Busy is good, right?
Absolutely, especially when it comes to track & field! With the month of January starting to come to a close, we are certainly getting to that time of year when the meets start to multiply at an accelerated rate. This past Saturday, we had 2,000-plus at annual East Coast Invitational at the PCTA field house (complete results). Also on that day, we had a few of our athletes competing at the GBTC Invitational at Harvard University.
And, beginning late last week and continuing to this Tuesday, our schools statewide have been competing in their respective divisional championships, which for the first time included the same schools facing each other in the boys’ and girls’ meets. Kudos to our team champions in those competitions.
In their respective meets…
La Salle Academy swept the titles in the Dwyer Division meet with the boys rolling to a 256-61 victory over second-place Toll Gate and the girls beating Moses Brown, 193-103. For the Sullivan Division, the St. Raphael Academy boys edged North Kingstown, 154.5-149, while the girls from North Kingstown powered past Ponaganset, 201-56. Hendricken and Classical were the winners in the Bayha Division. The Hawks had a convincing 227-69 decision over Classical on the boys’ side. It was Classical for the girls with the Purple cruising to a 156-95 win over West Warwick. Finally on Tuesday night, we had the Headley Division. Defending state champion Barrington came out on top in the boys’ meet, handedly defeating Cumberland, 228-77. The Clippers returned the favor in the girls’ competition with a 144-88 decision over the Eagles.
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It was a record-breaking and triumphant weekend for Lisa Raye at the VA Showcase. The West Warwick junior won all three races she competed in at the three-day meet, one that attracts a plethora of national-caliber talent. On Saturday, she broke her own state marks in the 55-meter dash (6.81 seconds) and the 200m (23.39). The next day, she added the 60m record to her long list of RI marks, clocking 7.26. En route to that title, she passed through the 55m checkpoint in 6.77, another record. Check out her 60m race below.
By the way, two weeks after her state record of 19 feet, 7.75 inches in the long jump, Raye had another 19-footer at the Bayha Division Championships on Monday. She went 19-0 there. In addition, Raye had her fourth sub-7 of the season in the 55m dash, winning the short dash in 6.91.
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Narragansett’s Cole Francis and Pilgrim’s Keaney Bayha were among the entries at the GBTC Invite. Representing the Narragansett Track Club, Francis raced to an all-time best of 1:55.77 to place fourth in the Invitational 800m. Bayha won the Invitational Mile with a PR of 4:58.67. It was her second straight sub five-minute effort. She went under the milestone for the first time on Jan. 8 when she placed seventh overall at the Millrose Games Trials in New York City.
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Former Moses Brown great Sophia Gorriaran was simply lights out in a 600-meter race at Boston University’s Battle in Beantown. In a solo effort this past Saturday, the Harvard sophomore blazed to a winning time of 1:28.10, five-plus seconds ahead of her closest pursuer (see video below). In case you forgot, Gorriaran has actually run faster in this event. She twice went under 1:28 as a high schooler, clocking a best of 1:27.51 at the Millrose Games her senior year in 2023. A year earlier as a junior, she shocked the competition at the New Balance Games in NYC with a time of 1:27.70. Gorriaran is currently No. 3 in the NCAA rankings for the 800m with a season best of 2:02.74, a time that placed her second at BU’s Sharon Colyear-Danville Season-Opener on Dec. 7.
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For the third straight weekend, the PCTA field house will be hosting a statewide competition. Beginning at noon on Saturday is the annual RITCA Invitational. The state qualifier will feature a full slate of events. As usual, Marathon Sports will be out in the lobby selling all kinds of cool merchandise, including meet T-shirts.
