Six team titles. Six individual crowns.
That’s what will be on the line this Saturday when teams throughout the state head down to Ponaganset for the RIIL Class Championships. So, who are the schools — and the runners — ready to battle for those coveted prizes on the Chieftains’ covered-bridge trail?
Here we feature Class C girls’ and boys’ races.
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Class C Championships – Girls
Day/Time: Saturday, 11 a.m.
Teams: St. Raphael Academy, Scituate, Lincoln School, Providence Country Day, Rogers, Blackstone Valley Prep, Narragansett, Bay View Academy, Burrillville, Middletown/Block Island, Exeter/West Greenwich, North Smithfield, Tiverton, Moses Brown, Westerly, South Kingstown, Prout School
Runners To Watch: Last year’s race produced the most exciting finish of the day with North Smithfield’s Julia Dowling edging St. Raphael’s Mackenzie Lickert at the line to become the school’s first-ever girls’ champion. While it might not be a margin of victory quite like 2024 where Dowling secured the title by five hundredths of a second, we do expect another close affair this weekend. Both Dowling and Lickert are back this season and have proven with their performances this fall that there’s a chance we could see another race that will come down to the final stretch. Dowling went undefeated in the Northern Division and broke 19 minutes for the first time a few weeks ago with a PR of 18:55.1 at the MSTCA Bob Glennon Twilight Invitational on the lightning quick 5K course at the Cape Cod Fairgrounds. Lickert ran a season best of 19:31.0 in a dual meet back on Sept. 29 and also clocked a PR of 15:36.4 for the 2.5 miles at the Manchester University Invitational. The field features two others that have gone sub-20 this season with Exeter/West Greenwich’s Lily Chabot (19:14.17) and Bay View’s Jackie Mattos (19:18.80) scheduled to answer the gun. Of note in this race is freshman Keira Closter of Block Island, who has a best of 20:33.0. We did some quick research and believe that there hasn’t been a runner from Block Island in the history of the state that has run that fast or had a chance to place high in a meet like this weekend. Closter finished third this past Monday at the Freshmen State Championships with a big-time PR of 15:36.12 for the 2.5-mile distance. That time tells us that she’s ready for a sub-20 at Saturday’s meet, an effort that could place her among the top seven.
Team Outlook: This one should be close with a few teams capable of winning this weekend. Moses Brown, a squad that was third in the Metropolitan Division, is a slight favorite. The Quakers have the smallest gap between their five scoring runners of just about a minute. Burrillville, which was second in the Northern Division, and the Prout School, third in the Southern Division, are other teams we feel can contend for the coveted hardware.
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Class C Championships – Boys
Day/Time: Saturday, 11:30 a.m.
Teams: St. Raphael Academy, Scituate, Providence Country Day, Rogers, Blackstone Valley Prep, Narragansett, Burrillville, Exeter/West Greenwich, North Smithfield, Tiverton, Moses Brown, Westerly, South Kingstown, Prout School
Runners To Watch: The favorite in this race is St. Raphael’s Arthur Ferris. The SRA standout has only run the 5K distance thrice this fall. In a race he wasn’t 100 percent, Ferris recorded a season best of 16:35.70 in the Championship race of the Ocean State Invitational in late September. We believe he’s capable of a lot faster this weekend, and here’s why. Just a few weeks ago, the talented senior won the Varsity B race at the prestigious Manhattan University with a time of 12:48.60 for the 2.5-mile course at historic Van Cortlandt Park. At the very least, that time computes to a sub-16 effort at Ponaganset. Ferris’s chief rival this weekend looks like Providence Country Day’s Leo Woodman, who was third at last week’s Skee Carter/Bronco Invitational where he ran a PR of 16:22.83 on the quick 5K. Burrillville’s Drew Gaulin (16:57) and Moses Brown’s Ben Glew (17:11.90) are a few others to keep an eye on this Saturday.
Team Outlook: Based on times run this season, there’s a bunch of teams that claim the title this weekend. Among them are South Kingstown, Moses Brown, Burrillville, Prout School and North Smithfield. Don’t be surprised to see at least four teams within 20 or less points. It’s that close.
