Before moving on to our State Meet coverage, we’d like to make note on a few things that occurred at this past weekend’s Class Championships — a meet that never disappoints and always provides the perfect lead-in to the states on Saturday.
The multiple participants that competed in the six class meets (boys & girls) and two JV races were greeted with near-perfect race conditions: sunny skies, light winds, and cool temperatures. Despite the ideal forecast and the level of talent toeing the line, we didn’t anticipate record-breaking times from our elite athletes, given the importance of the State Meet just seven days away.
We did, however, expect fast times — and there were plenty.
By the end of the day, 29 runners in the boys’ races broke the 17-minute barrier on Ponaganset’s covered-bridge trail. The total number climbed to 32 when including performances from the JV State Meet, where Hendricken’s trio of Aaron Stockford (16:32.98), Justin Stockford (16:40.22), and Christian Nunez (16:59.35) swept the top three spots — all under 17 minutes.
On the girls’ side, 19 runners dipped under 20 minutes, with another 21 finishing under 21 minutes. As with the boys, three of those came from the JV State Meet, led by the La Salle’s trio of Gemma Kent (19:53.01), Kenya Depina (20:05.18), and Mary Monahan (20:51.88).
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At the very least, our goal at any meet is to interview all the winners. The added bonus is catching a few coaches and other top performers. But sometimes, it can be a challenge while juggling our other coverage duties — photography, videos, and race updates. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to catch up with our first victor of the day, Mount Hope’s Jessica Deal. Between filming and snapping photos, we searched for the Huskies’ gifted senior but came up short in our attempt.
We certainly would have liked to talk with her, because once again, she proved that when championship season arrives, she always comes to race. After finishing second at this meet the last three years, the Crusader senior finally earned her first individual title, capturing the Class C crown with a season-best time of 19:31.58. Her performance ranked No. 9 among all three class races and was just under 50 seconds off the fastest time of the day — a personal-record 18:42.09 from Class A winner Alyssa Parenteau.
Don’t read too much into that gap, though. Deal looked comfortable throughout and didn’t need to push the pace to secure the win. She’s one to watch closely this weekend at states.
Speaking of Parenteau, her performance was a statement race. Her 18:42.09 was a 47-second improvement on her previous best at Ponaganset, a 19:27.26 effort she ran at the 2023 Class Championships when she placed third overall as a ninth-grader. The La Salle Academy junior now owns three class titles — she also captured the 1,500-meter and 800-meter crowns during the outdoor track season last spring.
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Two schools left Ponaganset with a pair of individual champions. Along with Parenteau, La Salle Academy celebrated another title as senior Marshall Vernon cruised to his second straight crown on Saturday. Vernon looked relaxed while averaging a sub-5-minute pace, finishing in 15:23.75.
In Class C, it was all St. Raphael Academy, as MacKenzie Lickert and Arthur Ferris swept the girls’ and boys’ races with times of 18:56.78 and 16:31.25, respectively.
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The number four seems to be Gavin Shipperly’s lucky number. The North Kingstown senior matched his placement from last year’s meet by taking fourth overall in 16:09.16. His strong performance led the Skippers to a runner-up team finish, breaking up Bishop Hendricken’s dominance near the front. After Vernon’s victory, the Hawks packed tightly with six of the next seven finishers, led by Colby Flynn (second, 15:29.42) and David Hayes (third, 15:44.84)..
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We did a little research and it appears that La Salle’s score of 21 points to win the Class A crown is the second lowest in the history of the state. Cumberland holds the No. 1 spot with its 1977 squad posting a near perfect score of 19 points. The Clippers went on capture the state title with 28 points and the New England crown with 86 points.
