By Senior Correspondent Marty Ogden, Editing and Graphics by Ron Knapp

The next part of our indoor previews continue with the boys field events. There are plenty of returnees who had a great many accomplishments last year that are bound to make the 2025 indoor season one to remember off the track. 

SHOT PUT

There is bound to be some real excitement coming out of the far corner of Floyd LIttle Athletic Center this winter. Throwers have always been a close knit community but when you have several throwers that have had success from a young age, they get to know each other and friendly rivalries develop. East Lyme’s Thomas Matlock scored in the Class LL meet as a freshman and was a rare sophomore to earn All New England in the shot put. But last year he simply dominated the state, winning the Class, Open and New England titles, going over 60-ft in six separate meets. His best of 63-0.25 is third on the CT All Time list 3 inches behind Mel Taylor, who held the state record for 53 years and Gary Moore, the GOAT of CT throwing. Matlock has announced he will attend Mississippi State University next year.

The ECC boasted the top two throwers in New England last winter. Besides dominance by Matlock, close behind him was Norwich Free Academy’s Chris Amy who won Class LL and was 2nd at New Englands. He was off at the Open and finished 6th, but broke 60-ft at New Englands, moving up to 8th on the CT all time list. After following the East Lyme Viking all winter, he finally grabbed a piece of limelight winning ECCs, Class LL and the State Open titles. He also won ECCs and the Open in the discus as well. 

During his freshman year, Marshall Potter tried a number of events and didn’t focus on the throws until his 2nd year in high school. The Simsbury Trojan who has committed to UConn didn’t break 40 ft until after winter break But once things clicked, he immediately joined the elite in the state, earning All New England two winters ago. Last year he was 2nd in the Class Ls and the Open and was the 3rd athlete from the Constitution state to medal at New Englands. During the spring, he improved to the upper 50s with a best throw of 58’3.25 to take 3rd at New Englands. Until Gary Moore broke 60 ft, it had been 21 years since a CT thrower threw that far. This winter there is a very good chance we could see three boys go over that mark which should make the shot put one of the premier events to watch. 

High Jump

The High jump is a tough event. The smallest mistake you lose a quarter of an inch and that could be the difference between winning and not even placing. Bacon Academy sophomore Mason Leak really figured things out at the right time and improved six inches to clear 6-4 and place 4th at the State Open. He proved that wasn’t a fluke by going one inch higher and finishing 3rd at New Englands. He didn’t quite have the same success in the spring, but still had a season best of 6-2 and finished 5th in Class M. 

Lyman Hall has enough returning pieces that they could contend for another Class M title and possibly move up one place and win their first Open title since 1993. They may be helped in that quest by Ethan Rich who cleared 6-6 last winter, the best of all returners. He unfortunately only cleared 6-0 at the Open to finish 6th, but he has a real possibility of adding ten very important points to his team’s title. He took the spring off to play baseball, but he has been hard at work this fall and had already cleared 6'-4.75 at the Armory Trials in October. 

Once January rolled around, Aidan Schumacher of Northwest Regional cleared at least 6-0 in every meet with a best of 6-3 in the high jump. He was Class S runner up and at the Open he was 5th, earning a spot at New Englands with a clearance of 6-2. In the outdoor season, he improved to 6-5 to win the Berkshire League title and could be a real impact athlete this winter at the Open. 

POLE VAULT

The top six finishers from last year’s State Open pole vault and six of the top seven best jumpers have graduated which makes this event wide open this winter. But with so many vaulters training in the off season, someone is sure to step up and replace the performances by vaulters that have graduated. With a new indoor track and field facility, Bethel has really developed their pole vault and had three athletes qualify for the State Open last year. Devin Tran returns with an indoor PR of 13-0 that he cleared to get 7th with six seniors in front of him. During the spring he improved to 13-6 to take 2nd behind his teammate at SWCs. 

Two years ago, Hand’s Sean Arms cleared 11-6 in the pole vault which is a solid height for a freshman. Last winter he cleared 13-0 four straight meets before going out at 12-6 in the State Open to finish 8th. By the spring, 13-6 was commonplace and he popped off a PR of 14-0 to finish 2nd in Class MM. At this rate of consistent improvement, 15-feet isn’t that far away. 

The top returnee from last year is Plainfield’s Hai Ace Ramirez who cleared 14-0 ft to win the ECC DII championship. He improved rapidly over a three week period going from 11-6 to 14-ft but unfortunately didn’t clear height at the Class S meet which ended his season early. 

Westhill’s Sean Horrigan Westhill last competed in indoor track as a sophomore but even missing last winter, he still went over 14-feet to take 2nd in Class LL and 4th at the Open to be the top underclassmen at the Open. 

Another vaulter to keep an eye on in the future is East Lyme’s Justin Blezard last year as a freshman, he was consistently over 12-feet during indoor track and cleared 14-0 ft to take 3rd in Class MM outdoors. His school record of 16-1 held by former state record holder Jordan Thull might be in range before he graduates. 

LONG JUMP

Oliver Guzy certainly knows how to perform under pressure. With the Class L title on the line, he broke Xavier’s 38-year old school record in the long jump reaching a distance of 23-2.25. Then at the Open after fouling his first two jumps, he kept a clear head and made the finals on his third jump to move into second place, only a half of an inch out of first. But on his sixth and final jump, Guzy attacked the board and moved into the lead with a jump only 3/4 of an inch less than his school record, reaching a distance of 23-2.25 to win the event. At the outdoor Class L championship he had hamstring injuries all season but came up with an outdoor personal best to claim the title in the long jump with a distance of 22-3.25 on his last jump of the meet. He also set his outdoor PR of 23-1.25 to win the Outdoor title in addition to his indoor championship. 

Another athlete who set a PR at the right time was South Windsor’s Shawn Baidoo. He was measured at 21-4 to set a PR and finish 5th at the State Open. During outdoor track, he went over 21-feet two more times, but unfortunately didn’t do it at the Class L meet and did not qualify for the Open. 

Class M long jump champion Josiah Carter was over 22-feet twice last indoor season with a best of 22-2. He was also a strong relay runner, with Class titles in the 4x200m indoors and the 4x100m outdoors. In the spring, the Green Knight was consistently over 21-feet and scored at the Open with a 7th place finish.