The depth it had in select events would be enough for the Joel Barlow High boys track team against a couple of opponents.
Although the Falcons were outgunned in the sprints, they more than made up for it in others when they hosted Brookfield and Notre Dame of Fairfield on April 30. Dominating the hurdles and distance events in particular, they held off the former 71-67 and the latter 76-64.
Barlow gained some easy points in the opening event, as it was the only team to compete in the 4×800-meter relay. Julian Davies Villaneuva, Devin Tala, Lance Hansen and Ben Azzara combined to finish in 11 minutes, 54.0 seconds.
With Brookfield disqualified for an exchange violation in the 4×100 and Notre Dame not competing, the Falcons won that event as well. Here, Ethan Peters, Luke Mutuski, Nathaniel Dyar and Lucas Jandura ran a 47.6.
Two of the top three spots in the 110 high hurdles went Barlow’s way, starting with Kyle Rwabukamba finishing in 20.2, just ahead of Notre Dame’s Alex Dawson, who had the same time. Nathan Duque was third in 22 seconds flat.
Barlow did not place in the 100 or 200 but took third in the 400 with Jandura breaking the one-minute mark in 59.5. More points came in the 1,600 with Jackson Sobelman winning it in 4:36.5. Tala was third in 4:39.5. Both would also score in the 3,200, with the latter winning in 12:35.6 and the former taking second in 12:36.1.
In the 300 intermediate hurdles, Rwabukamba picked up his second win, this one in 48.9, a personal record. Josh Hamilton was second in 1:00.5 and Andrew Kopec completed the sweep in 1:05.1, a personal record.
Brookfield swept the 800 and Notre Dame did likewise in the 200. The former also won the 4×400 with Barlow’s Sam Walker, Jandura, Christian De and Ile-Eso Aihiokhai taking second in 4:32.9.
The javelin marked Barlow’s best performance in the throwing events with two top-three finishes. Ian Sandor won it with 136 feet, 11 inches and Dyar was third with 114’ 4”, a personal record.
The Falcons had the only competitors in the pole vault, which Jandura won with a height of eight feet. Azzara was second with 7’ 6”, a personal record.
Earning Barlow’s points in the long jump, Dyar leaped 18’ 2” for third. He also scored in the triple jump with 35’ 4” to take second.
Barlow finishes the regular season this week and takes part in the South-West conference championship in Monday at Bethel High at 3 p.m..
