Class S track: St. Germain wins twice, leads Somers girls to second place

Jun. 1—NEW BRITAIN — Rachel St. Germain got a kick out of the fact that banners for her multiple championship wins exhausted the Somers High athletic department's yearly budget by the end of the winter season.

When asked if it felt good that athletic director Alan Walker has to come up with additional funds for more banners following her performance at the Class S state championship track meet, the senior didn't hesitate.

"Yeah a little bit," she said with a laugh.

St. Germain took home both the 1,600 and 3,200-meter titles for the second straight year at Veterans Stadium Tuesday afternoon.

"It was just the hard work," St. Germain said of the performance. "We were all trying our best and working hard.

St. Germain's efforts also helped lead Somers to a second-place finish overall with 59 points, marking the first time the Spartans left the Class S track meet with a trophy since they won their only state title in 1990.

"I'm just excited for all the girls," junior Devon Dalessio said. "Everyone has put in a lot of work this season. Everyone deserves it and I'm excited."

Bloomfield won the team title with 122 1/2 points. Immaculate was third (57 1/2 ). Bolton tied for seventh (29), Windsor Locks tied for 19th (12) and East Windsor tied for 34th (3).

St. Germain has had a banner senior season. She won NCCC, Class S and State Open titles in cross country. During the indoor season, she captured three NCCC titles, two Class S and two State Open crowns, a New England title and a national title. And prior to Tuesday, she had three NCCC outdoor titles under her belt.

But her Class S meet started not with a win, but with a second. After bouncing back and forth between the 800 and the 4x800 relay all season, St. Germain and coach Michael Szafir decided she'd do the relay Tuesday. A runner can only run in three events at the state meet.

"Coach said we had a shot at winning (the relay) so we were going to run our A team and try our best," St. Germain said.

St. Germain, Stephanie Burzynski, Avery D'Amour and Gracie Flynn finished in 9:49.70.

Up next was the 1,600. The Quinnipac signee led wire-to-wire, finishing in 5:15.61. Kayla Ondy of Immaculate was second (5:25.08) while Bolton's Megan Minicucci was third (5:25.70).

"It was hot. It was really hot," St. Germain said with a laugh. "But I just took it out, tried to stay smart throughout the whole thing."

St. Germain took the lead for the first time on the first turn of the 3,200. At the halfway point, she was over 20 seconds ahead. She would finish in 11:17.89. Ondy (11:53.84) was second while Minicucci was third (11:57.99).

"When I am by myself, I always try to push myself to go as fast as I can," St. Germain said. "But it's a little bit easier to push yourself when there's people right behind you."

St. Germain looks to continue her winning ways at the State Open Monday at Veterans Stadium. The top-5 finishers in each event at the state meet qualify for the Open.

"When you have somebody like Rachel who's willing to do triples at the state meet and put herself out there, that type of leadership is just amazing," Szafir said. "As a coach it's what you hope for because then everyone else is like 'coach whatever you need me to do to step up and help out the team.' That's the reason why I think they were able to finish as the runners-up."

Dalessio added a second-place finish for Somers in the javelin (96 feet, 11 inches).

Windsor Locks senior Tristin Oberg captured her second straight state title in the discus with a throw of 122-3.

"It feels really good," Oberg said. "I came into today really calm. I had the mentality of 'last year I won this event' so I felt like there was an ease going into today. I was much calmer than NCCCs. I don't know why. I like this circle. It's a nice circle, so I had confidence in myself today."

Lilly Dudek added a third-place finish in the shot put (32-0) for Bolton.

Krause wins two boys titles

In the boys meet, Coventry's Alex Krause won both the shot put and the discus for the second straight year.

The UConn-bound senior won the shot put with a throw of 48-10. He edged NCCC foe Nick Canora of East Windsor (46-8 1/4 ).

Krause's throw of 155-2 in the discus was nearly 13 feet farther than Dylan Sheehan of Old Lyme (142-8).

"Last year because of COVID, there weren't many people here and not many people were able to practice," Krause said. "So, the competition wasn't as high as it was this year. But, especially our conference and Class S, everyone's numbers went up so much between last year and this year. The field just got way more competitive. So, it feels great to be a dual state champion."

Bloomfield also won the boys team title with 81 1/2 points. Hale Ray was second (64) while Derby was third (55). Coventry and East Windsor tied for ninth with 22 points each. Somers tied for 17th (16), East Catholic tied for 20th (12), Bolton tied for 22nd (11) and Stafford was 25th (8).

Nate Kita battled shin splints to lead the Panthers to a win in the 800 (1:58.48).

"Right off the gun, my shoes just slipped right out from underneath me," Kita said. "So it was a terrible start, got off almost in dead last. With 100 to go, I was all boxed in, it was real messy. I was like before I hit into this 200 turn, I've got to be up there with the leaders no matter what. Find a way. If there's a will, there's a way, and there was definitely a will today."

Doug Suter had two top-3 finishes for the Spartans. He finished tied for second in the pole vault (12-0) and third in the 300 hurdles (42.77).

East Catholic senior Israel Caro contributed two third-place finishes for the Eagles. He finished the 1,600 in 4:41.60 and the 3,200 in 10:27.44.

For coverage of the Connecticut Sun and professional women's basketball, Hartford Athletic pro soccer team, as well as area high school and local youth sports, follow Adam Betz on Twitter: @AdBetz1, Facebook: Adam Betz — Sports Writer, and Instagram: @AdBetzJI.