On the road. In the air.
It’s that time.
The first of what we expect will be several trips that our Rhode Island teams and athletes will make this season to face competition from behind the borders happens this weekend.
West Warwick’s Lisa and Xenia Raye boarded a flight from Logan Airport on Wednesday afternoon and headed out to sunny California where they’ll begin their farewell tour at the prestigious Arcadia Invitational, held Friday and Saturday. The Raye sisters earned an invite to the elite competition where they’ll face some of the top sprinters in the nation in the Invitational 100- and 200-meter dashes on Day 2 of the meet. This will be the first races of the season for the talented siblings since the New Balance Nationals in mid-March. Lisa Raye, of course, is coming off another record-breaking season, one that included a national 60m record at the Millrose Games and an individual title in the 60m as well as a silver medal in the 200m at New Balance. The times to look at are 11.26 seconds and 22.27. Those are the state records held by the West Warwick junior from last spring’s New Balance Nationals where she was a double champion.. The Georgia commit will be in the seeded section of the 100m (6:03 p.m./9:03 p.m. EST) and 200m (7:03/10:03) on Saturday.
Just to give you an idea on the elite athletes that have competed at Arcadia. Since its inception in 2000, a total of 36 national records have been set at the meet. Over the years, 203 U.S. Olympians have competed there, including 36 from the Paris Olympics in 2024.
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Some of the top hammer throwers in the country will be closer to home at the New York Relays, which takes place on Friday and Saturday at Icahn Stadium. Of course, when we say top hammer throwers in the country, it usually refers to the athletes that reside right here in our small state.
The top three seeds in the boys’ competition are all from the Ocean State. That trio includes Exeter/West Greenwich’s Owen Spira, Woonsocket’s Shamrock Thoun, and Ponaganset’s Owen Allen. East Greenwich’s Ryan Evans is also in the field and is a No. 6 seed. Spira is currently ranked No. 1 in the country after winning the hammer at last weekend’s Knights of Columbus Relays with an all-time best of 222-9. Thoun (204-7) is ranked No. 3, while Allen (189-6) is eighth in the nation right now.
The No. 1 seed in the girls’ field is Woonsocket’s Bella Piette, who unleashed a nation No. 2 of 165-4 at the K of C Relays to take runner-up honors. North Kingstown’s Tayla Schneider (158-9), Toll Gate’s Vanessa Jones (156-3), and Ponaganset’s Cece Bizon (118-3) are also in the field. Schneider currently ranks No. 8 in the country, while Jones holds the No. 10 spot. Jones (116-10), Piette (116-1) and Schneider (111-0) are also in the discus.
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Registration for the annual Bobby Doyle Summer Classic is now open. The popular five-miler was created by former runners and teammates of the late great marathoner, including Bishop Hendricken coach Jim Doyle, who is the younger brother of the race’s namesake, a seven-time winner of the Ocean State Marathon and regular fixture/winner on the local and national road-racing scene during the 1970s and 1980s. The Doyle five-miler, which is part of the USATF-NE Grand Prix series, will be held on Aug. 10. High-schoolers are encouraged to participate for two very good reasons. Not only does the five-miler provide a great gauge on their summer training for the upcoming cross-country season, it also gives back in a big way to the running community, particularly the youths. Proceeds from the race support the Bobby Doyle Scholarships and Youth Running Fund with the sole purpose of supporting high school and youth running in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Over the past 15 years, the race has awarded nearly $76,000 in scholarships.
Click below to register. For high school runners and younger, the fee is only $25.
