Rhode Island athletes were scattered at three different meets this past weekend where we saw a number of quality performances leading up to the class and state meets. For this week’s HOKA Athletes of the Week, we’d like to recognize Jason Padula of Smithfield and the East Greenwich girls as our male and female recipients.
Padula, as well as several RI harriers, took advantage of the atmosphere and fast course at the Bob Glennon Twilight Invitational to place fourth overall in the Small School race on Friday. The Sentinel senior covered the 5K layout at the Cape Cod Fairgrounds in a PR of 15 minutes, 29 seconds. Padula was among five from the Ocean State that broke 16 minutes at the two-day meet.
In the girls’ Small School race at Twilight, the Lady Avengers captured the team title by an impressive six-point margin over Whitinsville Christian, one of the top Division 2 squads in Massachusetts. The defending state champions had a low 51-second gap between their top five to secure the hardware in their final invitational before the class championships on Oct. 28.
