It was yet another eventful season for our RI track & field athletes. Throughout the summer months, Ocean State Running will feature some of our most memorable performances during the outdoor campaign. Here we feature Portsmouth’s Sean Gray.
Since first catching our attention at the season-opening Injury Fund Carnival in the fall of 2023, the Patriots junior has emerged as one of the state’s premier distance runners. Along with defending champion Marshall Vernon of La Salle Academy and Bishop Hendricken’s Colby Flynn, Gray has proven he has what it takes to contend for his first cross-country state title this coming fall.
During the outdoor season this spring, the multiple all-stater delivered a string of impressive performances. He captured his second consecutive 3,000-meter title at the State Meet with a personal best of 8 minutes, 27.50 seconds. He also placed second in the 3,200m at the New England Championships in 9:05.27—just off his PR of 9:04.27 set at the Glenn B. Loucks Games a month earlier.
The highlight of his season came at the New Balance Nationals, held at the University of Pennsylvania’s Franklin Field. Racing against some of the nation’s top talent, Gray broke the state 5K record with a fourth-place finish in 14:36.70, surpassing the previous mark of 14:37.9 set in 2016 by former La Salle standout DJ Principe.
