Four meets, eight team champions and a whole bunch of individual winners. You know what we’re talking about. It was a divisional championship weekend here in our small state.
Bragging rights, more hardware for the trophy cases and additional tune-ups for the upcoming class and state championships. This past weekend’s meets produced nearly 20 state leaders in the combined 30 individual events for boys and girls. Mixed in there, we had a few school records and a plethora of PRs. It’s that time of year. Think our track & field athletes are ready for the championship season? Do we really need to answer that?
Below is our recap of all four division championships – Northern, Southern, Eastern and Central.
Central Division Championships
At Classical High
Let’s start with the team titles. In the girls’ competition, we had four schools reach the century mark. Our team champion almost did it twice with Classical surviving a hard-fought battle over Cranston West with a 198-181.50 decision. La Salle (third, 109.50) and Moses Brown (fourth, 101.50) also went over 100 points, You don’t see that too often at meets like these.
Once again it was Bishop Hendricken winning the boys’ crown. We’re not sure how many this makes. In fact, we’re quite sure that longtime head coach Jim Doyle might not even know. Our guess, a wicked lot!!! The Hawks compiled 259.50 points. La Salle, one of its sure-to-be rivals at the states, finished with 137 points. Moses Brown was third with 80.5 points and Classical secured the fourth spot with 75 points.
Cranston West Ailani Sutherland continued to do her thing which, as we know, is run fast. Sutherland won the 100-meter dash and the 200m, clocking times of 12.29 seconds and 25.49, respectively. In the 200m, she had to contend with Moses Brown’s Sophia Gorriaran. After winning the 400m in a solo 54.80, the Quaker senior was timed in 25.65 to take second for the half-lapper. Gorriaran finished her day by anchoring her team’s first-place 4x400m, which combined for a state-leading 4:02.71.
Want to know where Classical got 40 of its points? That would be from Caroline Jankowich and Fifty Rediako, who were both double-winners.. Jankowich, a senior, was first across the line in the 1,500m (4:44.33) and the 800 (2:20.85). Her time in the 1,500m ranks No. 2 in the state by another star athlete, who we’ll talk about later. We’ll give you a hint. Her initials are R and S and her last name rhymes with funny. But what she did in her meet was not funny, it was actually pretty serious.
Speaking of serious, Pilgrim’s Dasani Stewart produced some serious stuff inside Conley Stadium. She made it to the top of the podium three times. That’s right, three times. Stewart was our jumping extraordinaire, capturing all those leaping events with an 18 feet, 2 inch effort in the long, 37-6.5 in the triple and 4-11 in the high. By the way, the long and triple were state-leaders.
Cranston West’s Maia Riccio moved to the top spot in the javelin with a heave of 118-2. The Falcons also clocked 48.85 to take the 4x100m over Classical, who also went sub-50 at 49.53.
It’s good to see La Salle’s Caroline Cummings back in her element, winning the 3K by nearly a minute with a time of 10:50.08. She was also on the Rams’ winning 4x800m (10:22.58).
Above photos by Sterling Vernon of @rhodeandtrack. For more great shots, click HERE.
On the boys’ side, take a guess how Hendricken did in the 3,000m? Yep, the Hawks scored 33 points in the longest event on the track by sweeping the top five positions. Senior teammates Keegan Tierney (8:53.45), Troy Silvestri (8:53.76) and Alex Sjoblom (8:57.99) all went under nine minutes with their 1-2-3 finish. Hendricken established a new school record in the 4x100m with the foursome of Edmund Lok, Xavier Wilkens Nate Rivas and Jeremy Seidi combining for a time of 42.45. Guess what team has the target on their singlet at the State Meet? Guess what team we’re also expecting will be up for the challenge?
Multiple state champion Jared “Does he ever lose?” Gibbons won the 100m, breaking 11 seconds for the first time this spring with a time of 10:90. Finishing second was Adonis Medina of Central at 11.10.
Hendricken’s Jacob Coates won the 400m with a state best of 50.63. We’re sure this one didn’t come easy for the Hawks’ junior. Right on his heels was La Salle frosh Garrett Giroux Pezzullo at 50.98.
Moses Brown’s Thomas Speltz captured the 1,500m in a solid 4:08.86. Not too far behind was La Salle Phillip Simas at 4:09.94.
The Hawks’ Keith Daigneau continued his consistency in the hammer with another 200-footer, At Saturday’s meet, he unleashed the apparatus a distance of 203-1.
Indoor state titlist Salter Arms of Moses Brown went 21-5.5 in the long jump. That effort ranks numero uno.
RESULTS
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Eastern Division Championships
At Barrington High
Again, we’re going to cut to the chase. There was no need for home-field advantage for Barrington, The Eagles relied on their overall talent and outstanding depth to sweep the boys; and girls’ titles. The gals scored a whopping 236.50 points to grab the plaque. Portsmouth placed second with 122.5 points. Finishing third with 105 was Mount Hope. As for the guys, Barrington amassed 265.5 points, while Portsmouth was again the runner-up, scoring 134.5.
The Eagles’ Ethan Knight continued his dominance in the hurdles by taking both the 110m HH (14.83) and the 300m IH (40.60).
A day after running 4:07.60 to take the BSR Elite Scholastic Mile down in Marshfield, MA, St. Ray’s Devan Kipyego proved to be the perfect pace-setter in leading teammate JJ Rocha to a new PR in the 1,500m. Kipyego won with a time of 4:03.92. Rocha held on for second in a four-second best of4:04.75. Sophomore Noah Vanhorn completed the 1-2-3 sweep by SRA by placing third in 4:18.02.
It was good to see the Saints’ Pedro Mayol back in form. The multiple all-stater, who was dealing with some health issues over the last few months, including tendonitis recently, came from behind to take the 800m in 2:03.75. Mayol ran his opening 400m in 1:05. Do the math? He came back in 58 seconds for his last 400m. Talk about negative splits.
Let’s give some props to Tolman’s Youton Don. The Tigers’ senior copped the 400m with a time of 52.71.
A ninth-grader got it done in the 3,000m with Portsmouth’s Sean Gray showing plenty of promise with a first-place time of 9:30.71.
Barrington’s Michael Fay added 33 points to his team’s winning total by taking the hammer (197-5) and javelin (154-0), placing second in the discus (141-4) and fourth in the shot (43-3.75).
Switching over to the girls’ side, for one day at least, Mount Hope’s Thea Jackson held the No. 2 spot in the 100m where she blazed to a time of 12.17. She moved down to No. 3 on Sunday when another freakishly-fast frosh clocked a new leader of 12.11 in this event. We’ll give you two hints who that might be. She was very visible during the indoor season and, along with her older sister, did our first Instagram Takeover. Getting back to Jackson, she also won the 200m, recording a time of 26.47 and the triple jump with a distance of 34-5..
Mount Hope’s Jessica Deal also got the two-for-one deal by winning the 3,000m (10:47.99) and the 1,500m (5:01.58).
It was another ho-hum performance by Morgan Casey in the high jump. The multiple state champion from Portsmouth won her speciality with a leap of 5-3.
RESULTS
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Southern Division Championships
At West Warwick
Neighboring rivals South and North Kingstown split up the hardware in this one. South Kingstown claimed the girls’ crown, defeating West Warwick, 144-105. North Kingstown was a 153-122 victor over East Greenwich in the boys’ meet.
Things could get very interesting in the boys’ 110m hurdles at the states. West Warwick’s Damon Wilson became the latest member of the sub-15 club with a triumphant 14.95 at Sunday’s meet. That ranks No. 3 in the state behind Barrington’s Ethan Knight (14.77) and North Smithfield’s Aidan Beinvenue (14.84).
We knew it was going to happen sooner rather than later. East Greenwich’s Nick Martin broke four minutes for the first time in his career in the 1,500m with an all-time best of 3:57.84. We’ve got to recognize West Warwick’s Jesse Principe in this one, too. Principe nearly made it two under the mark with a PR of 4:00.88. The two warriors were back at it again in the 800m by taking the 1-2 spots with times of 1:57.82 and 1:58.02, respectively.Both PRs again for the gifted seniors.
For the girls, Sierra Thompson of South Kingstown and West Warwick’s Lisa Raye gave us a preview of what to potentially expect in the hurdle events. Thompson edged the Wizard freshman in the 100m HH with a time of 15.25 to Raye’s 15.35 effort. Raye came back and beat the Rebels’ stars in the 300m IH with a time of 46.29, nine hundredths of a second ahead of Thompson. Raye, of course, ran the 100m and 200m, too. She struck gold in both with state-leaders of 12.11 in the shorter event and a 25.03 in the longer. Raye’s older sibling, Xenia, was the 400m titlist at 58.79. She was also second in the 200m at 25.36.
East Greenwich’s Rylee Shunney has been very strong this spring, her final season as a high-schooler. She became our first and only runner to break 4:40 for the 1,500m with a time of 4:39.92. She was back at it again in the 800m where the FAT was 2:18.45.
In case you haven’t noticed, our last two two paragraphs disclosed the answers to our trivia questions.
RESULTS
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Northern Division Championships
At Cumberland
Cumberland protected its house at Tucker Field by sweeping the titles at Sunday’s meet. In both the girls’ and boys’ meets, the Clippers beat common rival Smithfield. The Blue & White beat the Sentinels, 196.50-115.50 in the girls’ competition. In the boys, it was 204-146 in the Clippers’ favor.
Grace Carr continued to prove that an injury that sidelined her during the indoor season is far behind her by winning the 1,500m with a near best and state No. 3 of 4:45.61. Cumberland teammate Kiley DeFusco was second at 4:48.69. That time is fifth in the state rankings.
Lincoln’s Jillian Leahy did what she does best. That, of course, is win the hammer. The Lions senior did it this time with a heave of 160-0. Woonsocket teammates Adelaide Caron (141-02) and Bella Piette (140-0) took the second and third spots.
The Clippers’ Alyssa Yankee inched closer to the 40-foot mark in the shot. The indoor champion heaved the metal ball a best and state-leading 39-2. As she often does, she didn’t just take home one gold medal. She grabbed another in the discus with a PR of 124-4. Yankee also finished fourth in the hammer (124-4).
Lauren Boyd had her typical busy (and productive) afternoon. The versatile senior from Smithfield won the triple jump (34-11), long jump (17-7.5) and 100m (12.73). For good measure, she also was third in the 200m (27.51).
In the boys’ meet, North Smithfield’s Aidan Bienvenue continues to prove he’ll be a threat in the hurdle events come championship time. He won both the 110m (15.06) and the 300m IH (40.72). HIs time of 14.84 in the prelims of the 110s breaks his own school record and remains at No. 2 in the state rankings. His time in the 300 hurdles also was a best and ranks No. 2.
How about Cumberland’s William O’Shea? During the indoor season, the Clippers junior ran a best of 4:35.37 for the 1,500m. At least that’s what we found. On Sunday, O’Shea moved to the sixth spot in the state rankings with a winning time of 4:07.28. That’s a major improvement from the winter if our information is correct, and comes after a 4;10 at the Classical Classic. O’Shea beat a formidable opponent, too. Taking second was Smithfield’s Elijah Saddlemire at 4:07.54.
Cumberland’s Cole McCue broke two minutes for the first time by taking the 800m with a time of 1:59.87. Saddlemire again took runner-up honors with a 2:01.60 effort.
Add it up! Lincoln’s Christian Toro scored 36 points in the throwing events, Did you expect anything different? Toro claimed the hammer (210-6) and discus (151-8) crowns. He was also second in the javelin (154-3) and the shot (45-75).
