Per usual, the Ocean State had several athletes and relays squads perform at their best during four days of competition at the New Balance Nationals and Nike Indoor Nationals. La Salle Academy broke two state records at New Balance with new marks in the boys’ 4×400-meter and 4x200m relays. Portsmouth’s Sean Gray also etched his name in the books by simply annihilating the 5K record at NBN. That was just a few of so many more.
But when choosing who’s worthy of earning our HOKA Athletes of the Week, you can’t ignore a national champions, athletes who took on the country’s finest and came out on top in the end. So for this week’s honor we’re selecting a a trio of athletes that earned that distinction over the weekend.
Congratulations to West Warwick’s Lisa Raye, Woonsocket’s Shamrock Thoun and Toll Gate’s Vanessa Jones, our latest recipients.
Raye continued to prove that she the fastest sprinter from coast-to-coast. The Wizards’ gifted junior won the third national crown of her career by capturing the 60m dash at New Balance with a time of 7.30 seconds. The soon-to-be Georgia Bulldog also placed second in the 200m where she broke her own state record with a time of 23.0.
Thoun went home with two national titles in the weight throw by taking his specialty at the Nike and New Balance nationals. At NIN, Thoun unleashed his all-time best of 82-6.25. At NBN, the incredibly-consistent junior had his seventh throw over 78 feet this season with a first-place effort of 79-9.
Jones capped off her spectacular season by claiming gold in the girls’ weight throw at Nike. The Titan junior earned the prize with a distance of 58-1.75. She followed that performance by taking the bronze at New Balance with a toss of 57-3.75.
