LYME-OLD LYME — Senior Aidan Powers set a new Lyme-Old Lyme High School (LOLHS) record in the 400 meters today with a blistering time of 51.3 seconds at the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) Class S championship, which was held at Willow Brook Park in New Britain, Conn.
Additionally, Powers is the Class S state champion in the 400 meters after finishing in first place in Class S.
Asked how he felt about this remarkable result, LOLHS Track Coach Aron Daquila responded exclusively to LymeLine, “Aidan is such a smart runner and has so much grit. He ran the perfect race yesterday. The 400 is a long sprint and requires strategy. He started strong, but in control, and when he hit the back stretch, he really exploded off the turn. He’s been training all season for that race and all that hard work really paid off.”
Daquila added, “But Aidan doesn’t quit. He turned around after that individual performance to run the anchor leg of the 4×400, where he gave his all, again, and helped his team earn a spot at the state open next week. It truly was a team effort, Aidan, [fellow senior] Gabe Lavioe, [junior] Nevin Joshy and [sophomore] Dylan Sheehan each ran great legs.”
As a result of these placements, both Powers and the relay team will now advance to compete in the 400 m and 4 x 400 m races at the CIAC State Open next Wednesday.
Powers plans to attend Lyme Academy of Fine Arts in the fall.
Huge congratulations to Aidan and the relay team, and good luck on Wednesday!
Congrats Aidan.It has been very pleasing to me to see so many runners from Lyme and Old Lyme,over the past several decades,qualify for the State Open meet.For so long,that was an event that any of us who ran for LOLHS never dared hope to run in,as we did not have the quality or luck to qualify for.All of this shows huge progress.Having a beautiful track facility and runners who wish to work hard has done wonders.Kudos to you!