We asked, and you responded.
Just who are the top returning runners that will hit the trails this season? After requesting your help on this site and through our Instagram account, with have compiled a top-10 list with your assistance of the runners we feel will be among our best this fall.
To start, we’re going to begin with our No. 6 through No. 10 picks and also the runners we believe are on the bubble. We’ll list them among our Honorable Mention at the bottom of this article. On the girls’ side, we should see a lot of familiar faces. While we lost four of our top seven, including 1-2 finishers, Sophia Gorriaran (Moses Brown) and Caroline Cummings (La Salle Academy), a bunch are coming back. Looking at last year’s State Meet, just 14 seniors were among our top 50. It should be an interesting year.
Here’s our picks for the final five of our list and those on the verge of breaking through.
No. 6 – Mia Bettez, La Salle Academy
The talented senior was eighth at last year’s State Meet with a 5K best of 19 minutes, 28.20 seconds on Ponaganset’s covered-bridge trail. We have her moving up two spots from that position, but she could possibly move up more with the right kind of race. The Rams had an “off year” in 2022, placing fifth overall. Bettez is their No. 1 runner coming back and will be counted to lead the show, which she’s proved she’s capable of doing. In addition to her top placement at the states, she was also fourth at the Class A Championships. She went sub-5 for the 1,500-meter run during the outdoor season, clocking 4:58.07 the Class A meet, an effort to secured her fourth overall.
No. 7 – Chandanley Boyce, St. Raphael Academy
Boyce was all about consistency during the 2022-23 season. She broke 20 minutes five times with an all-time best of 19:07 at the Class C Championships where she placed third overall. Boyce was ninth (19:35.90) at the State Meet and 35th (19:41.20) at the New England’s. During the track seasons, Boyce set a number of all-time bests, including 2:18.90 for 800m, 3:08.34 for the 1,000m and 4:59.65 for 1,500m. She’s ready for a good year on the trails.
No. 8 – Charli McCue, Cumberland
Along with Mount Hope’s Jessica Deal, McCue made an impact in her first season as a high-schooler last year. As a freshman, she was sixth at the Class A Championship and earned second-team, all-state honors by placing 12th at the State Meet. She also won the Frosh race at the Injury Fund Carnival and was third at the Freshman States behind Deal and North Kingstown’s Rachel Mara. McCue had solid times on the track where she was consistently in the low five-minute range for 1,500m. The Clipper sophomore also had the benefit of training with a team that should be one of our top-finisher at this year’s championship meet after losing only two from a squad that was our state runner-ip.
No. 9 – Emmy Belvin, Mount St. Charles Academy
Based on what she did during the track season, here’s a runner we expect will make one of the biggest jumps from the 2022-23 season. Belvin had a solid cross-country campaign last fall, placing seventh at Class C’s and 20th overall at the states with sub 21-minute clockings. She’s capable of low 19 minutes this year, maybe faster. Belvin. It would surprise us if she moved up more this spot at the early November meet. Belvin is coming off track seasons in indoor and outdoor where she had all-time best of 2:18 for the 800m and 4:45 for the 1,500m. She was second in the 1,000m and third in the 1,500m at the indoor states. She also proved she has some wheels, clocking 59.82 for the 400m at the Mariner Invitational in May. In the late stages, watch out for the Mount harrier on the trails.
No. 10 – Maeve Casey, La Salle Academy
Casey missed most of cross country last year after suffering a stress fracture in her femur at the start, an injury that forced her to miss the entire indoor season and most of outdoor. As a freshman two years ago, Casey was our Class A winner in the 3K during outdoor track and had a best of 10:37 at the State Meet where she was third overall. She showed signs that the injury is behind last spring by running low five minutes for the 1,500m and sub-11 for the 3K. A healthy Casey could be factor this season.
Honorable Mention: Alison Pankowicz, Toll Gate; Grace Doyle, Classical; Keaney Bayha, Pilgrim
