Kiley DeFusco has never been to The TRACK at New Balance, the lightning-fast oval in Boston where PRs often come in bunches. When the Cumberland High senior arrived there on Saturday for the inaugural Beantown Winter Classic, she had one simple plan for the seeded section of the girls’ mile – “Go out as fast as I can and see how long I could hold it.”
She did, and it proved successful for the determined runner.
In a race she took control of right from the gun, DeFusco achieved gold in record fashion. The Clipper standout established a new school mark with a state-leading 5 minutes, 3.16 seconds. Defusco ran relatively even splits, and made sure to put the race away on the last lap by blazing to a final 200m of 34.41, her fastest spilt of the eight-lapper.
While she finished a solid sixth at the state meet this past fall, DeFusco is coming off what she considered “a tough cross-country season.” Right now, things are going just as planned on the indoor surface, perhaps a little better.
Earlier in the week, DeFusco ran the state’s No. 1 time this season with an indoor best of 4:43.40 for the 1,500-meter run in a dual meet at the PCTA fieldhouse.
“I just have been working really hard to get back where I’m feeling like I should be,” she said. “I am super happy with how I’m doing right now.”
The Clippers had two other runners finish among the top 10 in the race, also achieving all-time best at the meet. Junior Charli McCue was ninth with a time of 5:18.04. Senior teammate Rose Tuomisto was right behind, taking tenth among the 96 finishers in 5:18.44.
As expected, West Warwick’s gifted sprinters Lisa and Xenia Raye claimed the top two spots in both the 55m dash and 200m. Both raced to season-best performances in the respective events. Lisa broke the tape with times of 6.91 and 24.23, while Xenia was timed in 7.09 and 24.62.
The sister duo came into the meet ready to explode. The University of Georgia commits admitted they were somewhat motivated by what they considered were decent performances in their first meet of the winter campaign two weeks ago, the Boston University Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener. At the Dec. 7 meet, Lisa was second in the collegiate 60m (7.58) and first in the 200m (24.55) and Xenia placed third in the short dash (7.71) and fourth for the one-lapper (25.0).
“My 200m time (at BU) was decent but I knew I could run faster,” Xenia said. “We worked really hard and ran longer distance during practice this whole week. When I went out there I wasn’t as winded. I wasn’t as tired.”
Promising ninth-grader Francesca Justin of St. Raphael Academy was victorious in the Freshmen 55m where she broke the tape in 7.46. The Saints talented underclassman moved up to No. 4 in the state rankings with her latest effort, a best by tenth of a second. She was also third in the Invitational Club 200m with a time of 26.76.
While it’s her first year of high school, Justin is no stranger to track and field. She’s already endured much success as a youth, competing for the Providence Cobras track club. As an eighth-grader last year, she ran bests of 12.51 for the 100m, 25.72 for the 200m and 7.57 for the 55m.
A good jump out of the blocks proved to be the difference on Saturday.
“I have been practicing on working on my starts,” she said. “My starts are what slows me down.”
In the boys’ mile, East Greenwich’s David Hayes was second overall with a PR of 4:29.74. Hayes went through the 800m mark at 2:12.59.
“I was trying to qualify for nationals in this race. I gave it all I had,” Hayes said. “Sub 4:30 is amazing. I am grateful for what I’ve run so far.”
Cumberland’s Payton Goulding was second in the shot with an indoor best of 38 feet,. 5.75 inches.
Other top performances included a ninth-place finish by Moses Brown’s Skylar Maxwell in the 600m (1:44.12) and a seventh-place showing from Pilgrim’s Hunter Schobel in the long jump (21-2).
