Stanford-bound Sherry lowers own meet record in dress rehearsal for championship race at The Armory, with St. Germain completing Connecticut 2-mile title sweep; Smith doubles and Robinson'O'Hagan secures shot put crown

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

Gavin Sherry demonstrated Saturday at the New England Track and Field Indoor Championships that he’s more than ready to contend for a national title next weekend at the New Balance Nationals Indoor Championships in New York. 

Sherry, a Stanford-bound senior at Conard High in Connecticut, broke his own 2-mile meet record by running 8 minutes, 51.59 seconds at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston.

RESULTS

Sherry, who is currently the national prep leader in the event with a personal-best 8:50.05, won the race by seven seconds. He is less than two seconds from the Connecticut state record of 8:48.88 set in 2015 by Alex Ostberg, a former Stanford athlete. 

Runner-up in the event was junior Sam Burgess of Framingham, Mass., picking up a big PR with a U.S. No. 2 effort of 8:58.61, with twin brother Callum Sherry, also headed to Stanford, running a PR of 9:01.34 to finish third.

Conard High head coach Ron Knapp said the plan for Saturday’s 2-mile race was to take it as a learning experience in preparation for Friday’s national final at The Armory.

“I believe that both guys accomplished what we needed to do to prepare them for our goals of two more sub 9:00s on Friday,” Knapp said. 

The Sherry brothers also ran legs on the 4x800 relay, along with teammates Nicolas Martin and Grant Walters, to finish fifth in a PR of 8:03.42. Lowell High of Massachusetts won the event in 7:56.19.

Conard came in seeded seventh in the event. 

“Never did I imagine that Callum, Grant, Nico and Gavin would combine to run 8:03.42 to earn fifth and All-New England honors,” Knapp said. “As we had discussed all week, Gavin and Callum realized that they would probably not have time to recover for the 1-mile if they went to the well in the relay. But their commitment to their teammates is one of the reasons that the brothers are special to this team. Their unselfish actions have certainly been a positive influence on the underclassmen.”

Rachel St. Germain of Somers made it a Connecticut sweep in the 2-mile, winning a U.S. No. 6 time of 10:36.93. Ludlowe CT senior and Duke-bound Anna Keeley was runner up in 10:49.61 and won the mile in 5:01.52.

East Greenwich RI senior Jacob Connolly won the mile in a PR of 4:13.88.

Danbury CT senior Alanna Smith was a double winner, claiming the 55-meter dash title in 7.03 seconds and 300 in a U.S. No. 5 time of 38.22, tying the meet record held by Precious Holmes set in 2013. 

In the boys 55 hurdles, Lawrence MA senior Jordany Volquez won in a U.S. No. 2 time of 7.31. 

St. Raphael Academy RI standout Devan Kipyego held off Kaden Kluth of Portsmouth RI to win the 1,000 in a U.S. No. 7 2:28.65. Klutch was second in U.S. No. 8 2:28.72. 

Tarik Robinson-O'Hagan of Woonsocket RI, the top prep thrower in the nation this winter, won the shot put title in a meet-record 67-11.50. Runner-up was Max Klein of Newton North MA (67-08.25), also breaking the 2019 meet record of 66-10.25.

Robinson-O’Hagan owns the top shot put (69-0.25) and weight throw (82-3) in the country.

In the boys high jump, Timothy Watson of Simsbury CT cleared 6-9 to win with a  U.S. No. 5 effort.

Conard’s Audrey Kirkutis won the girls high jump championship in a jumpoff, clearing 5-7.  

The New England Indoor Championships were the first since 2020, following a year off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.