MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – A Fitch junior and track star recently shattered a school record that had lasted for more than two decades.
Starting on April 16, 55 athletes from 28 different schools all lined up to race in the seventh annual Connecticut Distance Festival. For five out of the last seven years, the Connecticut Distance Festival has been hosted at Xavier High School in Middletown, CT. Appearing amongst the 55 athletes was Fitch junior Julien Silva. He is familiar with running long distances in short amounts of time, as he has done cross country and both seasons of track for the past three years. Silva was able to claim 14th place, breaking a 23-year-old school record by running 15:46.75. Silva has shaved almost seven minutes off of his 5k since 2023.
“I’d been wanting to achieve the record for about a year after running decently close to the record during my Sophomore outdoor season,” said Silva. “I knew I could drop the time, I just didn’t know if it would have to wait until my Senior year.”
For Silva, the honor motivates him to continue to progress as an athlete.
“Achieving [the record] this early makes it easier to set myself on even more goals.”
In his sophomore season, he ran a 15:56.01 at the 6th CT Distance Festival. Julien Silva also competes in the 1600 meters with a current season record of 4:27.80, the 3200 meters with a season record of 9:55.2, and the 4×400 meter relay consisting of Silva, Shea Cahill, Jeremiah Baig, and Gabriel Imasuen, having run 4:02.1 for his junior outdoor season on April 23 and April 30. Silva is having a great season and could continue this indefinite reign.
Originally set in 2002 was Fitch High School’s 5,000-meter record of 15:47.26. The record was set by Mark Oliver, who held it for 23 years. In mileage, 5000 meters is 3.1 miles, otherwise known as a 5k.
All 28 schools that had 55 competing athletes in the 5000 meter race were Xavier, Lincoln-Sudbury regional, Easy Lyme, Oxford, Bishop Guertin, Hamden, E.O. Smith, Woodstock, Staples, St. Johnsbury, Rocky Hill, Fitch, Bishop Hendricken, Lasalle Academy, Hall, Portland, East Catholic, Bolton, Windham Tech, Glastonbury, East Greenwich, New Canaan, Ledyard, Bacon Academy, Shenendehowa Central, Notre Dame-West Haven, East Hampton, and Minisink Valley.
