It’s only a matter of time before we get our first real glimpse of some of the top teams and athletes this cross-country season. The Injury Fund Carnival on Aug. 31 will give us a good sampling of what to expect from our top returnees. By the midway point, and with a few in-state and out-of-state competitions under their belt, the picture will become clearer.
The next few weeks, Ocean State Running will be preview how we expect things will transpire on the dirt trails. We’re going to break it down by classes (Class A, Class B and Class C). Here we feature Class C boys.
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CLASS B BOYS’ CROSS-COUNTRY PREVIEW
Teams: Juanita Sanchez, Burrillville, Rogers, South Kingstown, Westerly, North Smithfield, Tiverton, Narragansett, Exeter/West Greenwich, St. Raphael Academy, Moses Brown, Blackstone Valley Prep, Scituate, Prout School, Paul Cuffee, Providence Country Day
Top Returnees: Cole Francis, Narragansett; Noah Roberts, Westerly; Alex Ramos, St. Raphael Academy, Noah Vanhorn, Saint Raphael Academy, Arthur Ferris, Burrillville
Teams To Watch: Saint Raphael Academy, South Kingstown, Burrillville, Prout School
Outlook: The class of the field is Francis, the defending champion. The Mariner senior won last year’s race by a 14-second margin over St. Raphael’s JJ Rocha, who has graduated. The next two finishers (Moses Brown’s Eli Ziegler and Mount St. Charles’ Ethan McFadden), have also graduated. That leaves Westerly’s Noah Roberts as the next top returnee. He was sixth in 2023, behind East Greenwich’s Luke Allen. The Avengers, who had three in the top 10, have moved up to Class B after winning nine of the last 13 team titles. Look for Francis to pick up where he left off. After winning the class title, the Mariner standout placed sixth at the State Meet, a race he was among the favorites to win. No doubt that will be his goal this fall along with a second straight crown in Class C. Last year he also had top finishes at the Ocean State Invitational (sixth), Avenger Invitational (first) and the Great American X-C Festival in North Carolina (30th), where he blazed the fast 5K layout in a PR of 15:34.20. On the track, Francis accumulated a plethora of PRs last year in races ranging from the 600m to the two mile. In the longer races, he owns best of 4:18 for the mile and 8:44 for the 3K. He’ll be tough to beat. Roberts is a legit top-3 runner this fall. He also has the speed to get it done in the closing stages with bests of 1:24 for the 600m and 51 seconds for the 400m. His best last year for the 5K distance was 16:48.77 from the Avenger Invitational. Keep an eye on Ferris. He showed big improvement during the spring where he clocked a best of 9:23 for the 3K.
Losing just one runner from a team that finished second to East Greenwich last year, St. Raphael Academy gets the favorite nod here with Vanhorn and Ferris leading the way. The tandem were ninth and ninth and tenth, respectively, at the 2023 meet. South Kingstown, Burrillville and the Prout School are among the other top squads. All three could make things interesting up front.
