It all comes down to this weekend.
The best of the best. The cream of the crop. The elite.
Call it what you will. They’ll all be at the PCTA field house. They’ll all be ready to go at Saturday’s RIIL State Track & Field Championships. As we often say, “Folks, is doesn’t get any better than this!”
(Above photo by Sterling Vernon @rhodeandtrack)
Over the next few days, we’ll preview our top individuals and teams that will be part of the Best Show in Town. Who has the best chance to earn that coveted gold medal? Who are the others we feel can contend this weekend? We’ll give it our best shot with our predictions of the day’s happenings.
Ready, set, go!!! It’s time to get started!!!
Here we feature the boys’ hurdles and sprinting events
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55m
This one should could down to the wire. A lean at the finish, perhaps? While there could be a surprise from someone else, we’re picking three that we feel have the best chance to come out on top – Hendricken’s Jeremy Siedi, La Salle’s Jalen Moseley and Barrington’s Patrick Trainor. Siedi is the only returnee from last year’s season-laden finals, placing third overall. The Hawk junior posted the fastest time among the trio with a best of 6.49 seconds, an effort that earned him the bronze at the Yale Track Classic. In their only match-up this season, Siedi edged Moseley at the RITCA Invitational by one hundredth of a season with his winning time of 6.57. The Rams’ talented sophomore, who’s also ranked No. 1 in the long jump and No. 2 in the 55m hurdles, has only competed in the short dash three times, beginning with a victory and PR of 6.56 in a league meet on Jan. 21. Along with his runner-up finish to Siedi at the RITCA Invite, Moseley also captured the individual title at the Class A meet in 6.66, a meet that his Hendricken rival did not compete in. You can’t count out the Eagles’ Trainor, too. He was the Class B winner, clocking a PR of 6.58 to take his race by nearly tenths of a second. He has not faced Siedi and Moseley this winter during an unbeaten season in the 55m. It will be interesting.
300m
We’re posting this preview before the scratch period early Thursday night, so we might have to make a slight change. For now, we’re assuming it is what it is. The top two seeds are La Salle teammates Garrett Giroux-Pezzullo and Thaden Leomensah. Giroux-Pezzullo has a seed listed at 35.46, although he has run faster this season with a PR of 34.87 from his runner-up finish on the banked oval of last month’s Yale Track Classic. Leomensah is the only other runner under 36 seconds with his best of 35.72. Here’s where we might have to make a change. Last week, the La Salle senior clocked a state-leading 1:23.02 at the Last Chance Qualifier, a time that moved him ahead of Barrington’s Henry Stockwell, who is now No. 2 at 1:23.97. Third on the list is La Salle’s Eamon O’Brien (1:24.14). In a sure-to-be battle with the Eagles for the team title, will Leomensah scratch out of the 300m to concentrate on the 600m and the 4x400m relay at the end of the meet or will he run all three? In addition to Giroux-Pezzullo, the Rams also have Moseley in this race. He ranks fourth behind Barrington’s Bobby Wind (36.52) with a top time of 35.56. We’re guessing Leomensah does attempt the grueling 600m-300m double and is a question mark for the 4x400m as the Rams have several more that can fill the gap in his absence and still win. In the relay, La Salle is the No. 1 seed by six seconds. With all that being said, this is a race that could potentially seal the deal for La Salle with Giroux-Pezzullo the favorite for his first individual state crown.
600m
This one will come down to the closing meters of the race with at least three, potentially more, still in contention as they round the final turn for the last stretch. Leomensah, Stockwell and O’Brien all have a chance to strike it rich at the end. There’s also Westerly’s Noah Roberts, who clocked a PR of 1:24.24 to take the Class C crown. Roberts is the top returnee from last year’s race where he placed fourth overall.
55m HH
The favorite in this race is the Eagles’ Wind. The Barrington hurdler has been unbeaten in his specialty, including winning out-of-state at the Yale Track Classic (Jan. 10-11), the Beantown Winter Classic (Dec. 21-22), and the Marathon Sports Winter Classic (Dec. 29). He’ll once again being eyeing the 21-year-old state mark of 7.41 held by former Hope great Yudehweh “Pete” Gbaa. Wind ran a PR of 7.48 at Yale and 7.49 at the Beantown. His top time inside PCTA is 7.50. The Barrington senior, a runner-up to teammate Ethan Knight at last year’s states, will get his biggest challenge from Moseley, who was just two hundredths of a second behind him at the RITCA Invitational last month with a best of 7.66. Hendricken’s Tristan Jordan (7.83) and Elijah Guertin (7.88), Rogers’ Jakari Medina (7.91) and La Salle’s Antonio Bearden (7.98) are the only other hurdlers that have broken eight seconds this season and should be battling for some top spots on the podium.
