Darien boys track team defeats field to win FCIAC East Championship

The Darien High School boys indoor track and field team won the FCIAC East Championship by a comfortable margin over the rest of the competition on Friday at Wilton High School.

By putting up 177.5 points, Darien handily won the title, defeating New Canaan (116 points), its closest competitor and last years champs, by more than 60 points.

Wilton and Fairfield Warde placed third and fourth with 98.5 and 62 points, respectively.

"I knew we could win big at the FCIAC East meet if all our guys did what they're capable of. And that's exactly what happened," Darien coach Tyson Kaczmarek said. "The other coaches and I are really proud of the team, and [we are] happy that their hard work and dedication has paid off. We couldn't be happier to have the FCAIC East title back."

The Blue Wave's 4x225 team of C.J. Raia, Cameron Smith, Elliott Helgans and captain Corey Eppley won the event with a time of 1:54.88. Eppley claimed the 45-meter dash in 5.93, followed by teammates Spencer McMullin (5.95, second place) and Nicholas Lombardo (5.98, third place). Captain Matt Pik took second place in the 600-meter dash (1:31.02) and captain Judson Bergman claimed third place (1:31.42).

The 300-meter dash was also a strong event for Darien, with runners finishing second, fifth and seventh.

Eppley ran a 39.07 for second, Pik finished close behind in 39.43 for fifth and McMullin finished seventh in 40.54. In the 1,000-meter race, Darien runners finished fourth through sixth. Brian Davey posted a 2:52.70 time for fourth, captain Michael Coe ran 2:54.53 for fifth and Andrew Xiong finished sixth in 2:57.19.

In the 1,600, Blue Wave runners dominated the top 10, finishing second, third, sixth and seventh. Captain Michael Johnston placed second (4:46), captain Charlie Baird came in third in 4:53, Davey finished in 4:59 for sixth and Eli Converse finished 7th in 5:11.

In the 3,200, Darien runners finishing in a close 2-5 pack. Johnston ran a 10:43 for second place, Coe posted a time of 10:51 for third, Baird was fourth in 10:52 and Alex Ostberg was fifth with a time of 10:53.

Three Darien pole vaulters tied for second place, as Will DeRocco, Windsor Hall and Nicholas Palmer all jumped 10-00.00. Two of the Blue Wave's high jumpers, Harlan Smith and Lombardo, tied for second place with 5-10.00 jumps, and C.J. Raia finished fifth with his 5-08.00 jump. Lombardo also finished third in the long jump with a jump of 19-03.75.

Blue Wave shot putters finished second, fourth and seventh; William Lochtefeld threw 44-00.00 for second place, Spencer McKeough finished fourth with his 39-09.00 throw and Reed Coots placed seventh with a 37-10.00 throw.

Darien is back in action at the FCIAC Championship meet, slated for 4:30 p.m. on Thursday at Hillhouse High School in New Haven.