We’re ready for another exciting season on the indoor track & field season. To get you pumped up for the winter campaign, Ocean State Running will preview some of the top athletes that we expect will make an impact over the next few months.
Here we preview with the girls’ middle and long distance events.
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600m
Okay, this is technically not a middle distance event, but it certainly isn’t a sprinting event. Thus we found a place for it here. Graduation took our top four runners from last year’s State Meet. But behind them was a long list of talented underclassmen. Included among that group were Moses Brown’s Skyler Maxwell, Westerly’s Calia Bruno, Cranston West’s Stalia Biosse and Narragansett’s Karuna Lohmann. All of them, but Boisse, were freshmen last year with Boisse a tenth-grader. Bruno has the top time among our returnees with her PR of 1:41.22 from the New England’s. Maxwell had a best of 1:41.61 from the states. Boisse boast a best of 1:42.96 and Lohman clocked a PR of 1:43.60 last year. We could have a few under 1:40 this season, much like last year where we had five under the mark. Currently, La Salle’s Mia Bettez has the No. 1 time in the state with a PR of 1:43.51 from a league meet on Dec. 15. Could this be an event we’ll see more of her in this winter? She was primarily a 1K runner last year, an event she was fourth at the State Meet.
1,000m
Here’s an event we often see some of our top runners competing in as one of a few others during the course of the State Meet. At last year’s states, our top three runners – Moses Brown’s Sophia Gorriaran, Mount St. Charles’ Emmy Belvin and Classical’s Caroline Jankowicz – all competed in the 1,500m prior to stepping on the line. From that trio, Belvin is the only one not lost to graduation. She comes in with a best of 3:02.84 from her runner-up finish at the championship meet. The MSC senior, who had a PR of 2:18.47 for the 800m during outdoor, is capable of sub three minutes this winter, or close to it, as well as a few others. Saint Raphael’s Rory Sullivan, the state cross-country champion this year, had a best of 3:03.62. There’s also Chariho’s Erin vonHousen, the Rams’ Bettez, St. Ray’s Chandanley Boyce, Toll Gates’s Alison Pankowicz and Pilgrim’s Keaney Bayha, who are all capable of running times in that low three-minute range this season. Bayha and vonHousen, who were third and second, respectively, at the XC states back in November, are 1-2 so far in this event. Bayha had a big PR of 3:04.95 in a solo effort during a league meet on Dec. 15. The same day, vonHousen had a similar race in her meet where she was timed in a near PR of 3:05.09 after running a state-leading 4:45.68 for the 1,500m.
1,500m
There’s a plethora of runners that we feel could prosper in this event this season, several that we believe will be under 4:45 with a few going sub 4:40. The top returnee is Belvin, who was third at the State Meet with a PR of 4:45.89. The Saints’ Sullivan raced to an indoor best of 4:49.65. She followed that performance by placing third at the outdoor meet with an all-time best of 4:41.13. We also can’t forget vonHousen, who proved she should be in the mix with her recent 4:45 effort. From outdoor, there’s also the Titans’ Pankowicz, who was fourth at the states with a best of 4:41.69. We’re predicting that Bayha will be in the mid 4:40 range or faster this season, too. Her best is 4:55 in an event she raced sparingly last year. Coming off a strong cross-country season where she was third overall at the states, coupled with her recent 3:04 for the 1K, leads us to believe that an all-out effort in this event could produce a time contending with some of our state’s best.
3,000m
Come championship time, this event could create quite a bit of excitement with the talent that is expected to compete in the 15-lapper. Some of the top runners that we feel could be producing some fast times in this event are vonHousen, Bayha, Cumberland’s Kylee DeFusco and the Saints’ Sullivan, if this an event she runs seriously on more than a limited basis. The early pick is vonHousen, the defending outdoor titlist and the runner-up from the cross-country states. She brings a 10:05.31 best from her win at the states in June. Competing in her first indoor season, DeFusco ran a state-leading 10:20.87 at the RITCA Invitational last weekend. She was fourth at the outdoor states with a 10:18. At the UMass-Boston Beacon Invitational a few weeks ago, Bayha clocked a PR of 10:23.30 for the 3K. All three of these runners are capable of times under 10:10-10:15 this winter. You would have to figure that Sullivan could do the same after her stellar season on the trails where she not only won the state title but earned a trip to Oregon for the Nike Cross Nationals. She has an all-time best of 10:40.36 from her second-place finish at the Class C Championship in May, her only time running the event last spring. Mount Hope’s Jessica Deal is another runner you can’t ignore. She was second at the indoor states behind East Greenwich’s Reese Fahys with a best of 10:22.85. Others that we expect to make an impact in this event are Classical’s Grace Doyle, Narragansett’s Madeleine O’Neal, and Pankowicz.
