Conard Boys Finish Best Track & Field Season in Over 40 Years

Although more than 20 talented track and field athletes graduated in 2012, Conard head coach John Provencher still had high expectations for the 2013 boys team. His goals for the team were more than realized, when the team ended the season undefeated – for the first time since 1967 – and in sole possession of the CCC West championship for the first time since the division was created.

"I thought we had a ton of potential for the boys and wanted to make sure that we had high expectations and addressed the team that our goal was to go undefeated regular season and to win the CCC West Championship meet to be outright champions for the division," Provencher said. Last year the title was shared with Simsbury, which beat the Chieftains by just one point in a dual meet.   

Provencher attributed this year's success to "a great number of hard workers and a few standouts." He specifically named Jacob Dufault, Nate Aponte, Sean Carniero, Owen Dawson, Evan Ferguson-Hull, Ted Monyak, and Giovanni Sims, but Provencher said that there are many more athletes who rose to the occasion and achieved personal records throughout the season.

"This was the first time that I can remember where we had at least one kid entered in every single event at states. Our broad base and depth were definitely the reason we went undefeated in head-to-head competitions," said Provencher.  

This year there were 84 boys on the team, and Provencher said each year there are typically between 75 and 90 athletes. He'd love to see a roster exceeding 100, because more kids can help build greater depth for the team.

Conard ended up with a 10th place finish in the Class L championships on May 28. "We had some great performances coupled with many disappointments," said Provencher, citing injury, mental mistakes, and an unanticipated swing in the weather. "But our kids have been listening to the message of PMA (Positive Mental Attitude) and pulled themselves together to have some fantastic performances throughout the middle and end of the meet."

Those performances included a number of personal records as well as State Open qualifiers. Aponte qualified in both the 110 and 300 Meter Hurdles, Dufault qualified in the 300 Meter Hurdles, Dawson qualified in Discus, and Jermaine Thurston qualified for Long Jump.

Several athletes will also take part this week in the Steeplechase, Hammer Throw, and Decathlon competition at Willowbrook Park in New Britain.

Although a talented group of athletes will graduate this year, Provencher said that half of the qualifiers for the Class L state championships were underclassmen, and he expects they and others will step into leadership positions.

"Kids like Josh Dufault, Nick Hartman, Even Exum, Isiah Jefferson, Marcell Prados, Chris DiPietro, Ben McMahon, and Jake Binder are expected to lead this team to further success next spring," he said.