A 20-second PR, a seven-second best, a few school records, and five new state-leaders.
That’s just a sampling of what occurred at Saturday’s RITCA Invitational.
You can tell the championship season is here!
On the girls’ side, two state bests happened away from the oval. Classical’s Gifty Bediako improved on her previous No. 1 in the shot by nearly four inches with a PR of 42-11. In the weight throw, Toll Gate’s Vanessa Jones overtook the top spot held by Bediako with a nation No. 3 of 55-4.5.
Pilgrim shot-putter Brandon Wolfdensen continued to stake his claim as the favorite for next month’s State Meet, improving on his RI best with a toss of 58-5. Barrington’s Henry Stockwell raced to a state No. 1 in the 600-meter run, clocking a triumphant 1 minute, 23.97 seconds.
Hendricken’s Colby Flynn was dominant in the 1,500m. The talented sophomore took charge from the gun and pulled away midway into the race en route to a winning time of 4:05.06. Flynn led a 1-2-3 sweep by the Hawks with junior Fred Russell (second, 4:09.24) and senior Jack Moretta (third, 4:10.24) taking the next two spots.
Flynn hit his opening 800m in 2:08.
“I went out trying to go like four (minutes) flat, if I could,” Flynn said. “I just tried to pace it out to see if anyone would come with me. I hit my splits pretty consistently, up until the 2:08. Then I got caught up running alone. (La Salle’s) Marshall (Vernon) was saying how hard it is to lead a mile on your own. I didn’t know how true that was. It was a hard experience, but it was good.”
In a close race, Portsmouth’s Allie Kaull came out on top with a PR of 4:48.14. Kaull held off La Salle’s Alyssa Parenteau (second, 4:49.73) and North Smithfield’s Julia Dowling (third, 4:49.95).
“Today was kind of like a no-pressure meet.” Kaull said. “I just kind of wanted to get some speed in my legs. I think that definitely helped with me getting a PR, just relax and let my body feel it out. I just took the race and never looked back.”
Woonsocket’s Shamrock Thoun once again came less than a foot from 80 feet in the boys’ weight. The nation’s top thrower exceeded 79 feet for the third time this season with heave of 79-0.5. Finishing second was North Kingstown’s Jack Harmon at 76-3.5.
A few state-leaders maintained their consistency with victories in their respective events with Bishop Hendricken’s Jeremy Seidi taking the boys’ 55m dash (6.57), Barrington’s Bobby Wind placing first in the boys’ 55m hurdles (7.64), La Salle capturing the boys’ 4x400m (3:28.10), Portsmouth’s Aidan Chen claiming the boys’ high jump (6-0) and Barrington’s Helena Hyde solidifying the girls’ high jump title (5-2).
La Salle’s Alex Campbell broke his own school record for the fourth time this season in the pole vault, soaring to a state-leading 14-3.5.
