The first state qualifier of the outdoor track & field season, the annual Sgt. Brian St. Germain Invitational, was not short of highlights this past Saturday.
Want proof?
Here it is…
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It’s clear there is no one better in the boys’ hammer this season than Owen Spira, both statewide and nationally. The Exeter West Greenwich senior remained unbeaten this spring by improving his current nation-leader by more than five feet with a toss of 237 feet, 8 inches. That effort moved Spira to seventh on the state’s all-time list. Finishing second with a best and nation No. 3 of 225-7 was North Kingstown’s Jack Harmon. At No. 4 and No. 5 nationally are East Greenwich’s Ryan Evans (217-9) and Ponaganset’s Owen Allen (212-8), who were third and fourth, respectively.
Woonsocket’s Adelaide Caron had her best performance of the season in the girls’ hammer. The defending state and New Balance Nationals champion took over the top spot in the state rankings with a season-best heave of 177-8, a distance that is No. 3 from coast to coast. Coventry’s Mia Hoskins (second,175-9) and Woonsocket’s Isabella Piette (third, 174-4) also went 170-plus.
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Pilgrim’s Hunter Schobel established a new meet record in the triple jump. The Patriots’ senior leaped to a PR of 45-2.5. It was a best by nearly three feet. Schobel was also third in the long jump at 21-6.75.
“This year, I kind of let the long jump take the backseat and I was really focused on my triple jump,” he said. “I’ve seen great improvements this year. This meet, especially, I was feeling good. The good weather was helping. I knew I was going to jump big today.”
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Mount Hope’s Thea Jackson had a busy and very successful meet. The Huskies gifted junior was a triple winner with victories in the 100-meter dash (12.15, 12.08 in prelims), the long jump (18-11.5) and the triple jump (37-8.5). In both the long and triple jumps she was challenged by Exeter/West Greenwich’s Nini Olawuyi, who had distances of 18-8.5 and 37-2.25, respectively, for a pair of second-place finishes. Olawuyi got the best of her rival in the high jump, winning on fewer misses with both clearing 5-2.
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East Providence sophomore Jack Pawlik swept the boys’ sprinting events. The Townies’ speedy sophomore blazed to times of 11.18 in the 100m and 22.78 in the 200m.
“There’s a lot of great kids here and I knew this was going to be like a state final, so I just put everything out there from practice,” said Pawlik, after his 100m win. “I really wanted to win today and everything worked.”
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In a race that came down to the final 50 meters, Hendricken’s David Hayes held off St. Raphael’s Arthur Ferris and Portsmouth’s Sean Gray in the 1,500. Hayes, a junior transfer from East Greenwich, broke the tape in a PR of 4:04.50. Ferris, a junior transfer from Burrillville, was timed in 4:05.34. Gray secured third at 4:05.39.
Hayes utilized a patient approach. He was hovering in around fifth for most of the race and made his move with less than 400m remaining.
“I knew (Ferris and Gray) would take it out quick. They are obviously very talented runners,” he said. “My goal was just to try and stay with them and see what I had in the end.”
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Saint Raphael’s Devan Tavares and La Salle’s Jalen Mosely both broke 40 seconds in the 300m hurdles to take the top two spots. Tavares took the gold at 39.08, while Moseley finished at 39.93 for second. The La Salle junior captured the 110m HH in 14.63.
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In what could be a preview of next month’s State Meet, less than two inches separated the 1-2 finish of Classical’s Gifty Bediako (40-11.5) and Cumberland’s Payton Goulding (40-9.75) in the shot put. Goulding’s effort was a PR.
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La Salle’s Alyssa Parenteau took the lead in the girls’ 1,500m after the first lap and remained there until the finish. The LSA sophomore broke the tape in an outdoor best of 4:52.88. She led four under five minutes with St. Ray’s Mackenzie Lickert (second, 4:56.51), North Smithfield’s Julie Dowling (third, 4:57.45) and Mount Hope’s Jessica Deal (fourth, 4:59.49) taking the next three spots.
“I knew this was going to be a great field today,” she said. “I haven’t run an all-out 1,500 yet this season. I wanted to get a good seed time today. We went through 400 (meters) in 80 (seconds), which is pretty slow. I wanted to go out in 77 (seconds). I knew I had to pick up the pace so I took the lead, and I pushed the second lap. I really tried to focus on the third lap because that’s where you make your time, basically. So I really lost it on that third lap. Once I had 400 (meters) to go, I just kicked it in all the way to the end.”
