For the next few months, it’s all about the outdoor track & field season as our RI athletes look to achieve PRs, individual and/or team titles this spring on the state level and, for some, the national level. Who are some of the top individuals we should keep an eye on this spring? Here we preview what we consider some of the best in the girls’ sprinting events.
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100m & 200m
The question isn’t whether or not Lisa and Xenia Raye will be our top two sprinters in these events. The bigger question is just how fast they’ll run. When you’re talking Lisa, you’re taking possible national records. After all, the soon-to-be Georgia Bulldog already has one to her credit, the indoor 60-meter mark. On the outdoor surface, the current records are 10.89 for the 100m and 22.11 for the 200m, two very impressive records. For those events, the Wizards gifted speedster owns PRs and state records of 11.13 and 22.77 (22.73 wind-aided), respectively. We’re not counting either record out of the realm of possibilities, but the one she might have the best chance at achieving is the 100m. We certainly believe she’ll break 11 seconds by seasons end. The recent 100m and 200m titlist at the Arcadia (Calif.) Invitational is the defending champion in both events at the New Balance Nationals. We’re anticipating some deja vu in the mid June meet. Look for a big season from Xenia, too. She’s already given us indication of that. Not only with her late season PRs in the 55m to 300m during the indoor, but also with what she did last weekend at Arcadia where she had bests of 11.67 for the 100m and 23.82 for the 200m.
Who else could make an impact this spring in the sprints?
For the 100m, there’s a bunch. The list includes Mount Hope’s Thea Jackson, East Providence’s Nazarae Phillip, Ponaganset’s Lillian Racine and Saint Raphael’s Francesca Justin, just to to name a few. Except for Justin, who was an eighth-grader last year, the remaining three ran 12.40 or faster last year. Jackson is a solid No. 3 among returnees. She was the third fastest for the 55m this past indoor season and is ranked No. 3 from sprinters coming back this year, clocking a best of 12.31 in 2024. In her first season as a high-schooler, Justin had a strong freshman campaign for St. Ray’s. during the indoor season with a best of 7.46 for the 55m. She’s capable of a mid 12-second clocking for the 100m.
The 200m could get interesting. After the Raye sisters, the next five returnees have run bests between 25.01 and 25.96. That quintet includes Jackson (25.01), Phillip (25.77), East Providence’s Kendra Daniel (25.81), Ponaganset’s Meghan St. Pierre (25.82) and North KIngstown’s June Merchant (25.96). We’re predicting a sub-25 for Phillip based on the Huskie junior’s consistency the last two years.
400m
Our top seed and favorite here is two-time defending state champion Xenia Raye. The West Warwick senior blazed to her all-time best of 54.73 to win her second straight 400m crown. Look for her to earn the three-peat this season. The state record is 54.10 by former Moses Brown great Sophia Gorriaran at the 2021 Nike Outdoor Nationals. The record could go down this season with Raye back on the track. Among returnees, we’re expecting Moses Brown’s Skyler Maxwell to run in that 56-57 second range. She’s coming off an indoor season where she won her first individual state title with a victory in the 600m and posted a best of 58.47 in the open 400m at the New Balance Nationals. She also blazed to a mammoth sub 60-second leg to rally her team to a victory in the 4x400m at the indoor states. Maxwell was fifth in the 400m last spring. Among other top runners, there’s also St. Raphael’s Jayla Grimes, Narragansett’s Karuna Lohmann and Classical’s Morricia Bryant, who went 4-6-8 at the states last year.
