SMITHFIELD – In early November at the State Meet, it’s a different story.
But in her first meet of the cross-country season, Erin von Housen admitted she wasn’t thrilled with competing against St. Raphael’s Rory Sullivan in the Caswell Race of Saturday’s Injury Fund X-C Carnival at Deerfield Park.
The Chariho senior, along with the Saints’ senior, are two of the top contenders for the individual state crown this fall.
“I’ll be honest, I wasn’t really looking forward to it,” she said.”. “It’s the first meet of the season, you don’t know what to expect from anybody. I didn’t even know what to expect from myself, to be honest. I kind of just was going to go out there and see how it goes. I was a little bit more nervous because I knew she was going to be right there.”
As predicted, Sullivan and von Housen were nearly side-by-side for the first half of their race. But once they hit the wooded section of the five-kilometer course for the second half, that’s when the Charger all-stater went to work.
Pushing the pace over the last mile and a half, von Housen turned a close race into a more than 30-second cushion by the finish, clocking the fastest time among the four varsity girls’ races with a winning 18 minutes, 57.63 seconds. Sullivan held on for second at 19:30.26, while Moses Brown’s Jay Champlin snagged third at 19:37.02.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect for today,” she said. “(The training) has been a lot more strength-based stuff, not anything speed-related. I wasn’t sure how that aspect would work today with racing. But it turned out pretty good.”
Moses Brown, led by a 3-5-6 finish from Champlin, Rachel Williams (20:38.52) and Sophia Clyne (20:59.29), captured the team title with a dominating 33-73 decision over North Kingstown.
Smithfield senior Jason Padula protected his home turf with the quickest 5K among the boys. In the final competition of the day, Padula did most of the pace-setting in the Vin McGinn Race and then held off a gallant effort by La Salle sophomore Marshall Vernon down the stretch en route to a triumphant 15:53.43 to Vernon’s 15:58.82. Competing in his first cross-country season, Portsmouth tenth-grader Sean Gray placed third overall with a time of 16:03.4.
With four its’ runner in the top 11, La Salle defeated runner-up Portsmouth for team honors. Chariho was third with 79 points.
Padula is looking forward to his final year as a high-schooler. His performance at the Bobby Doyle Summer Classic a few weeks ago, where he blazed to a time of 25:44 for the five-mile distance, has certainly added to his confidence.
“Last year I feel I really under-performed and I wasn’t living up to my potential and working as hard as I should have been,” he said. “This summer, I just really dedicated myself to going really hard. The Doyle race was a nice benchmark for me to kind of know where my fitness was at and really gage how I would run today.”
Showcasing its depth once again, defending state champion Bishop Hendricken scored just 21 points to win the Jeff Parenteau Race. The Hawks had five among the top eight and 11 of the first 18 finishers. But it was Narragansett’s Cole Francis, who was the first across the line. The Mariner junior looked strong and relaxed as he posted a time of 15:58.50. He was comfortably ahead of runner-up Sam Zabbo of Hendricken, who was timed in 16:15.93. Ponaganset’s Jeremy Roe took the bronze at 16:19.62.
“It’s obviously really early in the season, first race out,” Francis said. “I just wanted to showcase what I’ve been doing this summer, have fun and see what I could do with great competition.”
The five-hour meet kicked off with the Roy Race. Pilgrim’s Keaney Bayha dominated the girls’ field, winning by nearly a minute with a fast 19:12.63. Finishing a distant second was Toll Gate’s Alison Pankowicz in 20:06.37. South Kingstown’s Sofia Caito was third with a time of 20:11.22.
Defending state titlist East Greenwch scored 40 points to win the team title. South Kingstown was second with 49 points. The Avengers went 6-7-8-9-10 to secure their crown.
Bayha, who was 15th at last year’s State Meet, has a simple goal this season.
“Be the best I can be, and even better,” she said. “I’m not really worrying about anybody else, just worrying about myself, being really strong and getting the times I want.”
Soccer player turned cross-country runner, Allie Kaull, got her initial season on the trails off to a great start. The Portsmouth junior powered past race-leader Maeve Casey of La Salle down the stretch to capture the Sullivan Race. Kaull was timed in 20:39.90 to Casey’s 20:47.99 effort. The two harriers’ times comes with an asterisk. With less than a mile remaining and leading together at that point, both veered off in the wrong direction, only to turn around and get back onto the course where they trailed eventual third-place finisher Mia Bettez of La Salle (20:56.22) . Kaull estimates at least 30 or more seconds were lost.
“When we got back onto the course, I was actually in third place and I was right behind Maeve,” she said. “I kind of broke through when we came out of the woods (for the last 300 meters). I just took it all the way to the end. I knew we had to pick it up after we went the wrong way.”
Barrington slipped by La Salle, 40-42, for the team title. The Eagles had their first seven runners in the top 15.
St. Raphael’s JJ Rocha broke the tape in the Erica Horlbogen Race. Rocha battled with East Greenwich’s Luke Allen for most of the race before taking control in the late stages. He finished with a time of 16:33.47. Allen clocked 16:46.86 for second. The Saints’ Noah VanHorn was third at 17:09.84.
In a close race for team honors, North Kingstown edged East Greenwich, 45-47. St. Ray’s was third with 57 points.
“I felt very strong the first two (miles), but then going up that last loop of Deerfield, it’s all like rolling hills,” he said. “I felt very gassed after that, but I just had to keep going because my team and I were going for the win here.”
Cumberland swept the team and individual titles in their respective race. The Lady Clippers scored a low 19 points to take the plaque in the Hindley Race. Junior Kiley DeFusco and Rose Tuomisto went 1-2 for the Blue & White with times of 20:03.24 and 20:25.40, respectively.
“I just started out really fast to see what I could do,” said DeFusco, who was tenth at last year’s states. “It’s the first race, so I kind of wanted to see where I was at.”
In the boys’ competition, Cumberland’s Sam Henderson broke the tape in 16:04.49 in the Jon Barnes Race, Barrington’s Myles Napolitano was second at 16:13.67. Finishing third was Mount St. Charles’ Ethan Fadden in 16:30.85. The Clippers were a 28-37 victor over Barrington in the team standings.
“Going into it, (I was) kind of testing the legs a little bit,” Henderson said. “I kind of knew I wanted to go out hard for the first 800 (meters) or so. I kept the pace up super strong until we hit the woods. Maybe 50 meters into the woods, I cooled it down a little bit and then anybody that tried to come up, I just stayed with them. The last mile I just kind of pulled as much distance as I could.”
In the freshman races, promising underclassmen Lucy Stowe of North Kingstown and Colby Flynn of Hendricken were the respective boys’ and girls’ winners. Stowe was timed in 15:49.03 for the 4K distance in the Bob Leddy Race, while Flynn finished in 13:37.02 in the Ray Dwyer Race.
