NEW HAVEN – Esme Daplyn was the 600-meter champion at both girls’ indoor track and field state championship meets and she ran the anchor leg on a runner-up relay team to lead Greenwich to being the top scoring team from the FCIAC at the State Open.
Three more conference athletes also excelled in individual events. Norwalk high jumper Layla Roberts and Fairfield Warde shot-putter Zen Blanks were both Class LL state champions and Ridgefield’s Ava Malagisi had a pair of runner-up finishes in the 3,200 at both state championship meets.
Glastonbury won two state championships. The Guardians were dominant at the 2023-24 Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Girls Indoor Track and Field Class LL Championships on Feb. 8. They won with 84 points, 38 points ahead of runner-up East Hartford. Nine days later Glastonbury’s Guardians won the CIAC State Open with 42 points and E.O. Smith placed second with 36.
Ridgefield won the team title at the 2023-24 FCIAC Girls Indoor Track and Field Class LL Championships on Feb. 1 and seven days later the Tigers had the highest score among FCIAC teams at the girls Class LL state championship meet. Ridgefield finished in a three-way tie for fifth place with 28 points and Greenwich placed eighth with 24 points. Staples was third among FCIAC teams, placing ninth overall with 20 points.
Greenwich placed eighth at the State Open with 23 points and Ridgefield was in a three-way tie for 13th place with 10 points. The Class LL and State Open championship meets both took place at Floyd Little Athletic Center.
Esme Daplyn prepared for her state championship races by winning the 1,000-meter run with a time of 2:58.37 at the FCIAC Championships on Feb. 1. Seven days later she won the 600 at the Class LL state championships in a great race as her winning time of 1:34.42 was just 0.12 of a second ahead of runner-up Annika Paluska (1:34.54) of Glastonbury.
Daplyn then won the 600 at the State Open with a 1:36.78 to beat Gabriella Hernandez (1:37.04) of E.O. Smith by 0.26 of a second. Daplyn was involved in 18 of Greenwich’s 23 team points at the State Open. After Daplyn scored 10 points by winning the 600, the senior ran the 800-meter anchor leg when she teamed up with sophomores Margaret McCooe, Eliana Daplyn and Gemma Hardwick on the 1,600-meter sprint medley relay team which placed second with a 4:15.67 to net the Cardinals eight team points. The four sprint medley Cardinals improved their time by slightly more than five seconds from when they placed third at the Class LL meet with a 4:20.7. Glastonbury won the State Open 1,600 sprint medley relay race in 4:14.39.
Roberts won the high jump at the Class LL championships by clearing 5 feet, 2 inches. Roberts and runner-up Lizzy Bidwell of Conard were the only two high jumpers who soared over the bar at 5-2 and Roberts emerged as the winner via the jump off tiebreaker. Roberts placed fourth at the State Open with her jump of 5-0.
Blanks won the Class LL shot put with a 33-9 and then she put the shot 9¼ inches farther when she placed ninth at the State Open with a 34-6.25.
Malagasi placed second at the Class LL meet in the 3,200 with a time of 11:00.5 after she ran the 1,600 and placed fifth in that with a 5:08.34. Nine days later Malagasi improved significantly in the 3,200 at the State Open with her runner-up time of 10:51.46.
Sophie Spelman of Fairfield Warde was another FCIAC distance runner who showed vast improvement at the State Open. Spelman placed sixth in the 1,600 (5:10.29) at the Class LL state championship meet and she lowered her time to 5:01.92 when she placed fourth at the State Open.
New Canaan’s Lauren Smith placed second in the shot put (39-6.25) at the Class L meet and then was fifth (36-10) at the State Open.
There were eight girls from the FCIAC who placed third in individual events at their respective state class championship meets.
Wilton had four athletes finish third at the CIAC Class L Championships on Feb. 10. Melinda Pettit vaulted over the bar at 10 feet to place third in the Class L pole vault. Pettit cleared 10 feet again at the State Open to tie for eighth place and that is now tied for the 11th best vault in the state this year. The three Warriors who placed third at the Class L meet were Mya Salvino in the 1,000 (3:03.7), Anna LaBant in the 55-meter hurdles (8.79) and Jenna Mancuso in the 3,200 (11:28.36).
The four conference athletes who placed third at the Class LL meet were pole vaulter Daisy Seaborne (9-6) of Staples, Bridgeport Central long jumper Casondra Caldwell (17-4.25), Darien’s Julia Blake in the 600 (1:38.11), and Ridgefield’s Nora Foley in the 1,000 (3:07.45).