One thing is clear heading into Saturday’s RIIL State Cross-Country Championships.
No one will touch Bishop Hendricken.
Juggle the lineups, imagine all the what-ifs, run every possible scenario — the result stays the same. The Hawks will cruise to their fifth straight team title and 29th in school history.
Hendricken ran away with the Class A title this past weekend with a dominating 23–66 decision over runner-up North Kingstown. With unmatched talent and depth, no other team is likely to challenge the Hawks on Saturday. Don’t be surprised if they place all five scorers in the top 10 — and all seven varsity runners before another team’s third. That’s how deep this squad is.
Even if injuries or illness hit, Hendricken has shown it can reload without missing a beat. At the JV State Meet, three of the Hawks broke 17 minutes — a testament to just how strong this program is from top to bottom.
At the Class A meet, Colby Flynn once again led the Hawks, taking second behind familiar rival La Salle’s Marshall Vernon with a PR of 15:29.42. Running the best race of his career, David Hayes was third at 15:44.04. Continuing the trend of steady performances for one of the Northeast region’s top squads, Fred Russell, Brayden Seraichyk, Oliver Redmond, and Shepherd Butler finished seventh, ninth, tenth, and 11th, respectively, with times ranging from 16:13.62 to 16:23.17.
With Hendricken expected to dominate, the more intriguing storyline this weekend is the battle for second place. At least three teams could be in contention. North Kingstown looked particularly strong in its runner-up finish to the Hawks. The Skippers’ 1–2 punch of Gavin Shipperley (fourth, 16:09.16) and sophomore Colton Orr (tenth, 16:34.67) both cracked the top 10 at the class meet. Their next five runners — Alex Turcotte, Benjamin Butera, Colson Place, Xavier Baker, and Benjamin Thorne — were separated by less than 10 seconds, all clocking times under 17:11.
Barrington and East Greenwich, separated by just four points in their 1–2 finish at the Class B meet, along with La Salle, third in Class A, are also viable contenders for the coveted runner-up spot. All have the potential to get several, if not all, of their scorers under 17 minutes. Colby Napolitano leads the way for the Eagles, while the Avengers feature the solid tandem of Jeremiah Moon and Andrew Parisi up front.
La Salle was third in Class A with a trio of freshmen occupying its final three finishers. You can never count out the Rams in any given year to produce a strong placement during championship time. But a top two or three finish could be difficult.
