The numbers were slightly lower and the weather, once again, was not ideal.
Still, it didn’t stop the athletes and teams that did participate at Saturday’s 57th annual Knights of Columbus Relays from getting in some quality performances (and a pair of nation-leaders) at the first statewide meet of the outdoor season.
***
Just Who Are Our Nation-Leaders?
Dealing with sporadic rainfall, cold temperatures and, at times, a slippery circle, Coventry’s Mia Hoskins and Exeter/West Greenwich’s Owen Spira moved to the No. 1 spots in the national rankings for the respective girls’ and boys’ hammer throw.
Hoskins had nearly 10-foot best to win the girls’ competition with a mammoth toss of 173-6. The Knotty Oaker senior, a bronze-medalist at last year’s State Meet, had her eventual winner in the prelims. She held off some strong efforts by a trio of talent throwers behind her with Woonsocket teammates Bella Piette (second, 168-7), Addie Caron (third, 168-3) and Ponaganset’s Jillian Walters (fourth, 167-5), taking the next three spots.
“All of us are completely close and super competitive,” Caron said. “I think we all love competing against each other because we’re all best friends.”
Hoskins, PIette, Caron and Walters earned the one through four spots in the country with their efforts.
Spira won his crown with a best of 222-9. The Scarlet Knights’ senior saved his best for last. He held the lead at the start. On his sixth and last throw, North Kingstown’s Jack Harmon overtook the top position with a PR of 218-2. Spira regained the lead and solidified the victory on his final attempt.
“There was a few things that I have been trying to put together in the meet,” he said. “One throw, I would do one thing would go right and on the other throw, something else would go right. It was nice to sort of connect on all of them. It didn’t feel amazing but I felt I had enough to get the win on that.”
Placing third overall was Woonsocket’s Shamrock Thoun. The Villa Novan junior, who swept all three national titles for the weight this past winter, had a heave of 204-7.
Spira, Harmon, and Thoun are now 1-2-3 in the nation.
New Balance A Distant Memory For Triumphant Clippers
When asked what their school-record time was for the girls’ 4xMile relay at the New Balance Nationals less than a month ago, none of the four members from Cumberland could recall just how fast it was.
The one thing that the foursome of Kiley DeFusco, Gabby Stoothoff, Charli McCue and Anna Bianchi were certainly sure of at Saturday’s meet was winning the event against the 11 other teams that graced the starting line. The Clippers did it with ease on the oval of Conley Stadium. The Blue and White lapped the field and claimed the title with a time of 21:59.80. Portsmouth was a distant second in 23:41.0. Barrington was third at 23:47.60.
It was all about clearing out the cobwebs after a long indoor season.
“We do this every year,” McCue said. “It’s just a fun time together to get a good relay in. We don’t get many 4xMile relays. It was our first race (of the season). We just wanted to see what we could do after indoor and test it out because we haven’t run in a while.”
Running the second leg for the quartet, DeFusco clocked the fastest time of the day at 5:05. McCue was timed in 5:28, Bianchi was at 5:38 and Stoothoff ran 5:43 for the Clippers. Junior Allie Kaull blazing her four laps in 5:16 for the runner-up Patriots.
For the record, Cumberland combined for a time of 21:08.72 at New Balance back in mid March.
***
Eagles Say Bye, Bye To Parker Charter
For the boys’ 4xMile, a race that featured 22 schools, Barrington took the lead over race-leader Parker Charter (MA) near the end of the third leg and secured the victory with a strong anchor from Myles Napolitano. Along with Daniel Chun, Michael Chun and Fritz Muehlbauer, the Eagles combined for a triumphant 18:47.0. Parker Charter was timed in 18:55.10 for second.
Napoltano ran the quickest split in the two heats of the boys’ race with a time of 4:30. Muelhbauer led off with a 4:46 split. He was followed by Daniel Chun at 4:41 and Michael Chun in 4:43.
“I think kind of the big goal of this meet was to see where we’re at,” Napolitano said. “We’re coming off a few, pretty high-volume good weeks of training. We knew we weren’t going to be end-of-season fresh. We kind of understood that coming in. We knew the times weren’t going to be 100 percent. We just wanted to feel where we’re at and get the season going. It was a good way to start off.”
***
First Time’s A Charm For Cumberland‘s Ludwig
On the cross-country trails this past fall, CC Ludwig manufactured a breakthrough freshmen campaign, finishing it off with a third-place finish at the State Meet. In her first competition since that season, Ludwig was back where she belongs in the girls’ Freshmen Mile. The Clippers gifted ninth-grader never left a victory in doubt, taking control from the very beginning and coasting to a time of 5:38.70, nearly 15 seconds faster than runner-up Juliana Kavanagh, who was timed in 5:53.60.
For the diminutive frosh, it was her first time competing away from the up-and-down terrain of cross country.
“I didn’t really know what to expect,” she said. “I kind of just went out there with everything I had. I knew I wanted to hit under six minutes. That was mainly my goal.”
Ludwig skipped the indoor season after earning a spot on the girls’ varsity basketball team. She’s ready to take on her newest challenge as a member of the outdoor squad.
“It’s been a little harder to get started since the other girls have been running this whole time,” she said. “But it’s really good to have them here because they kind of get me ready and I kind of compete with them a little.”
***
Big PR, Big Win For Classical’s Johnson
With “crappy weather” predicted for Saturday’s meet, Classical’s Noah Johnson was hoping to break five minutes in the boys’ Freshmen Mile. The talented ninth-grader did that, and a lot more with a gun-to-wire victory. Johnson captured gold with an 11-seconds PR and time of 4:47.50. He was comfortably ahead of South Kingstown’s Erik Dahl, who solidified second at 4:56.70.
“We figured it would be rainy and windy, probably 10-15 mph gust,” Johnson said. “I was talking to coach yesterday. I was like, ‘What’s my goal?’ He was like, “Just try and break five (minutes). It’s going to be crappy weather.’ We came here today and it was fine. A little sprinkle and not much wind. When we checked in, I saw I was number three (seed) and I said I could stay back in this. The gun went off and I just went out and was by myself in front. I knew I had to keep that lead.”
