Two things were further proven when a few of our schools and athletes competed in Attleboro at this past weekend’s Highland Park Invitational.
East Greenwich is a team that should not be overlooked when listing high-level boys’ squads that should be fighting for those top positions come championship time and Narragansett’s Cole Francis continues to be a legit threat when talking about individual glory at the State Meet.
Francis became the third from the state to win the boys’ race in the meet’s five-year history with a winning time of 16 minutes, 4.54 seconds. It turned into a solo effort for the Mariners senior, who posted a 20-plus second win over East Greenwich’s Luke Allen. The Avenger junior improved by one place over last year’s third-place finish, taking runner-up honors in 16:25.15.
With no challengers in the closing stages of the race, Francis became the sixth runner (boy or girl) from RI, and seventh overall (EG’s Reese Fahys won twice) to win at the Highland Park Invite with a time of 16:04.54. Had he had a someone on his heels late in the 5K, there’s no doubt he could have challenged the meet record of 15:57.1, set by former La Salle standout Jack Casey in 2021.
As for East Greenwich. the Avengers claimed the team title by scoring 39 points, 28 more than a very good Catholic Memorial (MA) team. This fall, EG has one of its biggest cross-country squads in school history with nearly 40 signups. The quality in those numbers are showing. At the season-opening Injury Fund Carnival, the Avengers beat runner-up La Salle, 25-39, in the Skee Carter Race. With all performances combined from the meet, the Avengers would have placed second overall behind Bishop Hendricken, the favorite for the state crown in November. We do understand that some teams didn’t go all out and/or were missing some of their stars for the Aug. 31 meet. But with their top four runners clocking times between 16:25 and 17:12 at the meet, it was still an impressive performance and preview of what to expect when the championship season kicks into gear. Behind Allen at Highland, also solidifying top finishes were senior Brody Fahys (fifth, 16:42.82), junior David Hayes (16:45.90), and sophomore Andrew Parisi (11th, 17:21.41).
Classical’s Tai Liebmann (seventh, 16:52.01) and Toll Gate’s Joshua Maynard (ninth, 16:58.97) were also among the top 10 at Saturday’s competition.
How about the Hawks on Saturday? Bishop Hendricken didn’t send its varsity squad to the meet, but its talented ninth-graders made the trip and easily captured the Freshmen Race with a low 21 points. Catholic Memorial was a distance second with 88 points. The Hawks’ Oliver Redmond was the individual winner, breaking the tape in 10:16.31 for the 3K distance. Hendricken had all five of its scoring runners in the first eight positions.
In the girls’ varsity race, East Greenwich’s Emily Clarke (sixth, 20:53.24) and Toll Gate’s Mea Ayotte (eighth, 21:35.09) cracked the top 10 for the Ocean State. Classical had a 1-2 finish from Fiona Hughes (12:55.88) and Kate Howlett (13:02.54) in the Freshmen race.
For results from Highland Park, click HERE. For additional photos, click HERE.
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The dual-meet season is only in its second week and already we have a little drama on the dirt trails. In what could be a prelude of what to expect at the State Meet, Portsmouth’s Sean Gray and La Salle’s Marshall Vernon engaged in a fierce battle in their Metropolitan Division meet on Sept. 9. Gray got the best of his rival in this one with a course record of 15:30.0 for the 5K course at Glen Park. Vernon also dipped under 16 minutes, finishing at 15:51.40. Gray and the Patriots edged the Rams, 27-28, for the team victory. We can’t recall the last time that’s happened between the two squads. On the girls’ side, Portsmouth’s Allie Kaull followed up her big win at the Injury Fund a little more than a week earlier with a dominating triumph at the meet. She crossed the line in 18:45.70, nearly 400m ahead of runner-up Carolina Terlato of La Salle (second, 20:11.70).
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Starting next week, we will continue our HOKA Athletes of the Week. Please keep note that moving forward the AofW will not necessarily be the athletes that had the fastest, highest of furthest performance of the week. At times, we’ll be making our selection based on other factors, such as team’s success, level of competition, records, etc.
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Registration for the Ocean State XC Invitational closes on Monday, Sept. 23 at 10 a.m. The popular meet, which is sponsored by HOKA and Marathon Sports, will be held of Friday, Sept. 27 (middle school races) and Saturday, Sept. 28 (high school races) at Goddard State Park. In addition to Rhode Island, among the states that will have representation at the meet are California, Utah, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. For more information, including registration, go to the meet’s website at oceanstatexc.com or click HERE.
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There’s a plethora of out-of-state competitions that our schools will be participating in the next few months. If your teams are making a trip beyond the borders, please let us know. Send any info. to us at smazzone5@gmail.com. Photos, short write-ups, etc., are always helpful, too. Thanks in advance.
