The first statewide competition of 2026 gets underway Saturday with the annual RITCA Invitational at the PCTA Fieldhouse. The meet is scheduled to begin at noon and will feature a full slate of events, with performances serving as state meet qualifiers.
While there appears to be some strong competitors in nearly every event, here’s a few that appear to be a bit more intriguing that the others.
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BOYS’ 1,500m
The top two runners in this race are La Salle’s Marshall Vernon and Barrington’s Brooks Mello.
Vernon comes in with a seed of 2:31.0, although has run faster with a best of 2:29.77 from the Class A Championships last year in his only race at the meet. The Rams’ senior is also entered in the 1,500m, scheduled earlier at Saturday’s competition, perhaps the reason for his higher seed time.
While he may just run the 1,500m to ensure a quality seed for the upcoming State Meet, he’ll still have to run a time in the 4:05-4:08 range to have potential to come out on top. At the two through four seeds are Bishop Hendricken teammates Fred Russell and Brayden Serachyk and Cranston East’s Cohen Brinker who are all capable of going sub 4:10.
If Vernon decides to make the 1,000m an all-out effort, the Stanford commit, who has repeatedly proven his ability to double with high-level performances, could turn this into the race of the meet. Mello has enjoyed an excellent start to his junior campaign. Two weeks ago, he captured the mile at the MSTCA Beantown Winter Classic with a personal-best 4:18.68. He then followed that up last weekend by clocking a big PR of 2:31.84 in the 1,000m—an event he has rarely contested. While it may be early in the season for a sub-2:30 on the flat oval at PCTA, don’t be surprised to see a time under 2:32 in a race that could come down to the final stretch.
BOYS’ 55m
Could this be a preview of what we’ll see at next month’s State Meet? It certainly appears so.
The top three seeds in this race also sit atop the current state rankings: East Providence’s Jack Pawlik (6.51), Barrington’s Patrick Trainor (6.55), and Classical’s Ephraim Teah (6.59). Pawlik, the runner-up at last year’s state meet and the reigning outdoor 100m and 200m state champion, gets a slight edge on paper—but only slightly.
Trainor enters in strong form after a fourth-place finish at last Saturday’s Marathon Sports Winter Classic, where he ran 7.08. Based on his rate of speed, that performance converts to approximately 6.49, suggesting he may be poised for a breakthrough. Teah, meanwhile, is just one week removed from his win—and current PR—at the Marathon Sports Winter Warrior Invitational, held on the same day.
The finish line camera might be the determining factor here.
GIRLS’ 1,500m
Expect this one to be tightly contested, with at least three runners still in the mix over the closing laps. The depth is evident—five entrants in this field have already broken 4:50, either indoors or outdoors.
Our pick to win is La Salle’s Alyssa Parenteau, who finished second in the mile this past weekend at the Winter Warrior Invitational, running a personal best of 5:08.23 on the banked oval at the TRACK at New Balance. That performance converts to approximately 4:47 for 1,500 meters at PCTA. The Rams’ junior, who owns an outdoor PR of 4:43.38, is known for taking control of races early—just as she did last Sunday—and we expect a similar front-running approach again this weekend.
St. Raphael’s Mackenzie Lickert is another athlete we expect to contend for the title. She was second in the mile at last weekend’s Boston Holiday Challenge, posting an indoor best of 5:11.85, a strong indicator she’s ready to dip under 4:50. Lickert already has the credentials, owning a 4:47.09 PR from her victory at last spring’s Class B meet.
Other top entries expected on the starting line include North Smithfield’s Julie Dowling, Cumberland’s Charli McCue, Bay View’s Jackie Mattos, North Kingstown’s Lucy Stowe and Mount Hope’s Jessica Deal—all sub-4:50 performers during the outdoor season. Deal and Stowe was especially impressive last spring, dipping under 4:40 en route to a 2-3 finish at the State Meet.
With the season still in its early stages, don’t expect many athletes to match their all-time bests just yet. Still, this shapes up as a race where multiple runners could remain in contention with 200 meters to go.
WEIGHT THROW
It doesn’t get any better than this.
This event features a head-to-head match-up between the top two throwers in the country: East Greenwich’s Ryan Evans and Woonsocket’s Shamrock Thoun. Evans sits atop the national rankings after launching a personal-best 81-10.68 to win the Beantown Winter Classic two weeks ago. Thoun answered last weekend, unleashing his first 80-foot throw of the season while capturing the individual title at the U.S. Marine Corps Holiday Classic with a season best of 80-9.25.
When the nation’s best square off, expectations are sky-high.
In the girls’ weight throw, we also have a nation-leader with Smithfield’s Taylor McGinness occupying that position with her best of 56-10 from her win at the Boston Holiday Challenge. She’ll be facing two others that have gone further than 50 feet with the Prout School’s Julia Smith (55-4) and North Kingstown’s Tayla Schneider (51-6.5).
GIRLS’ LONG JUMP
This event features five of the top six finishers from last year’s outdoor state championship, led by Mount Hope’s Thea Jackson, who claimed the title with a near state-record leap of 19-1. Jackson enters with a season best of 17-11.5, recorded at her season-opening league meet on Dec. 11.
Seeded second is Exeter/West Greenwich’s Nina Olawuyi, the indoor and outdoor state runner-up. Olawuyi owns a personal best of 18-5.25 from last winter and has already cleared 17-7.5 this season.
Rounding out the top seeds are Moses Brown’s Kendra Satine (17-4), North Kingstown’s Reagan Farrell (17-2.5), and Portsmouth’s Loosaper Tate (17-1.5), all of whom figure prominently in the mix.
Jackson is also the top seed in the high jump (5-4) and the 55m dash (7.22). In the high jump, she could once again square off with Olawuyi, the No. 2 seed at 5-2. In the sprint, Satine looms as her top challenger with a seed of 7.40.
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SCHEDULE
FIELD EVENTS
Weight Throw (girls, followed by boys)
Shot (boys, followed by girls)
High Jump (girls’ followed by boys)
Long Jump (boys, followed by girls)
Pole Vault (girls, followed by boys)
TRACK EVENTS
(Track events will run girls, then boys, except trials in the hurdles and dash will be boys, then girls)
4x800m relay
4x200m relay
3000m
55mHH Trials (top 9 times to finals)
55m Trials (top 9 times to finals)
1500m
55mHH Finals
55m Finals
600m
300m
1000m
4x400m relay
