Bunnell Boys Win In A One Point Thriller Over Stratford

On Monday April 26th the Bunnell Boys Track and Field team hosted cross town rival Stratford in an absolute thriller from start to finish. It was a seesaw battle that saw the lead change hands numerous times. There was no home field advantage in this one as the track at Bunnell High School serves as the home track for each team. Both teams compete in the South West Conference.

On a sunny afternoon, temperatures in the lower 50’s, a breeze out of the northwest, and with an energetic crowd on hand both teams lived up to expectations in this rivalry.

Up first on the track was the 4X800 Relay race, Bunnell’s entry of Vincenzo Fabrizi, Armand Fabrizi, Dominick Puzzo, and Mario Oliva gave Bunnell the early lead with a win over the Stratford team of Amos Colocho, Ryan Munoz, Logan Seaburg, and Dominic Gomes. Bunnell's time was 9:27, Stratford's time was 9:38.

Stratford bounced back in the 4X100 Relay, the team of Jaden Wells, Omar Lee, Angel Lainez, and Jelani Warburton-Baker came in ahead of Bunnell’s team of Mikail Francis, Matthew Stewart, Maurice Neri, and Jonathan Gulish. Stratford’s time was 46.3 seconds, Bunnell’s time was 47. 3 seconds.

Next on the track was the 110 Hurdles, Bunnell’s Neri took first place in a time of 18.6 seconds. The next two finishers were from Stratford. In second was Kaleb Lafontant at 19.5 seconds. In third was Warburton-Baker at 18.8 seconds.

Over in the Javelin event, things were winding down and saw Bunnell’s Jakub Olechno, for the third meet in a row, lead all with a throw of 121’-1”. In second was Stratford’s K. Lafontant at 94’-0”. In third was Bunnell’s A. Fabrizi at 85’-5”.

In the Discus event, Stratford’s Vincent DeLorenzo led all with a toss of 93’-6”. Teammate Jaden Lazaro was second at 71’-8”. In third was Bunnell’s Guido Llanos at 67’-3”.

Back on the track, in the 100 Meter Dash, Stratford’s Patrick Bennett was tops with a 11.1 second finish. In second was Bunnell’s Gulish at 11.2 seconds. In third was Stratford’s K.Lafontant at 11.3 seconds.

In the 1600 Meter race, Stratford’s Gomes overtook Bunnell’s M. Oliva in the race’s final thirty meters in stunning and exhausting fashion with a time of 5:05.1 seconds to M.Oliva’s 5:05. 2 seconds. In third was Stratford’s Colocho at 5:19.

In the 400 Meter race, Bunnell’s Gulish outlasted Stratford’s Elijah Brown (54.5) with a 52.4 second finish. In third was Bunnell’s Llanos at 60.9 seconds.

In the 300 Hurdles, Bunnell’s Neri took the lead with forty meters to go and went on to finish first at 49.9 seconds. In second, Stratford’s Warburton-Baker at 50.9 seconds. In third was Bunnell’s Huy Huong at 53.7 second.

It was Huong’s first career day of hurdle entries. His third place finish loomed large later in the meet scoring as a third place finish in any event gives a team one point.

The 800 Meter race was next, in this race Bunnell’s A. Fabrizi was first at 2:26. With each point being huge at this meet, there was a stride for stride finish between Stratford’s Kalaba Kibwe and Bunnell’s Raeshawn Hasty-Pettway for second and third. Both runners emptied their tanks out to the finish line with Kibwe just edging out Hasty-Pettway with a time of 2:34.1 to Hasty-Pettway’s 2:34.2 seconds.

In the Shot Put, Stratford turned in the only sweep of an event between these two teams as Javier Bedoya finished first at 33’-7”, Jadon Lafontant second at 33’-6.5”, and in third was Delorenzo at 29’-9”.

In the Long Jump, Bunnell’s Stewart was first at 19’-10”, in second was Stratford’s Wells at 15’-5”, and in third was Bunnell’s Olechno at 14’-1”.

In the 200 Meter race, Bunnell’s Gulish earned the top spot at 23.3 seconds, in second was Bunnell’s Stewart at 23.4 seconds, and in third was Stratford’s Bennett at 23.7 seconds.

The 3200 Meter race was next, the meet totals were in a virtual tie coming into this race with only a few more events to go.

Bunnell’s M. Oliva was a clear cut winner in this one with a finish of 10:28. In second was Stratford’s Seaburg at 11:42. In third was Stratford’s Colocho at 11:55.

As the 3200 Meter race was taking place, final totals from the jumping events were rolling in.

Stratford’s Brown took the High Jump event with a jump of 5’-6”. Second was Bunnell’s Olechno at 5’-2”.

In the Triple Jump, Stratford’s Bennett was first with a mark of 35’-10”. Second was Bunnell’s Bolelembe Iboki at 31’-5”. In third was Bunnell’s Olechno at 28’-11”.

With two events remaining, the Pole Vault and the 4X400 Relay, it became a point grab of five points in the 4X400 and nine points in the Pole Vault.

In the Pole Vault, Bunnell’s Puzzo surprised all with a mark of 8’-0” and a first place finish, and staying consistent with the rest of the meet was a tie in height between Bunnell’s Ryan Ortega at 7’-6” Stratford’s Seaburg at 7’-6". Based on the number of attempts Ortega garnered second place and Seaburg third.

Officials now were tasked with adding up the totals. A lengthy review was underway.
After the review, the results showed Bunnell with 75 points, Stratford 74.

With the win, Bunnell goes to 2-1 on the season, Stratford goes to 1-2 .

Next up for Bunnell, home against Pomperaug on Thursday April 29th, at 4:00 pm.