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 B girls and boys…
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Class B Championships – Girls
Day/Time: Sunday at 9 a.m.
Location: West Warwick
Teams: Chariho, West Warwick, Tolman, Lincoln, Ponaganset, Mount Hope, Shea, Portsmouth, East Greenwich, Johnston, South Kingstown, Central Falls, Smithfield, Westerly
Last year’s results: South Kingstown won its fourth straight title with a 120-86 win over eventual state champion West Warwick. East Greenwich was third with 82 points.
Athletes/Events To Watch: We’re estimating that West Warwick has the ability to score between 110 to 115 points on Sunday, a total that could equate to a team crown. More than half that total will come from the Xenia and Lisa Raye. Lisa is the top seed in four events with times of 11.59 seconds for the 100-meter dash, 23.26 for the 200m, 14.45 for the 100m hurdles and 43.89 in the 300m hurdles. Xenia is No. 1 in the 400m (55.1) and the two seed behind her younger sister in the 100m (11.96) and 200m (24.99). She also runs a leg on the Wizards’ second-ranked 4x100m relay (51.81). Individually, we don’t expect much to change as the Raye sisters are often rock solid when it’s championship time…actually ALL the time. Keep an eye on a few possible state marks in some of these events. Lisa owns three of them in her respective events and is only .01 from the 100m HH record to make it four.. In that event, she’ll be pushed by Sierra Thompson, the versatile senior from South Kingstown…Chariho’s Erin vonHousen is the top seed in the three events – the 3K, 1,500m and 800m. Continuing a stellar senior campaign that has featured several highlights, we expect her to sweep all three. She has seeds of 10:05 for the 3K, 4:46 for the 1,500m and 2:15 for the 800m…The hammer throw matches Ponaganset’s Gianna Decesare and Smithfield’s Taylor McGinness, who rank No. 4 and No. 5 in the state. Decasare has a best of 154 feet, 11 inches, which she did to finish third at the Sgt. Brian St. Germain Invitational last weekend. McGinnis was fifth in that meet with her current best of 153-3. At No. 3, is Westerly sophomore Lorelai Sacco with a seed of 148-0…Chariho’s Weeko Thompson is favored to score 20 valuable points for the Chargers in the discus (116-2) and the shot (38-7.75), two events she holds the No. 1 seed. In the discus, her top competitor is Westerly’s Madison Pellegrino (110-8). For the shot, the two seed is Decasare (35-0)…Look for Mount Hope sophomore Thea Jackson to make an impact. She’s the top seed in the long jump (17-8.75) and the triple jump (35-11). She’s also expected to score high points in the 100m (12.17) and the 200m (26.17), events where she is ranked No. 3.
Team Outlook: This meet could come down to the final few events. The teams we expect to be fighting for that top spot are West Warwick and Chariho. Powered by the Raye sisters, the Wizards are dominate in the sprint events, while vonHousen gives the Chargers a definitive edge over their rival in the distance events. This one could get very interesting, and exciting, too.
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Class B Championships – Boys
Day/Time: Sunday at 9 a.m.
Location: West Warwick
Teams: West Warwick, Tolman, Barrington, North Providence, Lincoln, Chariho, Classical, Ponaganset, Shea, Central Falls, Mount Hope, Johnston, Smithfield, Portsmouth, East Greenwich, Westerly
Last year’s results: Barrington showed its mettle with a dominating 159-81.5 victory over second-place Portsmouth. Classical was third with 81.5 points. For the Eagles, it was their 19th title in the school history and first since winning three straight between 2013-15.
Athletes/Events To Watch: We could have an intense competition in the high jump. The field includes three leapers with seeds of 6-4 – Barrington’s Shea Parrish, Portsmouth’s Aidan Chen and Barrington’s Chucky Potter. Four more athletes in this event have cleared six feet or higher…Expect the 110m hurdles to come down to a battle between Barrington’s Ethan Knight and Bobby Wind. The Eagles’ teammates have been back-and-forth throughout the spring. Wind took last week’s title at the St. Germain Invite and Knight came out on top a week earlier at the Eastern Division Championships. Wind holds the top time in the state with a PR of14.22 from his victory at last month’s Classical Classic, a race he finished ahead of his teammate. Knight has a best of 14.27 from his win at the divisional meet. Both have indicated a lofty goal of challenging the state record of 13.98. Could they be close this weekend? We can forget about Portsmouth’s Landon Rodrigues in this race, too. He’s another hurdler that has gone under 15 seconds with a best of 14.96…On the subject of hurdles, the 300m IH should also provide some excitement. Knight is the state-leader in this event after winning last week’s St. Germain meet in a best of 38.67. Rodrigues is at No. 2 with a time of 39.36 and Wind is the third seed at 40.34. The state record is 38.13. Knight has aspirations of taking down that mark, too. There’s a chance it could happen on Sunday…The 800m could come down to the final stretch. Classical’s Thomas Breen is the No. 1 seed after clocking a PR of 1:55.27 to capture his specialty at the St. Germain Invite. Westerly’s Robbie Wade, the two seed, placed third in that race with an all-time best of 1:56.53…In the shot, indoor state champion Tyler Durang will be looking to unleash his first 50-footer of the outdoor season. The Lincoln senior owns the top seed at 48-2. Right behind him is Barrington’s talented thrower, Joe Adams, with a best of 48-0. Smithfield’s Ben Cicchitelli is the third seed at 47-3.. Durang (204-0) and Adams (199-5) are also the two and three seeds in what should be a competitive hammer throw. Ponaganset’s Owen Allen occupies the No.1 seed with a best of 205-9.
Team Outlook: From the throws, to the jumps, to the running events, Barrington has all the bases covered and will secure its second straight crown on Sunday. Portsmouth is a solid candidate for the runner-up spot, while Classical, East Greenwich and Lincoln could be battling for the bronze
