North Branford Boys' Track Starts Season Strong

The boys’ track team started the season on April 14 with a meet against Old Saybrook. Despite falling 88-62, the T-Birds had a number of strong performances with four athletes qualifying for states as Rob Martino and Rocco Morgan qualified in the 100 with Martino additionally qualifying in the 200 and Sal Varca earning a spot in the javelin.

Martino and Morgan took first and third in the 100 with times of 11.15 and 11.67, respectively. In the 400, Gary Falanga placed first (54.46), while the 4x100 team of Michael Mercier, Corey Onofrio, Morgan and Martino also prevailed (46.43). In the 300 hurdles, RJ Hart placed second (50.9) and Kevin Walker was third in the 3,200 (12:01.05).

The T-Birds were strong in the field as North Branford swept the long jump with Joe Delucia (18-2), Mercier (17-4 ½) and Martino (17-3) in the top three spots. Delucia also took the top spot in the triple jump (38-0 ½).

Varca took first in the shot put (39-9) followed by Morgan (35-11). Varca’s state-qualifying throw of 143-9 in the javelin was good for first, while Joe Griskauskas was third (117-9).

Other strong field performances included Jack White (2nd, 90-2 ½) and Braden Burke (3rd, 84-10) in the discus, Delucia (3rd, 9-6) in the pole vault and Jeremy Downer (2nd, 5-0) in the high jump.