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.
We already listed our six through 10 best. Now, here’s our picks for the remaining five, including who we feel has the best chance to win the State Meet, scheduled for Nov. 4 at Ponaganset. To the coaches out there, there’s no need to thank us. We realize by creating lists like these, we create billboard material for some of your athletes, who either didn’t make the list or felt they should be a little higher in the rankings. Trust us, that was never our intention. But based on past history, we’re sure we did.
No. 5 – Marshall Vernon, La Salle Academy
Vernon was our top freshmen at last year’s State Meet, finishing 27th overall with a time of 16 minutes, 55.40 seconds. He had a best of 16:41.90 at Ponaganset at the Class A meet where he placed 12th overall. Vernon was also the individual champion at the Freshmen State Meet and placed ninth at the Varsity D race at the Manhattan College Invitational where he posted a strong time of 13:27.30 on a challenging 4K distance at Van Cortlandt Park. The Rams’ talented underclassmen made great progress during the indoor and outdoor track seasons, which leads us to believe that he’s a legitimate first-team, all-stater. He was seventh in the 3,000-meter run at the states in June with his all-time best of 8:55.82. Other highlights included a runner-up finish in the 3K at the Class A meet in the winter and a best of 4:08.7 for 1,500m from the St. Germain Invitational in mid May.
No. 4 – Jeremiah “J.J.” Rocha, St. Raphael Academy
Rocha is another runner where we saw some strong gains from the fall to the spring. The SRA senior was 19th at the State Meet in early November where he clocked a PR of 16:47.10. We feel he’s capable of getting that time in the low 16-minute range, which will likely be needed to land in the top five. Rocha was a third-place finisher in the 1,500m at the indoor states and had an all-time best of 4:04.75 at the Eastern Division Championships during outdoor where he was second to teammate and graduating senior Devin Kipyego. Rocha ran a best of 8:50.04 at the Classical Classic and has sub two-minute speed for the 800m, a good combo.
No. 3 – Jack Moretta, Bishop Hendricken
Hendricken is once again a legitimate contender to win the team title at the State Meet and it looks like it will be Moretta that will lead the show. He’s one of our top returnees from last year’s State Meet where he placed 14th overall in 16:37.90 as a tenth-grader. Moretta had a best at Ponaganset of 16:23.20, where he did to take seventh overall in a loaded Class A meet a week earlier. While he had a solid indoor track season, we’re putting him here based on what he did once the competition switched to the outdoor surface. At the beginning of the spring campaign, Moretta averaged just over five-minute pace for 5K at the Connecticut Distance Festival where he posted a time of 15:39.38. Near the end of the season, Moretta had a trio of sub nine-minute performances for the 3,000m at the Classical Classical, Class A Championships and the State Meet. The highlight of the season came at the states where he had a more than 10-second best of 8:43.73.
No. 2 -Jason Padula, Smithfield
After finishing 16th at the State Meet as a sophomore, Padula didn’t have his best race last year at the State Meet, placing 29th overall in 16:58.20. We’re predicting it will be a lot different this fall, and for good reason. The Smithfield senior appears to have had a great summer of training leading up to the fall season, something that became clearly evident at the recent Bobby Doyle Summer Classic. It was there that Padula captured the high school division by placing 22nd overall in 25:44 for the popular five-miler, one of the fastest times recorded by a high-schooler at the annual event. Since he first competed for the Sentinels, Padula has shown the potential to be one of our best. We’re predicting a breakthrough year for him in cross country and track.
No. 1 – Cole Francis, Narragansett
And now we have our No. 1. Francis was our top returnee from last year’s State Meet, placing sixth overall with a best at Ponaganset of 16:06.60. On a very generous course at the Barnstable Fairgrounds, the Mariner standout went sub-16 in the Small School race of the Bob Glennon Twilight Invitational where he finished at 15:56.7. Once cross country was finished, Francis manufactured stellar seasons on the track for both indoor and outdoor. He was second in the 3K at the indoor championship where he had a PR of 8:44.57. In the spring, he was third in the 1,500m at the Southern Division Championships with an all-time best of 4:01.74. To us, Francis solidified his No. 1 status at the Blessing of the Fleet 10M Road Race where he averaged just over 5:30 per-mile pace with a time of 55:19, an effort that secured ninth overall among the 2,400-plus finishers. Just a week prior to the race, Francis ran a 5K time trial in 15:16. He’s ready for something special once the fall season kicks into gear.
