state make the State Open.

Lora Manley continued to show her strength in field events, long jumping 16'2'' to take second place in the event, putting herself in contention for a State Open invitation. Emily Halligan took fifth place in the 600m with a time of 1:44.12 and was a member of the 4x400m relay that took sixth place.

A complete list of Shoreline Conference Results can be found here:

http://mysportsresults.com/Results/Results/SLC-IndTFChampionships-20110205.pdf

A complete list of Class S State Tournament results can be found here:

http://www.casciac.org/it11s.shtml

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