Barrington High has the talent. It also has the depth, something that is all so important during the championship season.
Will it be enough for the Eagles to win their first-ever indoor track & field title at the State Meet in less than two weeks?
“Hendricken is clearly the favorite. They’re going to tell us that we’re the favorite,”Barrington coach Bill Barrass quipped. “No one really knows. Their coaches can get the kids to rise to the occasion year after year. I think we’re in the mix. La Salle’s in the mix. It’s definitely not a one-team meet this year, not a two-team meet. We’re going to be in it. That’s kind of fun.”
Yet again, Barrington showed just how mighty it could be at Saturday’s Class B Championships. Less than a week after a dominating win over La Salle in the Metropolitan Division Championships, the Eagles coasted to their fifth straight class title inside the PCTA field house with a commanding 172-69 triumph over second-place Classical. Portsmouth was third with 57, just a single point ahead Lincoln in fourth.
Barrington swept the relays by winning the 4×200-meter (1 minute, 33.38 seconds), 4x400m (3:33.04) and 4x800m (8:16.37). The Eagles also had victories from Henry Stockwell in the 600m (1:27.59) and Bobby Wind in the 55m hurdles (7.56). Barrington scored in all 14 events with multiple placements in seven of the 11 individual events.
“We have great depth right now. We have kids that are really dedicated. They’re kind of honing their craft right now,” Barrass said. “Our strength was spread out today and obviously we did pretty well.”
Smithfield’s Jason Padula and Lincoln’s Tyler Durang were double-winners in the three-plus hour meet. Padula raced to an all-time best of 8:53.81 to take the 3K by nearly 50 seconds. The Sentinel senior came back and won the 1,000m where he was timed in 2:39.74.
In the 3,000m, Padula hung with the lead pack briefly. After a few laps, he put in one strong surge and ran solo the remainder of the way.
“I definitely focused on staying really, really relaxed the first lap, kind of keep it slow, keep the heart rate down, get out there settle in and (ready) to turnover,” he said.
Durang took the throwing events. The Lions’ senior won the weight throw with a toss of 65 feet, 3.25 inches. In the shot, he unleashed the metal ball a winning distance of 49-1.5. Durang ranks among the leaders in both events. He’s at No. 4 in the weight and ranked third in the shot.
He nearly became our state’s third 50-footer on his final attempt in the shot.
“My last throw was a good amount over 50 feet,” he said, “but I couldn’t save it and fouled at the end.”
In a close battle at the high jump pit, Portsmouth’s Aiden Chen posted an upset over Central’s Demetrius Outland by leaping to an indoor PR of 6-6, a best by four inches. Outland, the reigning outdoor champion, was second at 6-4. Chen’s effort ties him at No. 1 in the state with Outland.
“I have been trying to hit (6-6) for a long time, since outdoor of last year,” said Chen, who has an outdoor best of 6-4 from the Classical Classic in 2023. “I know the standard for nationals in 6-5, so I was also trying to get that. It’s been a long time. I hit 6-4 and was like, ‘We’ll see how it goes for 6-6.’ and I hit it. It was crazy.”
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In the girls’ meet, West Warwick made it back-to-back titles with an 87-66 decision over runner-up Mount Hope. South Kingstown was third with 63.
The Wizards’ Lisa Raye earned four victories for the afternoon, including breaking her own state mark in the 55m dash with a time of 6.93 seconds. The gifted tenth-grader also took the 55m hurdles (8.35), 300m (40.96) and the long jump (18-3.75). She improved on her state-leader in the hurdles and took over the No. 1 spot in the long jump with PR performances.
Her talented sibling, Xenia Raye, contributed 16 individual points by placing second in the 55m and 300m. In the short dash, she PR’d in the prelims and the finals where she was timed in 7.12. She clocked 41.20 in the 300m. The WW junior also ran a leg on the third-place 4x200m squad (1:52.41).
West Warwick also scored key points from Tatianna Baldinelli, who was second in the high jump (5-0), and Ava Galin, a fourth-place finisher in the weight throw (41-0.25).
After winning its first outdoor crown last spring, West Warwick is hoping to win the school’s inaugural indoor title on Feb. 17.
“We can hope, we will pray,” Xenia Raye said.
Chariho’s Erin vonHousen was impressive with victories in the 1,500m and the 1K. In the 1,500m, vonHousen made the race her own from the start and finished with an eight-second best of 4:37.66, an effort that qualified her for the New Balance Nationals next month. The Chargers’ senior came back later by winning the 1,000. She was 10 seconds ahead of her closet pursuer with a time of 3:01.13.
Sierra Thompson collected 23 points for South Kingstown. The Rebels senior cleared 5-4 to capture the high jump. She also was second in the 55m hurdles (8.81) and fourth in the 55m dash (7.39). She also ran a leg on SK’s second-place 4x400m (4:14.83).
Thomson was particularly pleased about her effort in the high jump where she matched her all-time best from outdoor.
“I was very happy,” she said. “I haven’t cleared 5-4 since last year. It qualified me for nationals, actually. I’ll be at New Balance Nationals, but not sure if I’ll do the high jump yet. I was pretty happy with it. I was close to 5-6. I think I rushed my attempts in stress for the finals of the dash and the hurdles.”
Westerly, a fifth-place finisher in the meet with 57 points, earned gold in three events. The Bulldogs came out on top in the 4x200m (1:51.48) and 4x400m (4:11.53) relays. Senior Sydney Haik scored 10 points by winning the 600m (1:39.89). She also ran legs on both relay squads.
