With the State Meet just over two weeks away, it’s no secret that Bishop Hendricken and Barrington High are the leading contenders for the team title. It was also no secret that the Hawks and Eagles would be runaway victors in their respective division championships on Tuesday night at the PCTA field house.
Hendricken accumulated a whopping 226 points to easily capture the Suburban Division crown. Pilgrim was second with 73 points. Barrington racked up 188.5 points in the Metropolitan Division. La Salle was a distant second with 121 points.
RESULTS
The Eagles won seven of the 14 events with Brandon Piedade and sophomore Joe Adams each collecting two victories. Adams swept the throwing events, taking first in the shot (45 feet, 3.75 inches) and the 25-pound weight (58-6.25). Piedade raced to an indoor best of 4 minutes, 7.51 seconds to capture the 1,500-meter run and came back later to strike gold in the 1,000m where he was timed in 2:43.91.
In the 1,500m, Piedade meant business from the start. He quickly put distance on the field by blasting through his opening 200m in 30 seconds and first 400m in 1:02. He won the race by nearly a half a lap. Classical’s Tai Liebmann was second at 4:21.57. Barrington’s Connor Curran was third with a time of 4:21.61.
“I am kind of mad at myself for that start,” Piedade admitted. “My goal, I tried to practice yesterday and the past couple of workouts last week, was to keep pretty consistent (32-second 200m splits). Obviously, I got a little too excited at the start. For a time trial, by myself, my goal was three or so seconds faster. That kind of prevented me from doing that.”
The Eagle runner, who clocked 2:43.91 for his 1K title, likes the makeup of the team, which finished 10-0 during the dual-meet season.
“Coach (Bill) Barrass, he really believes in us,” Piedade said. “I feel like the group this year, just the work ethic, I feel is different than others years. At least on the distance side, we have been working a lot harder toward this goal. I feel like everything’s changed with the dynamics of the team and I’m really excited to see what we can do at the states.”
The Eagles collected 30 points in the 55m hurdles with a 1-2-3-4 finish that was led by defending state champion Ethan Knight. As usual, the Barrington senior’s top rival was junior Bobby Wind, who secured second at 7.69. Knight also placed second in the 300m with a time of 36.60, just strides behind individual winner and La Salle sophomore Garrett Giroux-Pezzullo (36.48).
Central’s Demetrius Outland continued his consistency in the high jump with a leap of 6-5. Outland beat a field that saw seven athletes clear six feet or higher Finishing second and third, respectively, was East Providence’s Cameron Evora and Barrington’s Shea Parish, who each went 6-2.
“I give a shout out to all my competitors and my guys for getting their PRs and jumping high,” Outland said. “Honestly, it makes me jump better, makes me want to go harder. I live and breathe competition. Whenever people are jumping the same heights or close to same heights, it makes go harder, go higher. I appreciate all of them, too.”
In its meet, Hendricken finished with six victories for the night and had multiple placements in several events, including a 1-2-3 finish in the weight throw and the top four finishers in the 3,000m.
In the weight, senior Matt Giuliano was less than two inches further than teammate Derek Goll with a winning distance of 61-8.50 to Goll’s 61-6.75 effort. Freshman Michael Morreia captured the 3K with a time of 9:23.33.
The Hawks’ Jacob Coates took over the top spot in the state rankings in the 600m where he was timed in 1:24.56. Finishing second was fellow classmate Tommy Flanders at 1:29.07.
Tuesday’s race was only the second time that Coates has competed in the 600m. In his initial time running the three-lapper, he also broke 1:25 with a previous best of 1:24.90 from a league meet on Jan. 31.
“I’m mostly a 400 (meter) runner,” said Coates, who ran 35.47 for 300m at the Ocean Breeze Freedom Games on Jan. 6. “Obviously, they don’t have the 400 indoors. I only ran the 200m and 400m before this year. We thought we’d go up in distance because one of my biggest strengths is my fitness because I play soccer.”
The Hawks also had a first-place finish from junior Ollie Ide in the 1,000m (2:42.64) and their 4x400m (3:33.52) and 4x800m (8:22.57) relays. Hendricken had four runners score in the 1,500m and 55m hurdles, too.
Cranston West’s Alonso Parker-Sharpe remained unbeaten in the 55m dash against his state rivals by winning his specialty with a best of 6.57. He also took the 300m at 36.86.
In a down-to-wire race, Smithfield’s Jason Padula edged Hendricken’s Will Olson in the 1,500m with a time of 4:08.08. Olson was right behind in second at 4:08.49.
Padula has just gotten over a brief sickness during a season he hasn’t race that much.
“Right now I’m kind of using indoor like a training block. I could have gone faster today,” he said. “Obviously, I am super grateful for the effort, and the competition. I do wish I could have gone a little faster, knowing that my school record is 4:08. I’m not sure if I got it by the decimal or not. It was a good race. I just wish it was faster. “
North Providence’s Colin Roderick beat a slew of Hendricken runners in the 55m hurdles. Roderick was timed in 8.36. The Hawks had the next four placements, including a runner-up finish from Tristen Jordan (8.39).
Toll Gate’s Kevin Barker cleared 5-10 to win the high jump.
