It’s only a matter of time until the championship season swings into action. This weekend, to be exact with the girls’ divisional championships on Saturday, and the boys’ divisional championships scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.
The past weekend was the final invitational of the indoor season with the World Trophy Invitational. This is one of those meets that features a good mix of athletes. Most of our elite competitors will skip this one to prepare for the bigger meets on the horizon. Others will use it as a tune-up for what’s in store the remainder of the winter campaign. A good percentage of the entries include those athletes that occupy the JV squads of their respective schools.
What were some of the finer performances of the day for Saturday’s meet? Mount Hope’s sensational sophomores Jessica Deal and Thea Jackson combined for three victories. Deal won the 3K by over a minute with a winning time of 11 minutes, 1.5 seconds. Jackson had an impressive double. She easily captured the 55-meter dash, claiming the title by just about two tenths of a second with a solid 7.45 clocking. She also took the long jump by soaring to a distand of 17 feet, 2.25 inches. Just a week after Woonsocket went 1-2-3 in the weight throw at the East Coast Invitational, Classical swept the top two spots at World Trophy with state-leader Susan Adekunie tossing the apparatus a winning 47-9 and the Purple’s Gifty Bediako earning runner-up honors with a heave of 47-3.25. In the no-surprise department, Barrington’s Ellie Noonan matched her best of 10-6 to win the pole vault.
On the boys’ side, Central’s Elijah Gardea, our state’s No. 3 sprinter, won the 55m dash with a near best of 6.68. North Kingstown’s Gavin Shipperly was first in the 1,500m with a PR of 4:22.17. Demetrius Outland of Central continued his dominance in the high jump by clearing 6-4 to earn the gold. There was a battle in the long jump where seven inches separated the top three. Pilgrim’s Hunter Schobel was the last one standing with a best of 21-5.5. We have a new leader in the weight throw. After his triumphant 64-7.5 effort, Hendricken’s Matt Giuliano now holds the No. 1 spot. Pilgrim’s Brandon Wolfenden became our second shot-putter to exceed 50 feet this season with a winning 51-11. He trails Rogers’ Kayden Thomas, who improved on his state-leader on Jan. 15 with a PR of 52-11.
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It’s an Olympic year, so don’t be surprised to see some of our top collegians at the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials from June 21-30 at the University of Oregon. We could have several of our former high school stars earning a trip to historic Hayward Field for the Trials. A few names that come to mind are Harvard’s Sophia Gorriaran (Moses Brown) and Mississippi’s Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan (Woonsocket). How about Darius Kipyego? The former Saint Raphael Academy standout and Iowa State junior is off to a fantastic start this winter on the indoor surface, one that could morph into even better things in the near future. He started off by placing second in the 800m at the Iowa State Holiday Invitational on Dec. 9 where he was timed in 1:48.67. He followed that by winning the 600m with a PR of 1:17.58 at the Hawkeye Invitational. This past weekend, Kipyego had the best race of his collegiate career by capturing the 1,000m in 2:18.53, the third fastest time in NCAA history. The current NCAA mark is 2:18.05, which was ironically set the same day as Kipyego’s school-record performance by Georgetown’s Tinoda Matsatea at the Hokie Invitational.
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Congratulations to the Saints’ Rory Sullivan, who was recently announced as Gatorade Athlete of the Year for girls’ cross country. Sullivan had a stellar season on the trails. She won her second straight Class C title and first-ever individual crown at the State Meet. Sullivan capped things off by earning a trip to Oregon for the Nike Cross Nationals by playing sixth at NXR-Northeast. She becomes the first SRA girl to win the award and third from the school to earn the honor in the last five years. Kudos in advance to Cumberland’s Sam Henderson. It hasn’t been announced as of this writing, but we’re pretty confident the Clipper junior will receive the honor after his victories at the class and state meets. If were wrong on this one, we’ll make the correction. But we doubt it.
