There weren’t any individual champions, but there were notable performances from some young Bishop O’Connell Knights athletes at the private school indoor state track-and-field meet.
The O’Connell girls and boys high-school teams each finished 11th in the overall team standings.
The top finisher for the O’Connell boys was sophomore runner Jayse Brefczynski. He was third in the 1,600-meters (4:32.95, a personal best) and 12th in the 1,000. He also ran on the sixth-place 4×800 relay.
“Jayse ran the 1,600 right after the 4×800 relay, so that was a strong perormance and finish for him,” O’Connell coach Jim Connor told ARLnow.
Also for the O’Connell boys, freshman Ryan Street was ninth in the 500, with freshman Peter Fleenor 16th in the 1,000 and 17th in the 1,600.
“Peter and Ryan also ran well,” Connor said.
O’Connell junior Lance Jayme was eighth in the 3,200 and senior Avery Mosley placed 10th in the 300. Mosley anchored the 4×200 and 4×400 relays, which each placed seventh.
Leading the O’Connell girls was junior Gabi Jordan. She was fourth in the triple jump, 16th in the long jump and 17th in the 300. Her distance of 33-2.5 in the triple jump was the longest in years by an O’Connell participant in that event.
Junior thrower Ciara Bliven was sixth in the shot put.
Sophomore runner Isabelle Rodrigues was 10th in the 500, with freshman Camila Soruco 13th. Junior Sadie Smith, also a standout soccer player for the O’Connell girls team, was 10th in the 3,200 and 13th in the 1,000. Junior Caitlin Musolino was 20th in the 300.
All three O’Connell girls relays placed seventh.
“We have a lot of young athletes, and we qualified someone in every event at the state,” Connor said.
O’Connell has one more meet remaining during the winter indoor season — set for Saturday, March 1 at George Mason University. Some distance runners will be attempting to qualify indoor New Balance national meets in coming weeks.
Street already has qualified for one such competition.
