The final two divisional championship meets will be held on Tuesday night with the Metropolitan and Suburban division teams competing at the PCTA. The action kicks off at 6.
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METROPOLITAN DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIPS
Day/Time: Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Teams: Barrington, La Salle, Classical, East Providence, Moses Brown, Mount Hope, Central, Hope, Mount Pleasant, Burrillville, Juanita Sanchez
Top Events/Athletes To Watch: It’s no secret that Barrington is the team to beat in this meet. The 55-meter hurdles is one of those events where the Eagles will showcase just how much depth it has. This race matches our state’s 1-2 hurdlers with BHS teammates Ethan Knight (7.49 seconds) and Bobby Wind (7.50) on the line. At No. 3? You guessed it, another Eagle hurdler with Jared Leak the owner of that seed with his best of 8.37. Each time Knight and Wind have faced each other, not much has separated them at the finish line. We’re expecting the same on Tuesday night…The high jump features Demetrius Outland of Central, who has been our top leaper since that start of the season. The Knight senior, a runner-up at the states last winter and the reigning outdoor titlist, leaped an all-time best of 6-6 at the East Coast Invitational a few weeks ago and also won his specialty at the World Trophy Invitational on Jan. 20 where he went 6-4. More than likely, he’ll be in prime form to excel at this meet, too…Look for some excitement in the 600m. The top seed is La Salle’s Marshall Vernon, who has manufactured a stellar season so far. He recently ran an all-time best of 4:18 for the mile at BU and also ran a PR of 8:36.0 for the 3K at the Yale Track Classic on Jan. 13 . Vernon not only has endurance, but some wheels, too, He’s the No. 1 seed in this race with a best of 1:26.11 from a league meet last week. This is Vernon’s only individual race of the day. He’s also running a leg on the 4x800m at the start of the meet. The Rams’ gifted sophomore is a competitor. You know he’ll be focused on running faster than his current PR. With his talent, we wouldn’t be surprised to see a low 1:25 or better against his rivals. At No. 2 is Classical’s James Courtney with a time of 1:26.38.
Team Outlook: Defending champion Barrington is the overwhelming favorite to make it two straight this weekend. The Eagles have it all covered with the ability to score multiple points in several events, including close to 120 points on the oval. La Salle and Classical appear to be a shoo-in for the next two spots.
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SUBURBAN DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIPS
Day/Time: Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Teams: Hendricken, Toll Gate, Smithfield, Pilgrim, East Greenwich, Cranston West, Scituate, West Warwick, Cranston East, North Providence, Providence Country Day, Johnston
Top Events/Athletes To Watch: The 55m dash features the state’s No. 1 speedster with Cranston West’s Alonso Parker-Sharpe expected to answer the gun. The Falcon senior owns a best of 6.58 from the East Coast Invitational. This is one of those events where heavily-favorite Hendricken could have multiple athletes making it to the podium. The Hawks’ Jeremy Seidi leads a contingent that occupies three of the next four seeds. Seidi could certainly challenge Parker-Sharpe. The talented tenth-grader owns a best of 6.61…The 600m is shaping up to possibly be one of the most hotly-contested events of the State Meet in two weeks. On Monday, Ponaganset’s Jeremy Roe clocked a state No. 1 of 1:24.70 to win the Northern Division title and Westerly’s Robbie Wade claimed the Southern crown with a nearly two-second best of 1:24.86. They’re the latest sub 1:25 runners, joining Westerly’s Noah Roberts (1:24.80) and Hendricken’s Jacob Coates (1:24.90). Could we have a new state-leader after Tuesday’s meet? No doubt that will be one of the goals for Coates, who is the top seed in his speciality at this meet. He’ll have some good competition on the line to push him, too. Occupying the second seed is his teammate Tommy Flanders at 1:25.16, about six seconds faster than the next best…We’re expected an exciting race in the 1,500m with a time in the low four-minute range. The top seed is Hendricken’s Jack Moretta, who has a season best of 4:08.10, which is No. 4 in the state right now. Among his top competitors are teammate Will Olson and Smithfield’s Jason Padula, both with 4:11s this winter. Both Moretta and Padula have gone sub 4:10 before with the Hawk senior running 4:07.90 at the Hendricken Invitational in 2022 and the Sentinel standout clocking 4:07.69 to finish sixth at the outdoor states last June. None of our top three are entered in any other event. That tells us one thing. They’re all in for this one. The final 200m could be in the 28-29 second range with a lean at the finish determining the winner. Hendricken’s Sam Zabbo (4:12.0) BHS frosh Colby Flynn and Smithfield’s Michael Goodson (4:15.61) are also some of our top runners in this field…Don’t forget about what’s behind the cage. In this meet, we’ll have two of some of our state best weight-throwers with Hendricken teammates Matt Giuliano (64-7.5) and Derek Goll (63-11.75). On Monday, Woonsocket’s Adam Beaudry improved his state-leader with a PR of 66-1 at the Northern Division Championships. Lincoln’s Tyler Durang was second at 65-9.75, also a PR. As we know, this is a time when most of our top athletes perform at their best. Could we see a couple more 65-plus efforts in this meet?
Team Outlook: Who’s placing second? That’s where the real battle will be in this meet as Bishop Hendricken should rack up more than 200 points to roll to yet another league crown. Pilgrim, East Greenwich and Cranston West appear to be the top teams fighting for that coveted runner-up spot.
