Every placement counts. You see a runner in front of you, you pass her.
Those are words that have more than likely been uttered to our top teams each and every year at the RIIL State X-C Championships. They’re also words that couldn’t be more important, more appropriate for the teams that will battling at this weekend’s meet. Both the boys’ and girls’ competition has potential to produce a thrilling race with the outcome determined by single digits. It’s that close!
Here we’re going to let you know who those teams are and the others we feel will make the podium with a top-six placement and a ticket to next weekend’s New England Championships. In no particular order, here’s our picks.
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La Salle Academy
La Salle woke up a few teams last weekend with their impressive victory over pre-race favorite Cumberland at the Class A Championships. With that win, the Rams have now become one of the favorites to take home the hardware on Saturday. But to that, it won’t be easy. The Clippers will be motivated by their loss to the Rams and will do everything in their power to reverse the fortunes. The key to La Salle’s victory this past weekend was its runners up front. The Rams were able to get their first four runners across the line before the Clippers’ No. 3. Freshman Alyssa Parenteau finished an outstanding third overall (19 minutes, 27.26 seconds).She was followed by senior Mia Bettez (seventh, 19:46.81), junior Maeve Casey (ninth, 20:19.18) and junior Jayden Donnelly (11th, 20:29..01). All four will need to repeat what they did last weekend, and perhaps run a little faster to hold off the competition, particularly the Clippers. The other big element, and what often makes a difference in meets like these, is that all-important fifth runner. The Rams’ fifth harrier on Saturday was sophomore Olivia Wahlberg, who came through with her best performance of the season by placing 19th overall with a time of 21:54.52, a PR by more than a minute! A time like the 23:08 effort she had in a league meet at the beginning of the month, would have given the crown to Cumberland. You know longtime coach Kelly Raso will have her team focused and ready this weekend. She’s been this route plenty of times before. If the Rams follow a similar plan like they did at the class meet, we could see them hoisting the trophy at the end.
Cumberland
It has been 42 years since the Clippers have won a team title at the State Meet. No doubt, head coach Marty Crowley and his crew would like to put an end to that drought this weekend. If everything works out as planned, the chances are high it will happen. What works in Cumberland’s favor is its’ depth. At Saturday’s meet, the Clippers had six of their runners in the top 20. In contrast, La Salle had five and North Kingstown, another team that we are not ignoring, had four. What would make the difference in the Clippers striking it rich at the states? It’s simple. Most will have to run faster than they did at the class meet. As we stated in our preview for the top 10 individuals, we’re confident that junior Kiley DeFusco will be up for the challenge on Saturday after finishing sixth in Class A with a time of 19:43. At her best, the Cumberland standout can be among the top five this weekend. In addition to DeFusco, a few more under 20 minutes this weekend could make a difference.
North Kingstown
If you compile the results from the three meets this past Saturday, the Skippers rank No. 3 and are nearly 50 points behind the No. 2. That number is very, very deceiving. The Skippers, who finished third overall in the Class A meet with just 65 points, were without Hailee Pomeranz. The NK junior has a best of 20:43 for 5K, which she’s done twice this fall. A time like that at the class meet would have placed her 13th overall and moved the Skippers to second, just five points behind the Rams. North Kingstown’s gifted frosh trio of Abbie Tighe (fifth, 19;36.49), Lucy Stowe (eighth, 20:09.50) and Maura Whitney (14th, 20:46.82) did their part at the class meet. So did sophomore Abby Nicolopoulos, who was 15th overall at 21:15.21. Similar efforts this weekend and Pomeranz in the lineup, could make things interesting up front. Do the Skippers have the potential to pull out a victory? You can’t count them out, that’s for sure.
Moses Brown
The Quakers were third at last year’s State Meet and we predict they’ll be among the mix again this weekend with another strong finish against the state’s elite. Moses Brown won the Class C crown this past weekend with a four-point victory over runner-up Saint Raphael Academy. The Quakers lost just one runner from their 2022 squad, but it was a big one with individual titlist and multiple track All American and national champion Sophia Gorriaran gone to graduation. Still, as it proved at the class meet, Moses Brown has a quality squad, and close-knit one, too. After top-runner Jay Champlin’s fourth-place finish (19:55.36), the remaining six runners were separated by just 1:09!
Saint Raphael Academy
The Saints had an impressive finish by its top three runners at the class meet with senior Rory Sullivan leading the way with a first-place finish and PR of 18:30.47, the fastest time of the day. After Sullivan , senior Chandanley Boyce was fifth (20:29.99) and junior Faith Perry took seventh (20:43.99). We believe the Saints are a legit top-six team, but may have to tighten things up for that to happen. The gap between their one and five runners was more than five minutes this past weekend.
Barrington
In the final race of the day for girls, Barrington pulled off a slight upset in Class B by defeating four-time defending champion East Greenwich by nine points. The difference in the outcome was the Eagles’ pack mentality. While the Avengers had three of their runners across the line before their rival’s second, the Eagles were able earn the prize, thanks to a gap of just 59 second between its one and five. After freshman Evelyn Lefort’s fifth-place showing, Barrington solidified the title with its’ next four runners placing 11th, 12th, 13th and 15th.
Honorable Mention: East Greenwich
