If you looked over from the shot put area Sunday at Danbury High School, towards the lights at the Federal Correctional Institute, you could see an unpleasant sky approaching. What appeared to be a funnel cloud was possibly heading towards the Nutmeg State Games and its track and field meet.

And then came the voice from the press box, asking all spectators and athletes to exit the stadium slowly, in an orderly fashion, and seek shelter.

Though it was about 4 p.m., the skies soon darkened as if it were five hours later, and dumped inches of rain on the area.

The rain eventually stopped, but meet officials decided to postpone the remaining events until this Sunday, August 3.

About half the events had been completed at the time of the evacuation, but results will not be posted until the official completion of the meet.

Running late for football practice after an interview with a local newspaper, former New Canaan lineman Steve Johnson acquired the nickname “Hollywood” from several teammates in his final season as a Rams.

Although Johnson won’t be traveling to the west coast, track and field fame may be in his future as he heads to the University of Connecticut this fall.

“I’m very excited,” Johnson said. “I’m totally undecided on what I want to do. I know that I want to help people. I’m leaning towards pre-med or pre-kinesiology.”

Academics aside, Johnson also plans to continue in track and shot-put. Setting a record for himself in shot-put of 52-feet, 9-inches in the State Open, Johnson placed second in the state and fifth in New England. Yet, he has always felt that he could improve his game.

“In college I’m going to work on getting mentally focused,” he said. “It’s going to take a majority of the time at UConn so I probably won’t do any club sports.”

Still, Johnson has played a variety of sports throughout his athletic career.

“I played soccer and baseball when I was a kid and I tried lacrosse but didn’t like it,” he said. “When I was in ninth grade I did track and hurdles. I was awful.”

Johnson also did wrestling and played football in high school but found his niche throwing the shot-put.

“What makes a good shot-putter is long arms. If you’re lanky it’s better,” Johnson said. “Sophomore year I didn’t do bad but I wasn’t that good. And then I kept on lifting. Junior year I really came out of my shell and I got sixth in FCIAC. Then I kept on lifting and here I am today.”

Johnson received the coveted Sikorsky Award at the senior athletics picnic this past spring for his accomplishments.

“I felt really honored to get it because it was such a great payoff,” Johnson said. “It’s a really prestigious award.”

Selected to play for the Fairfield County All-Star football team, Johnson dropped out in order to avoid injury before heading off to do Division I track in college.

In the meantime before setting off to school, Johnson works out for about 90 minutes each day in between working at the Waveny Park Pool snack bar and spending time with his friends. He also plans on shot-putting with several athletes from Danbury.

“I’m just trying to be focused on staying close to my friends and trying to make some good memories before I go [to school],” Johnson said.

Last year at the Stratton Faxon Fairfield Half Marathon, Kenyan runner Phillip Koech helped a teammate pace himself for 12 miles before that countryman pulled away for the victory.

That strategy turned out to bring Koech some good karma. This year, Koech won the race in 1:03:44, besting countryman Valentine Orare after the two ran neck and neck - for the most part - for 12 miles.

Other than at the 12-mile mark, the only time the two separated was around mile eight, when Orare appeared to be suffering from a side stitch. Orare recovered, and finished 14 seconds behind Koech.

The two separated themselves from the pack will before the two mile mark (see video below).

But there were some slight mishaps along the course. The first was at the nine-mile loop back under Route 1 in Southport, where spectators were seated on the roadway. The second came less than a mile later at Rose Hill and Harbor roads, where a driver made his way onto the race course and blocked the pace truck. Both Koech and Orare were forced to sprint ahead of the pace truck to avoid a potential catastrophe.

More than 3,000 runners participated in either the half marathon, 5K, and kids fun races. Click here for the results.

Dixon continued his stellar senior season with New England titles in the 200 meters and long jump. Dixon turned in his fastest time of the season in the event, clicking in at a NCAA Regional qualifying time of 20.86 to dust the field in the 200 and come up with the win. His leap of 23′10″ (7.26m) won him the long jump title as well. Dixon will also compete in the long jump as well as the 400 meters at the NCAA Regional Championships.

Locke successfully defended her New England shot put title by besting the field by over two feet. Her throw of 48′11.75″ (14.93) won the event and met the NCAA Regional qualifying standard. Locke already qualified for the NCAA Regional meet with her winning throw at the NEC Championship. Locke picked up her third career New England title by winning the javelin with a throw of 134′11″ (41.12m). Locke also picked up points by finishing fourth in the discus with a throw of 136′10″ (41.72m).

Sophomore Brittany Dexter (Ballston Lake, NY) defended her New England title in the high jump, clearing the bar at 5′8.75″ (1.75m) to meet the NCAA Regional qualifying standard. Dexter won the event for the second-straight year as well at the NEC Championship meet a week ago with a height of 5′7″.

Senior Scott Giordano (Hamden) picked up points by finishing fourth in the 200 meters with a 21.83 second clocking. Senior Michael Barrett (Islip Terrace, NY) scored with a sixth-place finish in the 100 meter dash finishing in 11.25 seconds. Freshman Peter Conti (Mansfield, MA) picked up points in his first New England meet showing by taking fourth in the 110 meter hurdles. Conti crossed the finish line in 14.93 seconds.

Junior John Kenworthy (Gloversville, NY) finished fifth in the 3000 meter steeplechase, shaving two seconds off his time at last week’s NEC Championships with a 9:27.76 clocking. Sophomore Brett Luongo (North Attleboro, MA) took fifth in the javelin with a throw of 188′10″ (57.55m).

The SHU trio of sophomore Keith Rowe (Taunton, MA), junior Brian Germain (Wallingford) and junior Thomas Hyatt (Hopewell Junction, NY) finished second, third and fourth, respectively, in the decathlon. Rowe racked up 6,134 points to finish 152 points off the top-spot. Rowe won the 100 meter dash (11.46), the 110 meter hurdles (15.45) and the long jump (22′0.75″) in the decathlon. Germain won the discus throw (125′9″) and the javelin (165′8″) while Hyatt took the pole vault (13′9.25″).

Senior Melissa Kostan (Salem, NY) took second in the heptathlon with 4,831 points. She finished second in the 200 meters (25.16), the 100 meter hurdles (15.04) and the long jump (17′7.50″) and third in the high jump (5′5″) and the javelin (98′9″).

Senior Christine Yakubec (Greenwich, NY) took third in the discus with a throw of 140′1″ (42.69m) with fellow senior Sarah Hickman (Amherst, MA) finishing sixth throwing 135′3″ (41.23m). Junior Sarana Hyatt (St. Albans, NY) took sixth in the 400 meter hurdles (1:04.70) and eighth in the long jump (17′7.00″). Senior Lenahndem Tankeng (Yonkers, NY) finished eighth in the hammer throw (154′6″).

The Pioneers will compete at the ECAC and IC4A Championships this weekend at Princeton University.

Danbury head coach Rob Murray told The News-Times that the suspensions were for disciplinary reasons, and could not elaborate further. But as a result, Danbury fell to Trumbull 76-74 (even though the Hatters did get wins over Westhill and Wilton).

But for what it’s worth, what is a one-meet suspension worth? And did the crime fit the punishment? That part we will never know, since school records are kept under wraps.

But dual meets, in theory, are overrated when it comes to track in field. Yes, winning is great, but track is one of those sports in which dual meets are used to get ready for the post season. The regular season, in all reality, is all about developing athletes.

Yes, there is a bit of pride on the line when you go against a rival school, but that’s about it. Even if the athletes are not allowed to compete Saturday in the O’Grady Relays (which are kind of a big deal in Danbury and the surrounding area), that one is still a meet based on pride.

The streak of 137 consecutive dual meet wins is nowhere near as important as discipline. I applaud Murray for taking a stance. Form The News-Times:

“We took this action because both the track and field team and the school felt it was important to convey to the community that what took place is unacceptable,” Murray said. “It is not what we stand for.”

And with the way the team performed Tuesday, there’s little doubt that Danbury has the athletes and the depth to compete for FCIAC and CIAC championships… the meets that count.

–Tim Parry