The final qualifiers of the season before this weekend’s State Meets were held this past Saturday. As usual, the Bishop Hendricken Invitational and Mount Pleasant Invitational didn’t disappoint with a number of athletes showcasing their talent before the Big Dance.
From those meets comes our latest HOKA Athletes of the Week. Congratulations to Classical’s Thomas Breen and Cumberland’s Grace Bleyer, our respective male and female recipients of this week’s honor.
Breen proved he’s ready to contend for a state 800-meter title. The gifted senior improved on his best and state-leader by more than a second at the Hawk Invite. Breen withstood challenges from Narragansett’s Cole Francis and Moses Brown’s Eli Ziegler to capture his specialty with an impressive 1:53.96. Later in the meet, Breen ran the anchor leg on his team’s winning 4x400m squad that was timed in a state No. 2 of 3:26.37,
The Clippers’ Bleyer became our state-leader in the long jump with her victory at the Mount Pleasant Invite. The talented senior moved up to the top spot with an all-time best of 17 feet, 9.5 inches. In a close competition, she was less than a inch ahead of the Wheeler School freshman Autumn Allen, who grabbed second at 17-8.75.
