We can’t ignore what Lisa Raye did at this past weekend’s State Meet with her third straight quadruple victories. While the West Warwick junior could quite simply be our HOKA Athlete of the Week every week, we’re not giving it a break for our latest weekly honor. It’s just this time, she’s sharing it. Along with La Salle’s Garrett Giroux-Pezzullo on the boys’ side, Moses Brown’s Skyler Maxwell joins Raye as our co-choice for girls.
Beginning with Raye, the gifted sprinter guided the Wizards to their second straight indoor crown with a sweep of the four shortest events on the track, capturing gold in the 55-meter dash (6.87 seconds), 55m hurdles (7.21), 300m (40.24) and long jump (19 feet, 1 inch).
In the team scores, Moses Brown finished a strong fifth overall with 42 points. A big reason for that finish was the performances of Maxwell. The Quaker junior began the day by anchoring her team’s winning 4×200-meter relay to a state-leading 1:45.82. She came back later to earn her first individual state title with a PR of 1:37.51 in the 600m. She finished her day in dramatic fashion, anchoring the Quakers to a come-from-behind victory in the 4×400 (4:06.46) with a 57-second leg.
Finally we have the Rams’ Giroux-Pezzullo. La Salle had may stars at Saturday’s title-clinching meet with the speedy senior leading the way. Giroux-Pezzullo captured the 55m dash (6.58) and 300m (35.39}. He also earned gold with legs on the Rams’ triumphant 4x200m (1:30.94) and 4x400m (3:27.44) squads.
