indoor03

Team Highlights

School records: 4x225m (Girls), pole vault (Andre Keuck), 45m (Alex Ivanov), 400m (Sarah Mitchell), 1000m (Sara Leventhal), 1600m (Sara Leventhal), 600m (Nick Ferraro, Sarah Mitchell), 3000m (Dan Babis), SMR (Ferraro, LaPorte, Ivanov, Melhouse)

SWC Championships: All-SWC: Andre Keuck (pole vault), Dudley LaPorte (shot put), Sarah Mitchell (600m). 2nd team All-SWC: Alex Ivanov (long jump).

Class S Championships: Boys 26th place, Girls 21st place.

Medalists: Sarah Mitchell (2nd, 600m); Nick Ferraro (5th, high jump); Alex Ivanov (6th, long jump).

State Open: Sarah Mitchell (9th, 600m)

2003 Preview

Losses: Boys- Joe Lima, Tim Jacques, Dave Harvey, Eugene Chest, Kevin Oakes, Fred Wills, Kevin Atterberry, John Trevil.

Girls- Stephanie Halverson, Zaria Williams, Catherine Fergurson.

Strong Senior Class: The boys bring back Andre Keuck, Matt Fogarty, Pat Noonan and John Araya. The girls bring back the core of their team for the last few years in Diana Curley, Alison Janoski, Sara Leventhal, Melisa Lucia, and Sarah Mitchell.

2002-03: The girls team finds itself with its best chance at a top 3 finish in the eight years of the indoor track program. Depth may be a problem, but the team has a strong group of former SWC medalists, including SWC 300m record holder Sarah Mitchell. The team should threaten in nearly every event, with strong early season long jumping from Melisa Lucia and the distance tandem of Leventhal and Janoski. Supporting the seniors in a big way will be Tarika Logan and Krystina Lucia, while there are some promising freshmen as well.

The boys team was hit by heavy losses for the second year in a row, losing 57 of its 63 SWC points to graduation. However, medal-winners Matt Melhouse, Nick Ferraro and Keuck return, and Fogarty has already displayed that he will be a force in the shot put this year. Distance runners Melhouse, Dan Babis, and Noonan look to form a new 4x800 to repeat on last year's team record. Dan Wills looks to lead the team in hurdles, while the large group of newcomers are working hard and trying to find their events.

Once again, Coaches Sirowich and Schmidlin lead the team, having scheduled meets at Yale, Hillhouse, and Staples in preparation for the SWC Championships on February 1.

2003 Review

The season was a success by almost any standard, with Coach Sirowich guiding the boys team to a repeat of their 3rd place SWC finish while the girls broke through to finish in the top 5 for the first time with a stellar group of seniors who own nearly every school record as they graduate.

Highlighting all of this was the core group of seniors that were counted on to lead this team. Sarah Mitchell added to her medals as one of the top 600m runners in the state, while Andre Keuck was the SWC's best pole vaulter and its resident sage in the event. Sara Leventhal followed up a strong cross-country regular season indoors, setting two school records. Matt Fogarty battled an ankle injury to medal in shot and then throw over 42' at states. Melisa Lucia was a strong long jumper throughout the season, finishing 3rd at the SWCs while also contributing, as usual, everywhere else.

A number of new stars emerged this season as well. Junior Nick Ferraro qualified for several events, including a team-record 600m, and was a state medalist in the high jump. Sophomore Dudley LaPorte, new to the shot put, nearly broke the school record halfway through the season, easily won SWCs, and also was ran the 2nd fastest 300m in school history. Alex Ivanov was perhaps the team's most versatile sprinter, as he was 2nd in the SWC in long jump while running stellar times on relays and in the 55m and 300m. Jim Conologue broke out mid-season by qualifying for the 300m and 55m.

For the girls, Krystina Lucia and Tarika Logan continued the tradition of strong Stratford distance, as both were fixtures on relays and qualified for the 50m and 55m.

In distance, the girls were led by Leventhal and her record-setting performances, while the boys relied on youth in Scott Melchionno and Dan Babis, as Matt Melhouse, while the 800m anchor on a solid SMR team, concentrated on sprints individually.