Over the last week, Chris Magill has crunched out all the numbers and figured out all the possible scenarios. No matter what the St. Raphael Academy coach came up with, the results always came out the same for Saturday’s showdown with host Cumberland at the Northern Division Championships.
“I thought it was going to be within points, and it was,” he said. “I actually did one mock meet, and had it as a tie. I knew it was going to be a jump here, or one race there.”
Luckily for Magill, it was his Saints’ squad that accumulated the most points in the end, albeit barely. The Northern Division newcomers escaped Tucker Field by scoring a triumphant 168 points, just 3.5 points more than the Clippers. Smithfield was third with 115 points.
The difference in the outcome came in the final event of the day, the 4×400-meter relay. The Saints scored eight points by taking runner-up honors to Lincoln in the race. The Clippers were fifth, a position that added four points to their total.
“I am extremely, extremely proud,” Magill said. “Just a beautiful meet. Cumberland did a great job. That’s what it’s all about in track & field, when it comes down to the 4×4.”
The Saints had many stars that shined on a day when mostly-cloudy skies gave way to the sun for last two hours of the meet Among the high point-scorers were seniors Devan Tavares and Arthur Ferris. Tavares earned four victories for the day with PR performances in the 110m hurdles (15.06 seconds), 300m hurdles (38.88), 200m (22.48) and the triple jump (42 feet, 5 inches). Ferris came out on top in the 1,500m (4:24.15) and 3,000m (9:26.4). The senior transfer from Burrillville also ran legs on the first-place 4x800m (8:41.73) and second-place 4x400m (3:34.24).
Tavares improved on his state lead in the 300m IH. He won the St. Germain Invitational two weeks ago in his previous best of 39.08.
Depth was on full display by the Saints and Clippers as evident by their final scores. St. Rays finished with additional victories from Daniel Akah-Disu in the long jump (21-6), Alex Ramos in the javelin (150-9), and its’ 4x100m squad (43.96). The Saints also went 1-2 in the triple jump with Akah-Disu taking second (40.85).
Key contributions from Cumberland came from Ben Goodrich with a victory in the 100m (11.39), a third in the long jump (19-6) and a fourth in the 200m (23.48), Colin Peterson (2:02.41) and Jack Schonhoff (2:02.87) with a 1-2 finish in the 800m, and Matt Fontaine with a trio of silver medals in the 110m HH (15.91), 300m IH (40.28) and the long jump (19-6) as well as a bronze in the 200m (23.38).
Peterson ran a best in the 800m by more than three seconds.
“I didn’t think I would go that fast today,” he said. “I just felt I had it in me.”
Smithfield’s Ben Cicchitelli was a double winner, taking the discus (134-10) and the shot (51-6.5). The Sentinel senior was also fifth in the hammer (162-10) Ponaganset’s Owen Allen, who ranks No. 4 in the country in the hammer, won his specialty with a toss of 212-8.
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In the girls’ meet, the results were the polar opposite to what transpired on the boys’ side. The host Clippers were far ahead of the competition and posted a dominating 183-99 victory over second-place Ponaganset. Lincoln was third with 72 points.
Cumberland scored in 18 of the 19 events. In most of those events, the Clippers had multiple placements. Senior Kiley DeFusco won the 1,500m (4:41.24) and the 3K (10:18.59). The Clippers also had victories from Payton Goulding in the shot (39-9), Kaira Pires in the triple jump (33-3), the 4x100m (51.16) and the 4x800m (10:51.30). Along with teammates, Anna Bianchi and Cecelia Ludwig, DeFusco and McCue were also part of the 4×8.
Burrillville’s MacKenzie Clearly moved to No. 12 on the state’s all-time list in the javelin, winning her specialty with a distance of 127-4. Ponaganset’s Lillian Racine swept the sprints by breaking the tape in the 100m (12.52) and the 200m (26.37).
In the hammer, state-leader Adelaide Caron of Woonsocket continued her consistency with a winning toss of 174-3. She was also third in the javelin at 96-10. The Villa Novans’ Isabella Piette won the discus (117-3) and was second in the shot (34-4.5) and hammer (158-4).
Ponaganset’s Amber Shaw established a new meet record in the pole vault with a PR of 11-feet even. That effort ties her for the No. 1 spot in the state with Barrington’s Ellie Noonan.
“Last meet I got 10-6 and I was really close to 11 (feet), so I really wanted to get 11 feet today,” said Shaw, making reference to her second-place finish to Noonan at last week’s Classical Classic. “I felt really confident, and made it happen.”
