Shelton High is having a strong winter campaign and looks for its success to spill over into championship season. What’s more, this has been an enjoyable campaign for coach Michael Barone and company.
“We’re having a blast this season,” Barone said. “It's a great group of seniors, they're leaders, they're super productive and talented, and they're a joy to work with always.”
The Gaels are led by captains Camerin Gumbs, a sprinter, and Robert Dillon, a distance runner.
“Both teams have a bunch of promising underclassmen as well, freshman and sophomores flashing varsity times and terrific marks,” Barone said. “They're proving ready sooner than later.
“Freshman, Jason Lorent has wowed us in the 55 dash, 300 meter, and has floored us with his splits in the 4x200 & 400 relays. He's gonna be fun to watch this postseason.”
Sophomore Andrew Mysirlidis in shot put, junior Jack Boccino in high jump and the 55 hurdles, sophomore sprinter Rafael Gomez, and junior Michael Rodia are underclassmen shaving times and adding distance.
Rodia set a school 55-meter dash record at the Yale Classic with a time of 6.57.
While sprinting has been the strong point for the Gaels, Barone is hopeful that Dillon is poised for a big postseason on the distance side.
“Robert holds most of our distance records from years past, and he's set some tough marks for himself to beat,” Barone said. “He'll certainly try over the coming weeks in the 1600, 3200 and perhaps the 1000.
“Overall, the team works extremely hard on a daily basis, and their improvement meet to meet tells the tale. The numbers don’t lie. We are improving.”
The postseason was slated to get going with the SCC East sectional championship meet on Jan. 22, with the conference’s overall title meet, the SCC Championship, set for Friday, Feb. 1, at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven.
“We want to win or finish as high as we can as a team,” said Barone, who was an assistant coach on the SCC champion spring outdoor boys team. “It was an incredible feeling. But of course, if we want to have a chance at the conference, we really need to perform well at the Sectional first.
“Hillhouse is a tough team to beat, and Lyman Hall, Amity, Hand (among others) are always formidable. We're hopefully poised to give them all a run for their money at East Sectionals. We won it two years ago, and if we muster some more PRs (personal records), we can contend in most events. So, we're hoping the points add up for us.”
Barone coaches along with girls team head coach Jason Kymerand assistants Tony Branca and Kevin Block