Wlasuk Wins New England Title, Pettinelli And Feinstein Have Personal Best Times

By Anna Hodge

John Wlasuk won the New England shot put title, and Newtown High teammates Lauren Pettinelli and Jake Feinstein set personal bests in their events at the 24th annual New England Interscholastic Indoor Track and Field Championships, held on March 4 at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Boston.

Student athletes from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine were in attendance at the meet. Feinstein, a sophomore, and seniors Wlasuk and Pettinelli represented NHS with exceptional results.

Wlasuk won the New England championship in the shot put event with a throw of 58-3.75. “At the start of the season I was just hoping to finish top three at New England’s but as the season progressed, I knew I had a good chance of winning,” said Wlasuk, who will be attending nationals for shot put this weekend.

As for the outdoor track season, Wlasuk says he hasn’t set any specific personal goals yet. “I know I want to throw far and win, but that’s about it,” said Wlasuk. “As a team, we have a good chance of winning SWCs. We finished third in indoor, and the outdoor events seem to favor us better.”

Pettinelli set a personal record in the 55 meter hurdles with a time of 8.79, placing 12th in the preliminary round of the meet.

“I feel that my performance in the 55 meter hurdles was the best I’ve done all year,” said Pettinelli. “The last meet I had I got a 9.07, then I got my personal best time at this meet, and even though I didn’t win, I accomplished my goal of lowering my time. It was so exciting.”

Pettinelli added that her experience at the New England championship meet was “very different from my other track meets,” adding that she had never competed in a venue like the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center.

“They put all of the hurdlers in a single file line, and led each of us onto the track. Walking out of the doors onto the track felt amazing. It was so surreal.”

Pettinelli added that her goals for outdoor track have “completely changed” now that she will be competing in two hurdle events, the 100 and 300 meter hurdles.

The senior also plans on running track in college. “I love the sport and I applied to a lot of Division I schools,” said Pettinelli. “I heard back from many with good news, so we will see once I make my final decision.”

The youngest member of the group, Feinstein, claims he has a few personal goals of his own he hopes to achieve in the upcoming outdoor track season. He placed eighth in the 3200 meter event at the NE championships, with a personal record time of 9:35.50.

“The experience was great,” Feinstein said. “Getting to compete in such a talented field as a sophomore and staying over in Boston is certainly not an everyday experience. I was very happy with how I performed.”

Feinstein’s performance in the two mile was the best among sophomores in New England and the ninth best sophomore time in the nation. Along with Wlasuk, he will be competing in nationals. 

“After next weekend the focus is all about outdoor track, where I hope to run a 4:17 mile and a 9:20 two mile,” Feinstein said. “Those times are not going to come easily but with the training I’ve been doing this past indoor season and the training I’ll be doing outdoors, I’m fully confident I can hit those times.”

Wlasuk and Feinstein will be competing in the New Balance Nationals at the Armory in NYC on Friday, March 11. Both of these athletes, along with Pettinelli, will be competing in the upcoming NHS outdoor track season in their respective events.