St. Germain takes New England track title
Jun. 13—Rachel St. Germain entered the New England high school outdoor track and field championship meet Saturday in an unfamilar situation.
The Somers High senior only had to focus on running one race at the meet: the 3,200 meters.
"She was really excited to be able to concentrate on one race," Somers coach Michael Szafir said. "And to go against girls that she knew were extremely talented and to try to just battle with them as much as she could."
St. Germain didn't just battle the competition, she took care of it.
The Quinnipiac-bound senior won the race by over five seconds and set a new personal best time in the process at Veterans Stadium in New Britain.
St. Germain finished in 10:32.28, 5.38 seconds ahead of Ruth White (Orono, Maine). Megan Randall (Bangor, Maine) was third (10:42.59).
"To be able to run the 3,200 fresh and run an awesome PR, I think it was just a great way for her to end her CIAC season," Szafir said.
St. Germain hasn't had a meet where she's run only one race since the indoor season. She typically runs in the 1,600, the 3,200 and either the 800 or the 4x800 relay.
"Going into the meet, we were thinking about running the 1,600 and the 3,200 and kind of seeing what the seed times would look like," Szafir said. "When we saw the 3,200 come out and Ruth White, who had beaten her at cross country New Englands and then Katherine Rector, who had beaten at the State Open, she thought it would be kind of fun to try to race those girls fresh and see how everything panned out."
Following the opening gun, St. Germain fell into fifth-place.
"Our plan was basically to run 80-second splits, which the girls were doing, and try to cover moves as they go," Szafir said. "At right about the one-mile mark, White started making a move. Rachel knew that if she opened up too much it would've been difficult to cover it. So at one mile, Rachel was basically like 'alright, it's time.'"
St. Germain made her move with around 800 meters left. Once she passed White for the lead, she never gave it up.
St. Germain's New England title goes with her NCCC and Class S titles in the 3,200.
She'll look to add another championship to her collection Tuesday when she competes in the 2,000-meter steeplechase at Veterans Stadium, an event she won last year.
"It's just something she really loves," Szafir said.
The Glastonbury 4x400 relay team of Alyssa Healy, Meghan Smith, Hannah Caiola and Molly Harding also took home a New England title with a winning time of 3:54.37.
Wachusett Regional (Holden, Massachusetts) finished second (3:58.51) and the East Hartford quartet of Queen Lewis, Keira Stewart, Re'Ann Fletcher and Kyrah Smith was third (4:00.02).
Harding added a third-place finish in the 400 (56.88) for the Guardians while the quartet of Ava Gattinella, Kelley MacElhiney, Jacqueline Caron, Annika Paluska placed third in the 4x800 relay (9:27.67).
In the boys meet, Ellington's Joshua Wilkie posted two top-five finishes. The senior was fourth in the 300 hurdles (39.25) and fifth in the 110 hurdles (14.90).
Luke Stoeffler of Tolland followed his Class M state title in the 3,200 with a fifth-place finish in the event Saturday (9:12.17).
