Connecticut track teams will come together to compete in 92nd Greater Hartford Invitational

EAST HARTFORD — On Saturday, for the 92nd time, high school track and field teams will come together to compete in the Greater Hartford Invitational. 

East Hartford High School hosts the event for the fifth time since taking over its management in 2018. During its nine decade run, the event has been hosted by different schools including Hall, Simsbury and Hartford Public. 

Meet director A.J. La Plant said the Greater Hartford Invitational is one of the oldest meets in New England and the oldest in Connecticut. 

This year's Invitational will attract up to 46 teams from across the state including traditionally successful track and field programs like Bloomfield, Glastonbury and Hillhouse. 

East Hartford senior Kyrah Smith lauded the meet as an opportunity to put faces with names of the athletes who are regarded as the best in the state. 

“It’s a pre-championship season meet that really helps you focus on the big meets coming up,” said Jayden Brown, an East Hartford senior who will compete in six events at the meet. “ It’s an eye-opener. You go out here. You do well. You see the comp [competition]. What you do against them, you fix it and you just come back the next two weeks and show out.”

East Hartford’s boys team won the invitational last year. On the girls side, the biggest victor this year thus far is long jumper Keira Stewart. 
Stewart recently broke the 20-year-old girls state record by jumping 19 feet, 10 inches at the Hillhouse Outdoor Invite. The previous record was 19-8 held by Branford's Tahari James. 

Stewart was surprised she did so well, but credited the record-breaking performance to her mentality. 

“There’s always someone better than you,” Stewart said “You really have to come in with the mindset that you have to trust your training. Trust how you are and know yourself."

After a runner-up finish at the 2024 CIAC Indoor State Open championships and fouling out of the 2024 New England Indoor championships, she said she was determined to “lock in” and win this spring. 

Stewart added she’s going in with the same mindset for the Greater Hartford Invitational. 

“It’s really a chance for some of the better athletes in the state to go against each other,” La Plant said. “It’s a chance for some of the up-and-coming athletes to run in a state-caliber meet even if they haven’t yet qualified to run in the state meets. They get the chance to run against the top runners in the state and they get to see the top runners in the state.” 

La Plant, East Hartford coach Mark Brown and the three seniors were hard-pressed to come up with a regular season meet with the combined magnitude, history and longevity of the Greater Hartford Invitational. La Plant paid respects to the Middletown Invitational. Some other big outdoor meets are the O’Grady Relays, which recently eclipsed its 41st year, and the Org-Jake Invitational held at Amity Regional last weekend. Both of those meets invite teams across New England to compete. 

Yet, La Plant and Mark Brown believe the Greater Hartford Invitational is second to none. 

La Plant is an East Hartford native and former coach of the Hornets. Mark Brown grew up in Hartford. He attended Weaver and competed in the Greater Hartford Invitational when Hartford Public used to host the event in the 1980s. 

He and La Plant would like to be around to see the event reach 100 years. 

“To have the opportunity to run in the competition, coach in the competition, host it and also making sure it makes it to 100 years — I think that’s going to be a great thrill for me,” Mark Brown said.