Another championship meet, another opportunity to excel for the Greenwich High School girls indoor track and field team.

That’s exactly what the Cardinals did, soaring to splendid finishes at the CIAC State Open Indoor Track and Field Championships at Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven this past Saturday.

Behind impressive finishes in the relay races and some strong individual performances, the Cardinals absolutely excelled at the State Open, finished third in the team standings out of 39 teams, compiling 35 team points. Bloomfield won the State Open team championship with a team score of 47 points, followed by Glastonbury. Windsor placed fourth after Greenwich with 34 points and Conard rounded out the top-5 teams (30 points) at the fast, ultra-competitive meet.

“The team placing third was an amazing achievement and with a young team, we’re looking to come back next year and fight for a top-two position,” Greenwich junior Esme Daplyn said.

Daplyn raced to the Cardinals’ best individual finish at the State Open. She posted a second-place finish in the 1000-meter run, crossing the finish line in 2:57.77. Liv Sherry of Conard earned the gold medal in the 1000-meter race, registering a time of 2:55.86. Producing such a strong time and finish was, indeed, rewarding for Daplyn.

“To be completely honest, at the beginning of the season I would not have thought I would’ve placed second at the State Open,” Daplyn said. “I was still injured from cross country and had needed to take about 8-9 weeks off. It took patience and time to get back my fitness and even feel confident racing again.”

“I’m thrilled that I was able to place so high in such a talented field and run US #29 (29th time in the nation) for the season,” Daplyn continued. Her second-place showing earned GHS eight points in the team standings.

Greenwich’s 4 x 200-meter relay team of sophomore Noelle Wilkinson, senior Kaitlyn Fay, sophomore Skyler Aysseh and senior Haley Townsend finished an outstanding second in the race with a time of 1:47.59 at the State Open. Bloomfield was the event’s champion (1:43.46).

“Our 4 x 200 did amazing,” Fay said. “We got second overall and bettered our time by a large margin. We switched the order of the relay and that made a very positive difference. Everyone has been putting in tons of work, so it’s great to see everything work out for these ladies.”

Fay registered a time of 7.299 seconds in the 55-meter dash, good for a fourth-place tie at the State Open. Talia Graham of Bethel ran the same time in the race, which was won by Shelton’s Audrey Kozak (7.17).

“I feel like I definitely could’ve put more into the finals, but I’m happy that I keep getting opportunities to push myself and better my time,” Fay noted.

The 1600-meter sprint medley saw the Cardinals claim the third-place medal. Wilkinson, Aysseh, Gemma Hardwick and Daplyn combined for a time of 4:19.56. E.O. Smith posted a winning time of 4:17.99. In the 4 x 400-meter relay, Hardwick, freshman Julia Gustafsson, Daplyn and Townsend joined together for a fourth-place finish, clocking in at 4:06.00. Windsor was the race’s winner (4:02.66).

In the 4 x 800 relay, Gustafsson, freshman Margaret McCooe, Friedman and freshman Orla Muir were fourth for the Cards in 9:54.96.

“I loved getting to run on our SMR and 4×400 as well, which both finished top 4,” Daplyn said.

Gustafsson was fifth for GHS in the 600-meter run (1:38.16), while teammate Kate Friedman, a junior, took seventh in the 3200-meter race.

“I think one of the most special parts of the meet was qualifying so many girls for the New England meet,” Daplyn noted. “Kaitlyn in the 55m, the 4×8 and 4×4, Julia in the 600 and me in the 1000 all qualified, so we’re going to be busy up there.”