Staples' Boys Place Second in FCIAC Track

Several Staples Wreckers shared the spotlight on Tuesday afternoon, as some of the state's finest went toe-to-toe under humid conditions in the FCIAC Track and Field championship in Danbury.

On the afternoon, the Staples' boys placed second (120.5 points), trailing only the three-time defending champions from Danbury (139 points).

Meanwhile, the Staples' girls remained in the mix all day, notching a fifth-place team mark with a score of 51 points. Once again, host Danbury (176.5 points) stood atop the podium, completing the clean sweep in both the girls and boys competition.

Staples stalwart Joselyn Henry took top honors in the shot put event with a mark of 39-07 on the afternoon.

In addition, teammates Courtney Mullen, Kylie Gould, Emily Hanrahan and Kristen Weiler stepped up in the 4x800 relay with a time of 9:49.17, good for third place overall.

For the boys, Raphael Ray led the way in more ways than one. The junior standout dashed his way to a first-place effort in the 400 meter event, yet he wasn't close to calling it a day despite the relentless heat. Several events later, amid the day's closing competition, Ray returned to action with teammates Jack Roche, Sean Gallagher and Jon Heil to finish first overall in the 4x400 competition.

Heil also followed the previous lead of Ray in the 400 meter event, racing his way to a third-place finish to help spearhead the strong Wreckers' performance.

"The 400 is definitely our most important event," Ray said. "We've got several good competitors in the race. We always know that if we work hard, we should score some serious points."

Devin Graber finished second-to-none in the boys' shot put, while Jeff Caffery proved pivotal in the 800 meter event, sustaining a strong start to finish first overall.

The Wreckers quartet of Aaron Kliegman, Michael White, Heil and Gallagher teamed to tally a third-place mark in the 4x100 meter relay. White also sprinted full tilt to take second-place honors in a spirited 100 meter dash.

Robert Cross placed third in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 16.34, while Eliot Bass tied a career best of 12-06 (fourth place) in a remarkable pole vault performance.