How about our small state this past weekend at Nike Cross Regional – Northeast? It was quite the day.
Beginning with the boys’ competition, we had two of our runners qualify for the Nike Cross Nationals (NXN) in two weeks with La Salle’s Marshall Vernon and Portsmouth’s Sean Gary earning the trip to Portland, Ore., by finishing fourth and sixth, respectively, in the Championship race. The last, and only other time that happened was 2015 when La Salle teammates DJ Principe (third, 15:52.3) and Matt Bouthillette (fifth,15:55.4) were among the top five. North Kingstown alum Sam Toolin, a freshman at the time, led briefly near the midway point and placed a gutsy ninth overall at 16:07.0.
Speaking of underclassman from RI sharing the pace-setting duties, as we reported earlier on OSR, Hendricken sophomore Coly Flynn made the bold move at NXR-NE of pushing the pace near the crest of the hill for more than 600 meters. “I kind of figured I’d go in front of the pack and not have to trip over everyone’s feet.” he said. “It end up killing me in the end because I got passed by a bunch of people.” Yes, but not really. It was 11 runners to be exact that went by Flynn in the second half. He was 12th overall and the second underclassmen to cross the line. The Hawk standout was just behind sophomore Theo Opperman of the Nittany Track & Field Club, who was 11th in 16:06.7. You could say that Gray and Vernon did their part in ensuring the pace was honest as both also led at some point. It was pretty cool to see. It does makes you think of the possibilities of next year when the talented trio will be coming back. Could we have three from the Ocean State qualifying for nationals in 2025?
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Kudos again to Cumberland for its third-place finish in the girls’ Championship race. The Clippers just missed the the top-two automatic qualifiers for the trip out to NXN, but there’s still a slight chance the Clippers could earn a spot on the line. After the California state meet this Saturday, the final qualifying meet for Nike, four at-large teams will be chosen. The criteria includes performance at their respective NXR meets, previous high-level performances leading up to the regionals and head-to-head wins over auto qualifiers. Clubs that placed third or fourth in the Championship race at each NXN regional meet are put into the pool for consideration. If the Clippers get picked, it won’t be the first time a RI squad earned an at-large bid. Back in 2014, the La Salle girls were chosen after taking third overall. Fingers crossed it happens again.
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Next up is the final cross-country meet of the season for our high-schoolers, the Foot Locker Nationals. For the second straight year, the FL-Northeast Regionals will be held at Franklin Park in Boston, The meet is this Saturday and includes athletes from Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington D.C., and U.S. citizens in overseas Military Installations. The top 10 individuals in the boys’ and girls’ races earn the trip to San Diego for the national meet, to be held on Dec. 14. The last time someone from RI qualified for the meet was 2017 when South Kingstown’s Ellie Lawler qualified by placing eighth at the regionals. The three-time state champion followed that effort by earning All American honors by taking 15th at the nationals in 18:11.90. It was her second time qualifying for the nationals and making All American. As a sophomore, she was also eighth at the regionals in 2015. She was 14th overall at the nationals in 17:56.6. Lawler qualified for the NXN as a ninth-grader, placing fourth overall. Once the entries are released, we’ll feature some of the top entries from the state.
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It’s kind of amazing the talent out there at the collegiate level. At this past weekend’s NCAA Division 1 Cross-Country Championships, 117 runners broke 30 minutes in Wisconsin for the 10K race. One of those runners happens to have local ties. Finishing 93rd with a time of 29:51.9 was Iowa State sophomore and former St. Raphael great Devan Kipyego.
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Yes the indoor season is just around the corner with the RITCA Injury Fund Carnival kicking things off on Dec. 7. As we usual do, we’ll prep you for the upcoming winter campaign with our previews of all the events. Stay tuned.
