With steeplchase win, LeDuc is first Canton runner to win a State Open title in track
Smyth surges to 9th in decathlon, Kucia is 13th
By GERRY deSIMAS, JR.
Collinsville Press.com
NEW BRITAIN, June 15 -- Canton High senior Mike LeDuc hasn’t had the best luck competing in CIAC State Open events.
In November, he was accidentally tripped and fell hard to the pavement during the State Open cross country race. It knocked him out of the top 10 and left a scar on his leg but he hopped right back up to earn All-State honors and finish 15th.
At the State Open indoor track championships in March, a runner cut in front of LeDuc, causing him to stumble and finish 1.2 seconds out of sixth place, denying him All-State status and an invitation to the New England championships. In most meets, that runner would have been disqualified for interference.
As a junior, he missed the State Open in outdoor track because he was ill.
2010 CIAC track and field
At New Britain
3,000 Steeplechase
1. Mike LeDuc, Canton, 9:29.93; (school record. Old mark 10:31.00, LeDuc, 2009); 2. John Annelli, Xavier, 9:39.45; 3. Michael Conway, Hall, 9:51.59, 4. Greg Yacovou, East Lyme, 9:54.89, 5. Trevor LaFontaine, Tolland, 10:01.69, 6. Connor Kelley, Bristol Central, 10:10.92; 7. Holland Rajaniemi, Woodstock Academy, 10:12.08, 8. Michael Duprey, Bristol Central, 10:12.33; 9. Joseph Farrington, Bunnell, 10:12.99, 10. Dan Ronan, Danbury, 10:15.42
Decathlon
1. Jacon Drozd, Seymour, 5,962 points; 2. Samuel Frey, Coginchaug, 5,679; 3. William Gazlay, St. Bernard, 5,603; 4. Alex Willgoos, Newington, 5,466; 5. Eliot Bass, Staples, 5,418; 6. Patrick Hubbell, North Haven, 5,271; 7. Alex Mercier, Woodstock Academy, 5,241; 8. Ben Nollet, E.O. Smith 5,219; 9. Connor Smyth, Canton, 5,187 (school record. Old record, Smyth, 5096, 2009); 10. Sheehan Michael, Coginchaug, 5,148; 11. Victor Koran, Lyman Hall, 5,084; 12. Chris Pfrommer, Haddam-Killingworth 5,083; 13. David Kucia, Canton, 5,056, 14. Matthew Stephan, Ellington, 5047; 15. Marcos Rodriguez, Tolland, 4,969
David Kucia focuses after jumping the final hurdle in the 300 hurdles at the NCCC championships.
Fate was more kind to LeDuc this spring. He took sixth in the 3,200 meters a week ago and on Tuesday, he became the first Canton athlete to win a State Open title in track and field with a dominating victory in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. LeDuc won the race by just under 10 seconds and was four seconds off the state record.
On that same day, Canton had two athletes competing in the decathlon. Senior Connor Smyth finished ninth with a school-record 5,187 points while junior David Kucia finished 13th in his first decathlon with 5,056 points.
The steeplechase has athletes leap over three 36-inch high barriers on the track and one barrier that includes a leap over a 12-foot long pit of water. Unlike hurdles that will fall over if they are hit, steeplechase barriers don’t fall over. Many athletes actually step on top of them.
LeDuc was conservative in the steeplechase starting off slow to avoid collisions with some of the other 33 athletes in the race. He was last as the field approached the first barrier 300 meters into the race. But once he cleared it, he began to move up. Nearly halfway through the race (1,200 meters), he took the lead for good. LeDuc and Xavier junior John Annelli began to pull away from the field.
“We tried to keep it simple,” Canton coach Tim O’Donnell said. “We didn’t try to hurdle the barriers. We stepped on them and used them like little hills in the race. Mike was catching the barriers in rhythm.”
In the final laps, LeDuc pulled away from Annelli as well but remained conservative, keeping his distance but not taking any big chances. LeDuc’s time of 9:29.93 was just four seconds off the state record of 9:25.64 set in 2008. But that wasn’t the goal. Winning the race and an Open championship was the objective.
O’Donnell coached LeDuc on the cross country team in the fall and on the indoor track team last winter. Mike Hughes is the outdoor coach in the spring but O’Donnell has been providing some assistance. He was an outdoor track coach at Simsbury and E.O. Smith for several years.
“Mike pays attention,” O’Donnell said. “He listens, follows through and remains focused on what he is supposed to do.” Annelli was second in 9:39.45 with Michael Conway of Hall a distant third in 9:51.59. LeDuc will attend Connecticut College in New London in the fall and plans to participate in the track program.
In the decathlon, Smyth surged on day two, just as he a year ago. In 2009, Smyth was in 35th place after the first five events on day one. He finished 11th overall. This year, Smyth was 27th overall after day one with Kucia in 34th place.
Both athletes performed well on day two. Smyth finished fifth in the discus (105-01) in the field of 70 athletes, sixth in the javelin (143-10) and seventh in the pole vault, breaking his own school record with a leap of 9 feet, 6.25 inches.
Kucia, whose specialty is the hurdles, was fourth with a time of 16.07. He was 10th in the discus (92-03) and 16th in the pole vault (8-6.25), an event where many competitors didn’t clear a single height and earned no points.
“Connor had a dynamite day,” O’Donnell said. “After last year, there wasn’t as much room for improvement but he picked up an additional 100 points. The decathlon is a psychological test as much as a physical one.”
Both finished strong in the final event, the 1,500 meters which can be exhausting at the end of the two days of competition. Kucia was 16th with a time of 4:57.56 with Smyth in 21st place in 5:00.69.
“David had a real solid day and was in the ballpark for many of his best (times) in so many events,” O’Donnell said. Kucia nearly broke the school record on day 1 in the 100 meters with his time of 11.84 seconds. The record is 11.5 meters set by Chris Hyde in 2008.
And before we begin to take the success of these athletes for granted, don’t forget that there are no track and field facilities in Canton. Any practice for the pole vault, high jump, long jumping, triple jump, hurdles and discus comes at other schools during an actual meet or schools graciously allowing the Canton athletes to use their facilities.
“From a small school with no track and no equipment, this is pretty remarkable,” O’Donnell said.
Canton's Mike LeDuc is the first Canton athlete to win a State Open title in track and field.
CANTON, June 7 – It was an afternoon of dramatic performances and excellence for the Canton High boys track and field team at the Class S championships at Willowbrook Park in New Britain. Mike LeDuc and Connor Smyth became the first Canton athletes to win state titles in outdoor track and field.
Canton athletes set school records in seven events, had four athletes qualify to compete in the State Open and finished a strong third. Northwest Catholic won with 92 points with Coginchaug second with 72. Canton finished with 59.
After a gut-wrenching battle in the 1,600 meters where LeDuc lost by 0.23 of a second to Northwest Catholic’s Nick Greco, LeDuc rolled to a state championship victory in the 3,200 meters, pulling away with 400 meters to go for a solid six second victory. LeDuc knocked 18 seconds off his own school record time.
In the 1,600 meters, LeDuc went out to win. He pushed the pace of the race and led for more of the way. Greco spent much of the race trying to get past LeDuc and he finally was able to get past LeDuc in the final 25 meters. Still, LeDuc’s time of 4:20.59 broke the school record set by Nate Bussiere in 2007 by 12 seconds and it’s one of the top 10 times in the state this spring.
Smyth won the long jump with leap of a school-record leap of 20 feet, 11 inches, just one inch better than Somers’ Evan Wocik. That wasn’t good enough for one coach who protested vigorously that Smyth had fouled on his winning jump. But the protest was denied.
David Kucia competed in three events and brought home three medals. The lanky junior was second in the 110 high hurdles (15.78 seconds), third in the triple jump and fifth in the 300 hurdles (43.29 seconds). His leap of 39 feet, 2.5 inches in the triple jump was a new school record, beating a Smyth jump from 2008 by a half inch.
Connor Smyth at the NCCC championship
Kucia has made his living in the hurdles. Sheehan Michaels of Coginchaug beat Kucia by 0.60 of a second in the 110 hurdles.
All three Canton relays earned points by finishing in the top eight. The 4x100 relay (Kyle Hall, Brian Lochner, Tyler Matt, Jeff Lochner) finished seventh with a school-record time of 45.91. The 4x400 relay (Nick Chekas, Tyler Fitzpatrick, Kevin Kurnat, Brian Lochner) was seventh in 3:37.60 and the 4x800 relay (Jon Cahill, Chekas, Fitzpatrick, Kurnat) was seventh with a school-record time of 8:33.13.
Dylan Smith finished third in the shot with another school record throw of 44 feet, 2.5 inches, breaking the mark he set a week earlier at the NCCC championship meet.
The top five finishers in each event qualify for the State Open. .... The Canton girls competed in the meet but didn’t score any points. ... Three Canton athletes have won state titles in indoor track. LeDuc won the 3,200 meters at the Class S meet this past winter while Brian Magna won the 600 meter event. Erik Nystrom won the 3,200 meters in 2009.
STATE OPEN: In New Britain, Mike LeDuc knocked 10 seconds off the time he ran at the Class S championships in the 3,200. His school-record time of 9:27.12 was good enough for fifth place. ... Connor Smyth was 13th in the long jump with a leap of 21 feet. ... David Kucia was 16th in the 110 hurdles and 25th in the 300 hurdles.
NEW ENGLANDS: In New Britain, Mike LeDuc dropped another eight seconds running the 3,200 meters in 9:19.75 to finish 13th in New England. He was the sixth runner in the race from Connecticut. For the second straight meet, he set a new school record.
