Before some of our athletes move on to compete at one (or more) national competitions next month, several of our top runners, jumpers and shot-putters will be taking on the region’s best this Saturday at the 37th annual New England Interscholastic Indoor Championships, held at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston. The weight-throwers will hold their competition on Wednesday at 4 p.m., at the PCTA field house.
The meet includes teams from Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Vermont and Maine. As usual, the regional competition will feature the top six performers in each event from the respective state meets. In other words, don’t be fooled on who some of our top athletes are when the seed sheets come out for the running events, particularly the 600-meter run and higher. As you know, states like Rhode Island have a multitude of top athletes competing in two or more events to add needed points in the team battles. With the seeds not based on season bests, sometimes some of our top athletes are seeded far lower than their bests. A prime example of this occurred back in 2016 when former La Salle great Jack Salisbury was put in the unseeded section of the 1,000m, despite a best, at the time, of 2:31.48. After winning the 1,500m at the State Meet in sub four minutes, Salisbury came back and claimed the 1K crown in 2:33.40, a time that didn’t get him into the seeded heat of the New England’s. Still, despite being in the slower section, Salisbury was able to attain gold, dominating his heat to capture the overall title with a PR and new state record of 2:28.40.
Switching into Bay State Running mode over the weekend, yours truly had the chance to cover the MIAA Meet of Champions at Reggie. Judging by what we saw just from that meet, be prepared for an intense competition on Saturday when our region’s elite converge under one roof.
Along with our sisters sites from New Hampshire (nh.staterunning.net) and Connecticut (mysportsresults.com), our State Running Team will be in full force at the New England’s this weekend with complete coverage, including a Free Live Stream of the meet with several of our Team members offering commentary throughout the broadcast.
Once the entries have been released, we’ll start pumping out our previews of the events. Rhode Island will have one returning champion, and it’s a good one. Coming back is defending 55m and 300m champion Lisa Raye of West Warwick. In 2024, the Wizards’ outstanding junior clocked a then PR of 6.82 in 55m and an all-time best of 38.74 for the 300m. She has since lowered her state mark in the short dash to 6.74 from the PUMA New York International Showcase the weekend of Jan. 24-25. Raye is entered in the 55m, 300m and 55m hurdles. She is confirmed for the 55m, but it has not yet been decided if she’ll do the 300m or the 55m hurdles.
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Our own Conor Murphy was part of an eye-popping, record-setting Distance Medley Relay squad this past Friday at the Arkansas Qualifier. The former Classical star, a senior for the University of Virginia, ran the 800m leg for the Cavaliers, who shattered the NCAA record with a winning time of 9:14.19. That time broke the existing mark of 9:16.40 by Oklahoma State in 2023. It’s also currently the fastest DMR in the world on a 200-meter track. Murphy certainly did his past by clocking a 1:47.33 split for his leg. Other splits by his teammates included a time of 2:50.51 for the opening 1,200m by Wes Porter, a 400m split of 46.27 by MA native and Milton Academy alum Alex Sherman and a mile anchor of 3:50.09 by Gary Martin. Well done, Conor and the Cavaliers!!!
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A few weeks ago, Salisbury acted as one of the pace-setters for Grant Fisher’s and Cole Hocker’s record-setting 3,000-meter performance at the Millrose Games on Feb. 8, one that Fisher and Hocker both broke the existing world mark of 7:23.81 with their 1-2 finish and times of 7:22.91 and 7:23.14, respectively. A week later, another former La Salle star was called to duty for another world-record performance by Fisher at the BU David Hemery Valentine Invitational (Feb. 14-15). DJ Principe was one of three pace-setters for the two-time Olympic bronze-medalist, who smashed the indoor WR in 12:44.09, eclipsing by nearly six seconds the 21-year-old record by Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele.
Speaking of the Valentine Invite, we nearly had another sub four-minute performance in the mile by one of our former high school stars at the meet. Portsmouth alum and American College junior Kaden Kluth came strides away from the milestone with a time of 4:00.60. He was just ahead of onetime LSA standout Joseph dosReis, who was timed in 4:00.65. The URI grad student had broken four minutes previously, running an all-time best of 3:58.34 at the John Thomas Terrier Classic in 2023. Salisbury also competed at Valentine meet and finished with a season best of 3:55.74.
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Here’s some more impressive stats by our local collegians. Former Woonsocket great Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan, a junior at Mississippi, is ranked No. 1 in the NCAA in the shot (69 feet, 3.25 inches, 21.11m) and is No. 4 in the weight throw (79-3.75, 24.17m).
Iowa State sophomore and St. Raphael alum Devan Kipyego is ranked 25th in the mile with his PR of 3:54.24 from the Bruce Lehane Scarlet and White Invitational on Feb. 8. Surprisingly, that outstanding effort puts Kipyego on the bubble of qualifying for next month’s NCAA Championships. The top 16 earn a berth. No. 16 on the list right now is 3:53.82.
