Danbury defended its team title at the 2025 FCIAC Boys Indoor Track and Field Championships and shortly thereafter the Hatters placed second at the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Class LL State Championships.
There were plenty more achievements highlighting the boys indoor track season from FCIAC athletes and teams, including four athletes becoming state champions in their respective individual events along with relay teams from Ridgefield, Trumbull and Greenwich placing first at either State Open or Class LL state championship meets.
Sebastian Perez won the 300-meter race, and he also ran the anchor leg on Trumbull’s winning 4×400 relay teams at both the state Class LL and State Open meets. Ridgefield’s Kieran Boyle, Westhill’s Nate Elsner, and Bridgeport Central’s Rashidi Newton were also state champions at the Class LL meet.
Kyle Jeffers, Tobeas Kelly and Machai Henry led the way as Danbury had 17 more points than runner-up Greenwich and won its 21 st FCIAC championship, which is the record for most conference championships.
Danbury accumulated 97 points, and Greenwich was runner-up with 80. Staples placed third with 57 points and was followed in the top five by Ridgefield (46) and Trumbull (44).
Jeffers, a senior distance runner for Danbury, won the 1,600-meter race at the FCIAC championships with a time of 4 minutes, 28.56 seconds; and he was runner-up the 1,000 with a 2:35.54 which was just 0.11 of a second behind the winner, Charles Lovett (2:35.43) of Ridgefield.
Kelly and Henry were Danbury’s other FCIAC champions in individual events and they teamed up with Rysaiah Saunders and Julian Farmer to win the 4×200 relay in 1:34.54. Kelly ran the leadoff leg on that relay and was the long jump champion with his leap of 21 feet, 6 inches. Henry was the anchorman who clinched the 4×200 relay title and he won the 55-meter dash in a very close finish with a 6.41 which was just 0.06 of a second ahead of Norwalk’s Ethan Hudson (6.47).
In addition to the big points the trio of Jeffers, Kelly and Henry combined to score, Danbury also received significant points from the runner-up finishes of Michael Komisky in the 1,600 (4:28.95), shot-putter Daniel Nalbatian (45-2½) and Miles Macklin, who cleared 13 feet in the pole vault.
Several of those Hatters placed very high to help Danbury finish in second place, seven points behind champion Hamden, in the CIAC Class LL state championship meet. Hamden won with 50 points and Danbury had 43, four points more than third-place Hall. Norwich Free Academy was fourth with 30, just a point more than the two FCIAC teams who tied for fifth place, Trumbull and Greenwich.
Kelly, Danbury’s versatile junior, scored 12 points in individual events by placing second in the long jump (21-9¼) and fourth in the 55 dash (6.6) and he was on the third-place 1,600 sprint medley relay team with Saunders, Alexander Hannon and Jeffers, who was also runner-up in the 1,000 (2:35.75).
Komisky placed third in the 1,600 (4:29.11) at the Class LL meet on Feb. 14 and six days later, at the State Open, Komisky and Jeffers teamed up with Terrell St. Clair and Owen Tomask on Danbury’s runner-up 4×800 relay team (8:05.99).
Greenwich had a pair of individual champions at the FCIAC Championships in Cameron Williams and Ryan Newcomb, and Williams was also on a winning relay team to help the Cardinals place second.
Newcomb won the 600 in a very close race with a 1:25.78. Kevin Pennella of Brien McMahon’s placed second with a 1:25.94. Williams won the 300 in 37.6 and that was notably impressive given that the runner-up, Trumbull’s Perez (37.78), would soon become the Class LL and State Open champion in the event.
Williams later ran the anchor leg on Greenwich’s victorious 4×400 relay team (3:41.46) which included Jack Hannafin, William Tulloch and Daniel Silver. David Akinnubi placed second in the high jump (6-2) for the Cardinals.
At the Class LL meet for Greenwich, Newcomb placed third in the 600 (1:25.15), Dylan Jelliffe was fifth in the 1,600 (4:30.84), and those two also ran the last two legs on Greenwich’s winning 4×800 relay team (8:11.87) after Benjamin Hayes and Chase Nizielski ran the first two legs.
Those four teamed up once again and improved nearly two seconds with an 8:09.93 when they placed fourth at the State Open.
Staples distance runners Samuel Zwick-Lavinsky and Benjamin Buchalter placed 1-2 in the 3,200 with their respective times of 9:42.76 and 9:43.8 at the FCIAC Championships.
Four more athletes who were FCIAC champions in individual events were Fairfield Warde’s shot-putter Luke Kieffer (46-6¼), Trumbull’s high jumper Mason Sweeney (6-4), Westhill’s pole vaulter Sean Horrigan (13-0), and Owen Brum of Fairfield Ludlowe in the 55 hurdles (8.14), who nipped Dristan Munroe (8.22) of Bridgeport Central. Stamford’s David Rojugbokan was the runner-up long jumper (20-1) at the FCIAC Championships.
Many of those athletes who placed very high at the FCIAC Championships along with plenty more went on to have some more success in the Class LL, Class L, and State Open championship meets.
Perez, a senior at Trumbull, steadily improved individually in the 300-meter run, and he and his 4×400 relay teammates also lowered their times throughout the last three postseason meets.
Perez won the 300 at the State Open with a 35.19 to nip Lyman Hall’s Owen Rich (35.22) by just 0.03 a second and a week later Perez ran 0.21 of a second faster with a 34.98 when he placed second for the highest placing of any FCIAC athlete at the New England Championships.
Ryan McCann, Justin Steele and Timothy Keane were Perez’ teammates on the 4×400 relay team which won the Class LL meet with a 3:30.95 and that same foursome then won at the State Open with a 3:28.38. Trumbull’s 4×400 relay team improved by exactly two seconds (3:26.38) when it placed fifth at the New England Championships.
Ridgefield won the 4×800 relay at the FCIAC Championships, State Open, and then the New England Championships. Junior leadoff runner Aidan Nelson and seniors Trevor Fuller, Magnus Manley, and Lovett teamed up to win the event at the FCIAC Championships in 8:11.86, and that same quartet in the same order set a new State Open meet record of 7:59.44, which was 0.40 of a second faster than the old record of 7:59.84 set by Suffield six years ago.
Ridgefield won a thrilling 4×800 relay race at the New England Championships with a 7:48.08 to beat runner-up Xavier (7:48.44) by 0.36 of a second.
Boyle, Ridgefield’s junior sprinter, was consistent in the 55-meter dash finals of four postseason meets, as his four times were all within 0.03 seconds of each other. Boyle won the 55-meter dash with a 6.51 and placed third in the 300 (35.94) at the Class LL state championship meet.
When Boyle placed third at the State Open, he matched his personal-best time of 6.48, which was same time he had when he also placed third at FCIAC Championships. Boyle then had a time of 6.49 when he placed fifth in the New England Championships as the top finisher from the state.
Ridgefield’s senior Pierce Graber improved his times in three postseason 300-meter races when he placed second (35.51) at the Class LL meet, third at the State Open (35.33), and fourth at New England Championships (35.19).
Boyle, William Gallaway, Graber and Fuller teamed up to win the 1,600 sprint medley relay (3:46.2) at the FCIAC Championships.
Elsner, Westhill’s junior pole vaulter, vaulted over the bar at 13 feet, 6 inches on his first attempt and that enabled him to be the Class LL champion via fewer misses. Newton, Bridgeport Central’s junior high jumper, also won his Class LL title via fewer misses when he cleared the bar on his first attempt at 6-2.
Darien’s junior Andrew Sharron placed fourth in the 1,600 at both the State Open and state Class L meets and had his best time of 4:26.12 at the State Open.
New Canaan’s senior pole vaulter Robert Frangione cleared 12 feet, 6 inches to place third, and his four teammates Ryan Boulanger, Quinn Kilkenny, Ryan Monohan and Ryan Jordan placed second in the 4×800 relay (8:21.72) to help the Rams finish 11th in team scoring with 15 points at the Class L state championships.
NOTES: When Danbury’s Hatters won their first FCIAC championship in 1993, they were co-champions because they finished in a tie with Staples. That co-championship was also a seventh consecutive FCIAC championship for Staples. So, Danbury has won its 21 FCIAC championships in the last 33 years. Staples is second with 17 FCIAC titles, the last one occurring three years ago.