Berkshire League: Dodge wins gold in heptathlon

FALLS VILLAGE — Housatonic Valley Regional High School sophomore Mia Dodge placed first overall in the Berkshire League Festival girls heptathlon. The two-day event began in Thomaston on Tuesday, May 23 and concluded at HVRHS on Wednesday, May 24.

The heptathlon was composed of seven events: the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, and 200-meter race took place on day one while the long jump, javelin, and 800-meter race were held at HVRHS.

As the athletes entered day two of the event, Dodge led the pack with a total score of 1786. Olivia Blasko of Thomaston High School was right behind her with 1767 points and Lily Copley of Northwestern High School held third at 1703.

Action on the HVRHS track and field got underway with the long jump. Dodge leaped farther than the competition with a distance of 4.47 meters. Copley followed her in second at 4.30 meters and Blasko placed third with a jump of 4.12 meters.

Javelin was won by Carley Bannerman of Northwestern with a throw of 31.96 meters. Haley Bethen of Thomaston took second in the event with a distance of 20.43 meters and Dodge placed third, throwing 20.04 meters in her first ever attempt at the event.

The 800-meter foot race was won by Blasko with a time of 2:31.8 minutes. Dodge finished in second at 2:40.8 minutes and Copley placed third at 2:55.0 minutes.

After the final scores were tallied, Dodge was awarded the gold medal, having won the overall event with 3061 points. Blasko placed second at 3044 points and Copley took third with 2735 points.

The two-day Berkshire League festival also featured the boys decathlon. The boys completed the 100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, and 400-meter race in Thomaston on May 23.

After day one, Evan Bryant of Litchfield High School was the leader with 2695 points. Jebediah Leach of Gilbert High School held second at 2307 points and Patrick Money of HVRHS was in third with 2289 points.

The boys competed in the 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, and 1500-meter race at HVRHS on May 24.

Leach won the hurdles in 17.1 seconds, followed by Bryant at 18.9 second and Money at 20.1 seconds.

In discus, Isaac Sobek of Litchfield threw the farthest with a distance of 27.69 meters. Marc Hafner of HVRHS took second at 21.79 meters and Maddox Lahey of Thomaston placed third at 21.03 meters.

Sobek won the pole vault as well after clearing 9’6” while Bryant placed second at 8’ and Hafner took third with 7’6”.

The javelin was won by Lahey with a distance of 30.87 meters. Sobek’s throw of 28.58 meters earned him second place in the event and Ethan Perez of Nonnewaug took third at 27.5 meters.

The decathlon concluded with the 1500-meter race, which was won by Lahey in 4:45.6 minutes. Perez took second in 4:49.1 minutes and Bryant placed third with a time of 4:49.6.

Bryant was named the winner of the Berkshire Festival decathlon after finishing with a score of 4485. Lahey’s day two performance propelled him from fifth up to second place with 3728 points. Money held on to third and earned bronze for HVRHS with a score of 3717.