Just .2 mph on the wind gage prevented another state record for Lisa Raye.
But the West Warwick sophomore was still able to collect a pair of national titles in the sprinting events at this past week’s USTATF National Junior Olympic Championships.
The New Balance National 100- and 200-meter champion easily captured her specialties in the age 15-16 division. In the 100m, Raye scorched the field with a wind-aided 11.16 seconds. She also took the 200m in 23.20. Her effort in the the shorter race, where the wind gage was at 2.2 mph (legal limit is 2.0), Raye ran her fastest time this year. Her previous best was 11.21 (2.8 mph) from the NBN. Her current state mark is 11.26 from the finals of New Balance.
Raye was one of three Rhode Island athletes to strike it rich at the national meet, held Texas A&M’s EB Cushing Stadium.
This year’s outdoor state titlist Matt Guiliano of Bishop Hendricken won the hammer in the 17-18 division with a toss of 211-5. Exeter/West Greenwich’s Owen Spira was the silver medalist with a distance of 203-1. The Ocean State also went 1-2 in the 15-16 category with Woonsocket’s Shamrock Thoun (first, 192-8) and East Greenwich’s Ryan Evans (second,191-3) occupying those positions.
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This past weekend’s Blessing of the Fleet 10M Road Race was its biggest one yet with 4,000 signups for the 52nd annual event. Congrats to Hendricken alum Jack McManus on his second straight victory at the Narragansett race. McManus, who is in his final year of eligibility at Butler University, turned Friday’s race into a very fast time trial. He was never challenged from the opening gun and finished with a sub-5 clocking of 49:43 for the scenic 10-miler, two minutes ahead of his closest pursuer.
We had a chance to talk with McManus about his race. He admitted that he was aiming for the course record of 49:28 (set two years ago by former Cumberland High standout Ben Drezek), but the heat kind of took its toll, especially the mile-long stretch on Route 108 between the fifth and sixth mile.
“That was probably the most difficult portion,” he said. “It’s not the hilliest, but out in the sun with no breeze, it’s the hardest.”
The party-like environment at the popular race was evident once again with hundreds of spectators lining the streets.
“It’s kind of awesome,” McManus said. “They got the hoses going, the sprinklers going…It’s always fun to see people you haven’t seen in years.”
Just like at last year’s race, which he won in 50:49, the former Hawk star got a little boost when he saw a familiar face out on the course, Hendricken coach Jim Doyle.
“I saw him at like mile four,” he said. “He gave me a water bottle with electrolytes in it, which was awesome. He’s the best.”
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Two more staple events will be held the next two weekends, both that benefit youth and high school track & field athletes. This Sunday on Matunuck Beach Road in South Kingstown is the annual Run4Kerri Road Race. As its website states, “The race was created to preserve the memory of the late Kerri Lynn Bessette, who passed away at 19 years old in April 2021.” Bessette, who was a former South Kingstown runner, succumbed to complication from bacterial meningitis as a freshman at LaSalle University in Philadelphia. In honor he race yearly gives out memorial scholarships in honor of Bessette to track & field athletes from South Kingstown as well as providing funds for the Narragansett Youth Track Series. For more information on the Run4Kerri race and to register, click HERE.
Just a week later on Sunday, Aug. 11, is the 16th annual Bobby Doyle Five-Mile Summer Classic in Narragansett. Besides attracting top-notch competition to the starting line, proceeds from the race support the Bobby Doyle Scholarships and Youth Running Fund, which as devoted to enhancing and supporting high school and youth running in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. In its previous 15 years, the Doyle Classic had given out more than $70,000 in scholarships. Save a few bucks and register online before midnight on Aug. 9. To register online, click HERE. For more information on the race, go the race’s website at bobbydoyleraces.org.
