La Salle Academy will be sending a talented 4×400-meter relay squad to next weekend’s prestigious Penn Relays Carnival.
Just how talented is this Rams’ squad?
At last year’s Penn Relays, a time of 3 minutes, 20 seconds secured a top eight position in the featured Championship Of America race. This one has the capability of coming close to a time like that.
That was made clear on Friday night at the second annual BSR Mid-Distance Classic. Held under cool and sometimes windy conditions at St. John’s Prep in Danvers, Mass., the Rams nearly filled the entire podium in the boys’ 400m with a 1-2-3-4-6 finish. Sophomore and defending champion Garrett Giroux-Pezzullo led the Rams’ domination by defending his title with a winning time of 50.42 seconds. In the seeded section, he was followed closely by teammates Thaden Leomensah (second, 50.87), freshman Jackson Alves (third, 51.30), and Amari Monteiro (fourth, 51.72). La Salle’s Antonio Bearden captured the previous heat with a time of 52.23 to place sixth overall. All five recorded PRs at the early-season meet.
“It was nice to race against guys I practice with all the time and it was really good to be able to push each other the whole time, and then come out with the win,” Giroux-Pezzullo said.
For the individual crown, the race came down to the Rams’ tenth-grader and Lemmensah battling it out the final stretch.
“I started out fast,” Lammensah said. “I knew the back stretch would be my best part of the race. I really took advantage of that. Going against the wind was pretty tough. Coming around the corner, I saw Garrett on my side catching up. I was able to stay with him the last straightaway. Overall, it went pretty well.”
Alves’ effort ranks No. 4 all-time among freshmen in Rhode Island, just three hundredths of a second behind former Saint Raphael great and NCAA All American Darius Kipyego. The La Salle frosh was just under his previous best of 51.40 from the New Balance Nationals last month.
“I definitely think for a freshman, (my time is) good,” Alves said. “But I really just enjoy having my teammates push me to a new PR and I’m excited for the rest of the season.”
Giroux-Pezzullo admitted that often times practice can get intense with his equally-gifted teammates.
“It’s so competitive,” he said. “Every day we’re just trying to get first every singe rep. It’s really a good time.”
The Rams’ also claimed the girls’ 400m title with senior Alexis Caggiano coming out on top. Caggiano, a runner-up at last year’s meet, was timed in 1:00.01. Like the boys, the podium was populated by RI runners. Finishing second was Moses Brown’s Kathyrn Gauvan in 1:01.74. La Salle’s Kayla Bacon (third, 1:01.96) and Arielle DeMarco (fourth, 1:01.99) took the next two spots.
For Caggiano, this was the La Salle University commit’s first all-out 400m since clocking a PR of 58.93 at the Nike Indoor Nationals in early March. She was pleased with her effort on Friday, but was hoping for more.
“I’m really happy with the first 200 (meters) of my race,” she said. “I wanted to go out comfortable but also fast. And also put the blocks back in. I haven’t been using them since nationals. I feel the first part was really what I wanted to do; just the second part wasn’t what I hoped for and the time wasn’t what I hoped for. But it’s early in the season and I have time to improve.”
The Rams’ Marshall Vernon clocked a state-leading and PR of 1:56.99 in the boys’ 800m, a time that was under the meet record. But he wasn’t thrilled, mostly because his effort came up short in producing a victory.
Logan Walsh of Ludlow was able to hold off the La Salle sophomore down the stretch to win in a MR of 1:56.48. Vernon settled for runner-up honors.
“I don’t feel tired,” he said, just a few minutes after his race. “I came around on the last lap and felt really good, and the kid in front of me was dying off. The kid who eventually won comes past me on the side, I hop in right behind him I go with him. I was right on his outside and pull a Nick Symonds around the bend and just couldn’t lift my legs up. The lactic got to my legs and I couldn’t kick. Aerobically, I feel fine. I think I just got to implement a bit more speed. Hopefully I can get my time down to the 1:54s, 1:53s.”
Vernon, the state indoor 3K and 1,500m winner, is now prepping for a prime showing at the second annual BSR Elite Scholastic Mile on May 3 at Regis College, an event that features some of the best milers in the region. At last year’s event, St. Ray’s alum Devan Kipyego led seven under 4:11.
“The goal for me, I guess, I want to go sub 4:10,’ he said. “It’s a step in the right direction for me to go that fast. I have been working hard for it. I really want to break 4:10. That’s the dream goal for the end of the season. I am really excited for this race. There’s some really, really fast guys.”
Moses Brown teammates Xavier Ohl (sixth, 1:58.37) and Owen Buroker (seventh, 1:59.21) were also under two minutes in the race. The Quakers’ Thomas Walsh was 11th among the 63 entries with a time of 2:02.38.
In the girls’ 800m, Mount St. Charles’ Emmy Belvin earned a spot on the podium by placing sixth with a time of 2:22.57. La Salle’s Mia Bettez was seventh at 2:27.32.
