After she competed in the finals of the 60-meter dash at the New Balance Nationals, Lisa Raye was approached by the trackside announcer during Sunday’s competition and was asked how she felt about her race. Before a packed house at the TRACK at New Balance, the West Warwick junior admitted she wasn’t 100 percent pleased with her time and that she wished she had run faster.
Now here’s the kicker.
She won the race and is a national champion for the third time.
With high expectations every time the smoke clears the starter’s gun, Raye claimed the individual title on the final day of competition at New Balance, clocking a winning time of 7.30 seconds. The Wizards’ gifted sprinter won her race less than 25 minutes before breaking her own state record in the 200m with a state record of 23.0, an effort that placed her second behind nation-leader Elise Cooper of McDonogh (MD), who claimed gold in 22.64.
New Balance concludes a long season for Raye, who competed at several out-of-state meets on the east coast where she continued to excel, and often broke records, against national-level competition.
“I am not really happy with how I performed, actually. I knew I could have done better,” said Raye, who also beat Payne at the VA Showcase back in January. “I think I am just tired of all the meets and stuff. But I am really grateful that I was able to come out here and win.”
In the 100m, the West Warwick standout got a good start out of the blocks and was able to hold off a throng of star sprinters in the end. Finishing second was Payton Payne of Bullis (MD), who was timed in 7.34. She also posted the fastest times in the prelims (7.26) and the semifinals (7.31) on Saturday.
Raye broke her own state mark in the 200m of 23.22, which she did in her prelims on Saturday. Cooper held the edge over her rival as they rounded the final turn.
The final two days at New Balance had its share of top performances. Here’s a recap of some of the best.
SUNDAY
For the second time at the four-day meet, La Salle established a record in the relays. In the 4x400m on Sunday, the Rams finished 17th overall in the Championship race with a time of 3:20.04. That effort broke the seven-year-old mark of 3:21.87 by Central in 2018. Comprising the squad with their splits were Thaden Leomensah (50.12), Antonio Bearden (50.83), Joshua Aceto (50.59) and Garrett Giroux Pezzullo (48.50). Along with Jackson Alves, Leomensah, Aceto, and Giroux-Pezzullo were also on the Rams’ record-setting 4x200m that was timed in 1:28.95 for 16th overall in the prelims on Friday. That time eclipsed the 2017 mark of 1:29.07 by Central.
“It feels pretty painful, but I’m feeling great,” said Giroux-Pezzullo, making reference to the 4x400m. “We got what we came here for. I think everyone put in a great effort and we achieved our goal.”
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In the girls’ 4x400m, Classical clocked a state-leading 4:01.32 to place 35th out of 66 schools in the Championship race. The quartet consisted of Naibel Noriega (59.32), Shakeyri Arroyo (1:01.47), Orla Howlett (1:02.21) and Morricia Bryant (58.32).
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Cumberland’s Kiley Defusco was fourth in her heat and 44th overall in the mile where she improved on her state-leader and previous best with a school record of 4:55.91. Just a day earlier, the Clipper senior anchored her team’s 4xMile squad with a 4:56 anchor.
“This was a crazy race,” she said, about her mile. “Everyone here is so talented. It was definitely a tough race with everyone running close together. I kind of want to go out strong and see how long I could hold that pace. I think I kind of got caught up in the traffic a little bit halfway through, but I knew I had to surge to get myself in the position that I was in at the end.”
For the 4xMile, the Clippers ran a school record of 21:08.72 to finish fourth in the unseeded section and 15th overall.
