Three meets, six team champions, and a bunch of winners..
In a nutshell, that about sums up the results of this weekend’s RIIL Class Championships. Over the next two days, Ocean State Running will be providing quick capsules of what to expect when some of our state’s best collide.
Here we preview Class A girls and boys…
Class A Championships – Girls
Day/Time: Saturday at 10 a.m.
Location: Coventry
Teams: Cranston West, East Providence, Woonsocket, Central, Cranston East, Mount Pleasant, North Kingstown, Cumberland, La Salle, Classical, Coventry, North Providence, Barrington, Pilgrim, Hope, Toll Gate
Last year’s results: Cranston West earned the team crown by scoring 163 points. Classical was second with 135.5 points, while Cumberland was third with 79 points.
Athletes/Events To Watch: The hammer could get intense in this meet. It features nation-leader Adelaide Caron of Woonsocket and the next two throwers in the state with Coventry’s Mia Hoskins (163 feet. 8 inches) and Woonsocket’s Bella Piette (160-2). Caron is no doubt the favorite in this one. In four victories this year, her winning throw was further than her next top rival. She unleashed her all-time best of 174-0 at the Sgt. Brian St. Germain Invitational this past weekend and also went 170-plus with a 173-9 effort at the Knights of Columbus Relays on April 5…The javelin features our state’s No. 1 thrower and the overwhelming favorite to win the state crown in two more weeks, Cranston West’s Maia Riccio. The Falcons’ senior, the top returnee from last year’s states with third-place finish, has a top throw of 123-4 from her win at the Classical Classic. Barrington’s Maddie Gill is the only other athlete in the field that has gone further than 100 feet with a seed of 102-4…Look for some top times in the sprinting events with Cranston West’s Ailani Sutherland and La Salle’s Alexis Caggiano our top seeds – Sutherland in the 100m (12.24) and the 200m (25.08) and Caggiano in the 400m (58.42). The two will face each other in the 200m in a race we expect top be close, very close. Caggiano is the No. 2 seed ay 25.16….The 1,500m could certainly create some excitement with Pilgrim’s Keaney Bayha and Toll Gate’s Alison Pankowicz our top seeds. Bayha raced to a PR of 4:41.63 for the 1,500m at this past Saturday’s Battle Roads TC Series #1. Pankowicz has a PR of 4:41.69 from her fourth-place finish at the outdoor states last year. She ran a season best of 4:46.37 to place second at the St. Germain Invite last weekend. Even though she’s entered in the 3K and 800m, too, we expect Bayha to assume the front-runner position and push the pace. That’s just her style. Pankowicz, who is also in the 800m, will more than likely sit back and try and go for the win late in the race. Don’t ignore North Kingstown’s Abbie Tighe. The Skipper frosh has a best of 4:56.34, but is capable of running a lot faster on Saturday. Last week she ran a huge PR of 10:09.88 in the 3,000m at the St. Germain Invite to place second overall. She’s entered in the 3K, but the 1,500mw will be her first of the day… Speaking of the 3K, if she’s focused on a fast time, Cumberland’s Kiley DeFusco could run a low nine-minute effort, possibly break the barrier this weekend. She’s a week removed from her outstanding performance at the Loucks Games where she clocked a big PR for the mile of 4:57.94. She has a 3K best of 10:08.34 for her runner-up finish to Bayha (10:02.08) at the Classical Classic. If Bayha scratches from the 1,500m and/or 800m, we have a race. If not, this one should go to DeFusco. We’ll know early if a fast time is on her mind…Cranston West’s Reece Vitale could walk away with three goal medals on Saturday. She’s the No. 1 seed in the triple jump (35-10.5), 100m hurdles (15.64) and 300m hurdles (46.59). In all three events, she ranks No. 3 in the state.
Team Outlook: This is not a typo. We think there is at least six teams that have a chance at coming out on top with Barrington, North Kingstown, Cranston West, Classical, Cumberland and La Salle all legit threats to get it done on the Knotty Oakers’ home turf.
***
Class A Championships – Boys
Day/Time: Saturday at 10 a.m.
Location: Coventry
Teams: Central, Mount Pleasant, East Providence, Woonsocket, Cranston West, Cranston East, Cumberland, Hope, Toll Gate, North Kingstown, Coventry, Pilgrim, La Salle, Bishop Hendricken
Last year’s results: Bishop Hendricken amassed 254 points to win the team title, more than twice as much as runner-up La Salle. The Rams finished with 104.5 points. Cumberland was third with 84.5 points.
Athletes/Events To Watch: The hammer throw could provide a glimpse of what to expect at the State Meet in the next two weeks. The top four athletes in the state rankings will be matched up against each other this weekend with Hendricken’s Matt Giuliano (215-3), Woonsocket’s Shamrock Thoun (214-8), Hendricken’s Derek Goll (214-2) and Coventry’s Zack DelSasso (209-1)….Look for the 100m dash to come down to a possible lean at the finish, just like it did at the St. Germain Invite. Why? Because the 1-2 finishers from that meet will be back on the line with Central’s Elijah Gardea and Cranston West’s Alonzo Parker-Sharpe schedule to answer the gun. At this past weekend’s meet, Gardea got the best of his rival with both timed in an identical 10.83…La Salle’s Marshall Vernon is the state-leader in the 3,000m, 1,500m and the 800m. On Saturday, he’s just entered in the 3K. That tells us one thing. The Rams’ sophomore is going for it. Vernon will have his eyes set on a PR performance and a possible sub 8:30 this weekend. The gifted sophomore nearly went under that milestone with an 8:30.18 for the 3K en route to a 9:01.62 for 3,200m at the Glenn B. Loucks Games last weekend. The next three seeds all don the Hendricken singlet with Will Olson (8:54.99), Jack Moretta (8:55.73) and Sam Zabbo (9:01.98) expecting to score big points for the Hawks in their quest for another team title…The 200m could be a down-to-the-wire affair with La Salle’s Garrett Giroux-Pezzullo (22.02), Parker-Sharpe (22.30) and Gardea (22.47) expected to duke it out. Giuroux is not entered in the 400m, a race he won last week at the St. Germain Invite with his first sub-50. He will be the anchor for the Rams mega-talented 4x400m squad, which owns a best of 3:22.29 from the Penn Relays Carnival. That’s a time that’s seven seconds faster than No. 2 seed Hendricken. Could this race be the difference-maker in the team competition between the two rivals?
Team Outlook: Unlike last year, we expect this one to be close, real close between Hendricken and La Salle, the two squads that we expect will be battling for it all on Saturday. The Rams get a slight edge, but we think could come down to the final event, the 4x400m relay. La Salle has strength in multiple events and can score at least 90 points in the distance, sprints and jumping events. Where the Hawks can score considerably more points than the Rams is the throwing events.
