One more meet. One more competition to qualify for next Saturday’s State Meet. One more time to improve on your seeding for your respective event. There’s a lot of on the line when some of our track & field athletes make their way inton the PCTA field house on Saturday for the RITCA Last Chance Invitational.
Here we feature some of the top five boys’ events to keep an eye on at this weekend’s meet .
1500m
At the Class A meet last week, Cumberland’s Will O’Shea nearly pulled out a win over La Salle’s Marshall Vernon in this race, finishing less then a second behind the Rams’ sophomore with an indoor best of 4:07.54. It could be another nail-biter this weekend with O’Shea matching up against Hendricken’s Will Olsen on Saturday. Olsen comes in with a best of 4:08.49 from his second-place finish at the Suburban Division Championships. The Hawks’ Tommy Flanders (4:10.83) and Sam Zabbo (4:12.0) are also in this race and can make things interesting.
300m
More than likely a lean at the finish will determine the winner in this one with North Smithfield’s Nick Lamoureux (36.59), Barrington’s Ethan Knight (36.60) and Classical’s Thomas Breen (36.69) our leading contenders.
HIGH JUMP
At last week’s Class B meet, Central’s Demetrius Outland suffered his first loss of the season when Portsmouth’s Aiden Chen captured the title by clearing 6-6. It was an effort that tied the Patriots’ senior for the No. 1 spot in the rankings with the Kinghts’ senior. Outland will be looking to regain the position by himself this weekend when he takes on another top competitor in Middletown’s Cam Miller. The Islander senior ranks No. 2 statewide with a 6-5 effprt to his credit.
SHOT
This event could get very interesting. Separated by just a half an inch, the state’s top two shot-puters will face each other on Saturday with Rogers’ Kaden Thomas and Pilgrim’s Brandon Wolfenden stepping into the circle. Thomas has a best pf 52-11. Wolfenden is at 52-10.75. One big throw could put Lincoln’s Tyler Durang into the conversation. He unleashed an all-time best of 49-9.75 to win the Class B crown last weekend.
WEIGHT THROW
Like the girls’ event, this event will feature all the contenders for next week’s states. Among the top entries are new state leader, Woonsocket sophomore Shamrock Thoun (67-10.5), as well as Hendricken’s Matt Giuliano (66-10.75), Woonsocket’s Adam Beaudry (66-1) and Lincoln’s Tyler Durang (65-9.25), to name a few.
