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Tomari Gillespie of Windsor runs to a first place finish in a preliminary heat of the 55 meter hurdles at the Class L Indoor Track & Field Championship in New Haven on February 12, 2026 with a time of 8.58. (Arnold Gold/Hearst Connecticut Media)
NEW HAVEN - The Bethel boys and Windsor girls won Class L indoor track and field championships Thursday night at the Floyd Little Athletic Center.
For Bethel, it was a long time coming. For Windsor, its was a 10th straight crown.
Wildcat Redemption
The Bethel boys exorcised a painful memory from the 2025 outdoor season after coming excruciatingly close to winning a Class MM title only to lose to Daniel Hand by a half-point after a post-meet recount.
On Thursday, Bethel rode tremendous efforts in field events past Windsor 60-55 for the L title.
With two events remaining, the pole vault and 4x400, the Wildcats trailed the Warriors 45-39. Bethel picked up 17 points in pole vault for a 56-45 lead, and that sealed the meet.
"To come around with this, and these guys, when last year's team was so strong. They have come back, and they have done amazing things," said Bethel coach Yvonne Grimes, who has been at the school for 31 years. "I'm so proud of them, because they're all scrappy. They weren't thought of to be the best team there. We weren't even considered in the top part of that group, but they weren't going to let that happen.
"We may not have been strong on the track, but we were really strong in the field today. Seventeen points in the pole vault, those guys put us over the top."
In the pivotal pole vault, George Habshey won gold at 13 feet, 6 inches, Kubrik Tarrant tied for third and George Anastasakis was fifth to spur Bethel.
The Wildcats' Khao Ly won the long jump at 22-8¼, while Marcus Graham and Vincent Tan were third and fifth in the high jump, respectively. Jacob Topham took fifth in the shot put.
"I don't even believe it," Grimes said about the victory. "I'm going to wake up tomorrow and think ‘did that really happen?'"
Bethel has had an indoor track program since 2009 after going without one from 1984-2008. The Wildcats have three boys state championships listed on the CIAC site: 1946, 1967 and 1973.
Warrior Girls Make It 10
The Windsor girls won the Class L crown for the 10th straight year, a run that began in 2016, with 2021 not contested due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Overall, the Warriors have won 11 Class L championships, all of them since 2012.
Windsor scored 105 points to second-place New Canaan's 49.33.
"We practiced hard, everybody practiced hard," Windsor coach Kelvan Kearse said. "I pushed those girls really hard, and they stepped up. We had goals set for them, and each one of them met their goals."
Windsor senior Tomari Gillespie was a double winner individually, and part of a record-breaking 4x200 relay.
Warriors junior Paige Wilson won the 300 and was part of the winning 4x200 and 4x400 relays. Junior Maya Donzella won the 1,600 (5:12.32) and was part of the meet record-breaking 4x400 relay, along with Wilson, senior Evelyn Schwartz and sophomore Ava Coleman (4:04.08).
Windsor senior Alisha Smith won the shot put at 37-9.
Gillespie's Banner Day
Gillespie started as part of a record-breaking 4x200 relay.
Gillespie and Wilson (first leg), junior Layla Harris (third leg) and senior Jaida Murray (anchor leg) ran the 4x200 in 1:43.67. That toppled the time of 1:44.46 turned in by Windsor in 2024.
What did Gillespie do for an encore? Win gold in back-to-back short races, the 55-meter hurdles and 55 dash. Gillespie took the hurdles in 8.30. About two seconds after Gillespie was announced as the hurdles winner, she took first in the dash in 7.22.
Gillespie's relay teammates were no slouches. Harris was second to Gillespie in the 55 hurdles (8.58) and Murray was third in the 55 (7.26), finishing just behind runner-up Kyla Mclean of Stratford (7.24).
Near-Miss, And Record For Simpson II
Windsor senior Shelldon Simpson II was the top seed entering the 55 dash, and he got to the final, where he had his sights set on his father Shelldon's 2000 record of 6.37, set while the older Simpson competed at East Hartford High.
Shelldon Simpson II won the 55 dash in 6.38 seconds, but after he crossed the line, he put his hands up to his head, knowing that he had missed his father's record by one-hundredth of a second.
Later in the meet, Simpson II won gold in the 300 in a record time of 34.50, eclipsing the old mark of 34.75 run by the late Daundre Barnaby of Weaver in 2009.
Class L Indoor Track and Field Championship
At Floyd Little Athletic Center, New Haven
Boys team results (Top 10): 1. Bethel, 60; 2. Windsor, 55; 3. Rockville, 39; 4. Fitch, 38; t5. Farmington and Xavier, 34; 7. Amity, 30; 8. Fairfield Warde, 28; 9. E.O. Smith, 15; t10. Naugatuck, New Canaan and Bunnell, 10.
Boys winners
4x200-meter relay: Farmington (Thomas Baily, Nathaniel Ross, Kaden Clark, Ian Manton), 1:33.17.
4x800 relay: Xavier (Michael Fusaro, Landon Rubano, Jackson Gould, Petet Torello), 8:09.70.
1,000: Emmett Kristoff, Rockville, 2:30.98.
600: Mahkai Heyward, Hillhouse, 1:24.61.
55 hurdles: Haydn Spaulding, Windsor, 7.54.
55 dash: Shelldon Simpson II, Windsor, 6.38.
1,600: Luke Cushing, Amity, 4:23.81.
Sprint medley relay: Rockville (William Davis, Devant Bariffe, Otavio Pinto, Emmett Kristoff), 3:37.66.
300: Simpson, Windsor, 34.50*.
3,200: Hudson Schunk, Fairfield Warde, 9:30.19.
4x400 relay: Windsor (Simpson, Jaylen Wesley, Michael Huff, Daunte Biggs), 3:26.39*.
Shot put: Ryan Tetro, Fairfield Warde, 48-11½.
Long jump: Khoa Ly, Bethel, 22-8¼.
High jump: Jacob Smith, Fitch, 6-2.
Pole vault: George Habshey, Bethel, 13-6.
Girls team results (Top 10): 1. Windsor, 105; 2. New Canaan, 49.33; 3. Hall, 41; 4. Hillhouse, 40; 5. Amity, 38.33; 6. Naugatuck, 38; 7. Guilford, 34; 8. Fairfield Warde, 32; 9. Lyman Hall, 11; t10. Bethel, Bunnell and Wilton, 10.
Girls' winners
4x200 relay: Windsor (Paige Wilson, Tomari Gillespie, Layla Harris, Jaida Murray), 1:43.67*.
4x800 relay: Hall (Kyra Baun, Lucille Vargas, Claire Furia, Alexandra Golder), 9:42.63.
1,000: Alexandra Morgan, Fairfield Warde, 3:01.71.
600: Lauren Kropo, Naugatuck, 1:33.98.
55 hurdles: Gillespie, 8.30.
55 dash: Gillespie, 7.22.
1,600: Maya Donzella, Windsor, 5:12.32.
Sprint medley relay: Warde (Deleanne Urizar, Ivy D'Elia, Mia Ferranti, Morgan), 4:20.94.
300: Wilson, 40.41.
3,200: Sienna deKanter, New Canaan, 11:17.11
4x400 relay: Windsor (Wilson, Evelyn Schwartz, Ava Coleman, Donzella), 4:04.08*.
High jump: Anika Zivojinovic, Amity, 5-0.
Pole vault: Kaylin Diglio, Guilford, 11-6.
Shot put: Alisha Smith, Windsor, 37-9.
Long jump: Nyasia Taylor, Hillhouse, 18-1.
*meet record
This article originally published at Bethel boys, Windsor girls claim ClAC Class L indoor track and field championships.
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