WATERBURY RECORD

Harwood High’s track and golf teams have earned podium spots in the state playoffs, while the softball and baseball teams continue to fight for a championship.

Baseball and softball semifinals had been scheduled for Tuesday, but a rainstorm postponed them to Wednesday afternoon — after the Waterbury Record went to press.

Fifth-seeded Harwood lacrosse suffered a tough loss to No. 4 Hartford in the boys’ lacrosse quarterfinals on Friday.

Track and field

In girls’ track, Harwood was Division II state runner-up. With 97 points, the Highlanders finished behind Fair Haven (131) in the championship meet on Saturday.

“They really couldn’t have done any better than they did,” said Harwood track coach Taggert Haslam, who was very pleased with the girls’ second place performance. “That’s where they were seeded. We thought we might have a chance against Fair Haven, but they had a couple of horses that were just too strong for us.”

Fair Haven’s Ashley Brown had something to do with that; she won all four of her events — the 100-meter dash, the 200, 100-meter hurdles and long jump.

The Fair Haven sprinters and throwers were tough as usual. Kelly Foster won her third straight title in the discus, and also won the shot put. Harwood’s Heather Cutler, Claire Miller and Kacey Kerrigan took third through fifth behind Foster in the discus, and Kayla Dillon was third in the shot put.

The boys finished third overall with 91 points, only three points behind second-place Bellows Falls (94 points) and not far behind winner Windsor (105).

Going scoreless in the jump events was a key factor. If Harwood had a pole-vault pit, it very well could have made the difference.

“We didn’t have the jumpers that Windsor and Bellows Falls have. We don’t even have a pole-vault pit,” said Haslam. “It’s like we’re competing with 18 events against everyone else with 19 events.”

Harwood highlights included Eamon Welter’s win the 800-meter run and second place in the 1,500. Zach Pfister returned from an injury to win the 110-meter hurdles and placed third in the 300-meter hurdles.