DHS Boys Indoor Track Celebrates Record-Breaking Night at Armory

Located in Manhattan, the Armory holds a special status among track and field venues. It is home to the National Track and Field Hall of Fame and the New Balance Track and Field Center, where over 57 high school and 12 professional American records have been recorded. On Saturday night the aura of the Armory was further cemented for the Darien High School Boys Indoor Track team as they celebrated their own record-breaking night.

Darien, led by head coach Tyson Kaczmarek and coaches Chris Skagges and Ellen Bauer, participated in the Bullis Champion Speed Invitational hosted at the Armory on Saturday, January 25th. Darien was competing with some of the best track athletes not only in the region but nationally at this meet. And Darien’s athletes rose to the occasion.

The night started in spectacular fashion with senior Nick Balenzano recording a time of 7.34 seconds in the 60-meter dash to set a DHS school record. His performance was followed by senior Austin Dehmel coming within 0.20 seconds of the school record in the 200m. As the night went on the team’s success in both track and field continued. Belanzano recorded a jump of 20-5 to take 4th in the long jump. Senior Aiden Hills cleared 12 feet to secure 2nd place in the pole vault. Senior Jacob Grimm ran a personal best 2:03.87 in the 800m for 11th place. Senior Jack Holly ran 52.36 in the 400m for 14th place. In the 300m, senior Will Harmon ran a personal best and qualified for FCIACs with a time of 39.96 and senior Aidan O’Rourke qualified for States in 39.23. And in the 600m, freshman Jason Rideout ran a 1:30.83 to take 6th place and qualify for States.

Darien’s successful night was capped off with the final event, the 4x400 meter relay. The senior-led team of Austin Dehmel, Alec Armstrong, Jacob Grimm and Jack Holly had their sites set on registering their best time of the year. Not only did they deliver their season-best time of 3:32.41 for 4th place in the event, they bested a DHS school record that had stood since 1982. As coach Kaczmarek emphasized on the Darien H.S. Athletics Twitter feed, “How do you end an epic night at the Armory? Throw down a school record in the 4 x 400!”

The team now has their sites set on continuing their success at the FCIAC Eastern Division Championships being held at Wilton High School on Saturday, February 1st, and on the FCIAC Indoor Track & Field Championships held at Hillhouse High School’s Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven on Thursday, February 6th.