The inaugural BSR (Bay State Running) Mid-Distance Classic did not disappoint last year with ideal weather conditions and an abundance of top performances. The second annual event, hosted by St. John’s Prep, will be held next Friday. There’s still time to register for meet, but the deadline is coming up fast. Registration closes on Wednesday, April 17 at midnight on athletic.net. The meet, which features the 400m, 800m, mile and shot, is open to Rhode Island entries.
Speaking of BSR events, don’t forget the BSR Elite Scholastic Mile on May 3. Last year’s inaugural event, which features invite-only boys’ and girls’ mile races, was a huge success. In the boys’ race, St. Raphael Academy grad Devan Kipyego led seven runners under 4 minutes, 11 seconds. Kipyego held off New Hampshire’s Byron Grevious of Phillips Exeter Academy by just a quarter of a second with a time of 4:07.60. Newton South’s Amelia Everett broke the tape in the girls’ race with a time of 4:47.97. This year’s meet is shaping up to be another classic with several of the region’s finest committed for next month’s race, including R.I., entries Marshall Vernon (La Salle) and Rory Sullivan (Saint Raphael).
Both meets will be live streamed on BSR’s YouTube page.
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As you probably already know, the 128th edition of the Boston Marathon will be held on Monday morning. When registration closed back in September, a record 33,000 applications were received by the Boston Athletic Association (BAA), surpassing the previous mark of 31,458 from 2019. We glanced through the RI entries and one particular name stood out – Sheridan Wilbur. The now 26-year-old Wilbur is a 2015 graduate of La Salle Academy where she starred in cross-country and track. Her senior year. she earned the 3K crown at the outdoor state meet where she was timed in a then-meet record of 9:56. She also qualified for the Nike Cross Nationals in 2014 and was part of two national champion 4xMile squads for the Rams. Wilbur continued to excel at the collegiate level at Duke University. The Smithfield resident currently resides in London where she enjoys a successful writing career. She met the qualifying standard for Boston by running 3:08:57 at the Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minn., on June 17.
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Kudos to former La Salle standout Kenzie Doyle. On Thursday, the UMass-Lowell senior qualified for next month’s NCAA East Preliminaries with a gutsy effort in the 10,000m at the Brian Clay Invitational in Calif. Doyle finished 11th in her heat with a PR and school record of 33:21.23. According to a press release by UMass-Lowell, Doyle suffered a sickness during her first day out west.
Congrats also to Saint Ray’s alum Darius Kipyego for his recent performance at the Hurricane Alumni Invitational (April 5-6) at Coral Gables, Fla. The Iowa State junior captured the 800m with an all-time best of 1:45.76. Kipyego, who won the race by more than two seconds, is currently ranked No. 2 in the country for the two-lapper. The former SRA great is coming off a mega-successful indoor campaign where he finished fifth in the 800m at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships
Two week after his memorable victory in the shot at the Nationals. Woonsocket’s Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan was at it again at the Ole Miss Classic on March 22-23.. The University of Mississippi sophomore was triumphant in the shot (67 feet, 10.75 inches) and hammer (237-7) at the two-day meet, breaking his own school records in both events. Over the last few weeks, Robinson-O’Hagan was also a winner in the hammer and shot at the LSU Battle On Bayou (March 29-30) and the Joe Walker Invitational (April 5-6). He ranks No. 1 in the country in the shot and is No. 6 in the hammer.
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In our latest OSR Scribbles, we omitted the performance of Conor Murphy (Classical) at the Raleigh Relays. The Virginia senior was eighth overall in the 1,500m in 3:40.88.
