The East Coast Invitational’s largest meet ever produced some big performance inside the PCTA field house on Saturday.
Without a doubt, the biggest of them all came from West Warwick’s sensational sprinter Lisa Raye. The Wizards’ sophomore left the meet with three gold medals wrapped around her neck with victories in the 55-meter dash, 55m hurdles and the 200m.
The most impressive of the trio was the 55m.
In a race that she commented to us after that she didn’t feel was her fastest, was six hundredths of a second from being the best in the country. Raye simply destroyed her own state record by blazing to an insane 6.94 seconds, knocking a tenth of a second off her previous state and meet mark of 7.04, set less than an hour earlier in the prelims. The gifted tenth-grader also raced to a meet-record time of 24.52 in the 200m and an all-time best of 8.42 in the hurdles. In all three races, you can’t ignore the second-place finishes of the athletes behind her. Mount Hope sophomore Thea Jackson took runner-up honors in both sprints with PRs of 7.25 in the 55m and 25.93 in the 200m. South Kingstown’s Sierra Thompson was right there with Raye in the hurdles where she crossed the line with huge PR of 8.61.
In the boys’ 55m hurdles, Barrington teammates Ethan Knight and Bobby Wind bested the field by taking the 1-2 spots with PRs of 7.49 and 7.50, respectively. Knight and Wind were also part of the Eagles’ triumphant shuttle hurdle relay squad that earned an automatic qualifier for the New Balance Nationals Indoor Championships in mid March with a time of 31.08. Also comprising that foursome were Ryan Martin and Jared Lesk. Barrington was pushed to the limit in the race with Knight anchoring his team to a slim victory over St. John’s Prep, which was timed in 31.13 for second. The Eagles’ senior also edged his rival in the 400m, out-leaning Daniel Ward of Greater New Bedford Voke (MA) in the 400m with a time of 51.44, one hundredth of a second ahead of Ward. Finishing third and fourth were Nicholas Lamoureux of North Smithfield (52.28) and Barrington junior Will DiGiacomo (52.6).
West Warwick’s Xenia Raye, who “knocked it out of the park” in singing the National Anthem at the start of the meet, was equally impressive in cruising to the girls’ 400m title. Raye led three under a minute with a indoor best of 57.73. The Rebels’ Thompson was second at 58.42. La Salle teammates Alexis Caggiano (1:00.51) and freshman Mia Falcone (1:02.23) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
Woonsocket swept the top three spots in the girls’ weight throw with the trio of Adelaide Caron (48 feet, 9 inches), Isabella Piette (47-5.25) and Angelica Orti (46-6.25). In the boys’ weight throw, Exeter/West Greenwich’s Owen Spira took individual honors, albeit slightly. Spira, who moved to No. 1 in the state rankings last week with a 64-5 best, won Saturday’s competition with a strong 62-9.75 effort. He was just an inch ahead of Woonsocket’s Adam Beaudry. Lincoln’s Tyler Durang wasn’t too far behind, too. He was third with a toss of 62-7.5. In all, six went over 60 feet.
Central’s Demetrius Outland leaped to a PR and winning 6-6 in the long jump. In all his attempts, he cleared the bar on his first try.
Michael Goodson of Smithfield looked strong in taking the mile. The Sentinel junior posted a PR of 4:32.70. Mount St. Charles Ethan Fadden was third with a time of 4:34.86.
Classical’s Orla Howlett led for most of the way in the 800m where she earned gold with a time of 2:25.35.
Alonzo Parker Sharpe made the podium in the 55m and 200m. The Cranston West senior was second in the 55m (6.58) and third in the 200m (23:43).
Mount St. Charles Emmy Belvin won the girls’ mile, holding off a fast-charging Alison Pankowicz down the stretch. Belvin was clocked in 5:12.37, just .16 ahead of her rival.
Check it out! We’ve got nearly 500 photos (and more to come) from Saturday’s meet. Check out what we have so far by clicking on the link below.
