The new year is only a few days old, and there are still plenty of weeks to go before championship season rolls around. But judging by how things have started, the indoor track season is already shaping up to be an exciting one.
We’re heading into Week 3 of the league schedule. The first statewide invitational is already in the books, and several of our athletes have tested themselves at out-of-state meets this winter.
So what’s been happening so far? We’ve got plenty to talk about.
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BOYS
In the no-surprise category, our weight throwers have already made an impact at the national level. At present, Rhode Island owns the top two spots in the rankings with East Greenwich’s Ryan Evans and Woonsocket’s Shamrock Thoun.
Back on Dec. 20, Evans unleashed a six-foot personal best of 81 feet, 10.68 inches to capture the Beantown Winter Classic. Finishing second that day was Thoun at 78-9. Since then, the Villa Novan has had a pair of 80-foot performances, winning the Marine Corps Holiday Classic with a throw of 80-9.25 and the RITCA Invitational at 80-1.25.
Right now, the next-closest thrower in the country sits at 74-8.5. For Rhode Island, Hendricken’s Dimitri Johnson ranks third in the state. By the looks of it, we could be headed toward an Evans–Thoun showdown for both the state and national titles, two crowns Thoun is the defending champion in.
We’re expecting big things from Garrett Giroux-Pezzullo this year. In his final indoor season, the La Salle Academy senior has already shown plenty of promise. Giroux-Pezzullo opened his campaign on Dec. 6 at the Boston University Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener, where the BU-bound runner felt right at home, finishing fourth in the open race with a then-best of 49.41.
Since then, he’s continued to improve. He won the Boston Holiday Challenge with a personal best of 48.88 and also clocked his fastest 300 meters, taking second at the Beantown Winter Classic in 34.36. Giroux-Pezzullo has also contributed his footspeed to La Salle’s relays. The Rams’ 4x200m and 4x400m squads are currently ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the state with times of 1:30.38 and 3:32.27, respectively.
Among other events, we’re guessing—actually, we’re guaranteeing—that a lot will change in the distance races this weekend with the prestigious Yale Track Classic drawing several of the state’s top runners, particularly in the 3,000 meters.
The meet will feature many of Rhode Island’s best, including La Salle’s Marshall Vernon, Portsmouth’s Sean Gray, and Hendricken’s Colby Flynn. La Salle’s Will Souza currently holds the top time in the state after winning the RITCA Invitational in a personal best of 8:58.18. Last year, eight runners broke the nine-minute barrier. So far this season, Souza is the first and only athlete to do so, but that could change quickly.
With Yale on the docket, there’s potential for four, or more, sub-nine performances by the end of the weekend.
Flynn currently leads the state in the 1,500 meters after clocking 3:57.95 en route to a third-place finish and a mile personal best of 4:14.47 at the Armory Hispanic Games. Vernon opened his indoor season at the RITCA Invitational and looked sharp, earning victories and state No. 2 rankings in both the 1,500 at 4:05.77 and the 1,000 at 2:32.68. Gray coasted to a time of 9:04.09 for the 3K in a league meet on Monday in his indoor debut. The Patriots star is coming off a stellar cross-country campaign that included state and New England titles, as well as a trip to Nike Cross Nationals by winning the Nike Cross Regional Northeast. Gray and Vernon have both indicated that a low-8:20 effort, or faster, is the goal this weekend.
In the 55-meter dash at last year’s state meet, Giroux-Pezzullo captured the title in 6.58. This season, three athletes have already gone under that mark: East Providence’s Jack Pawlik at 6.54, Barrington’s Patrick Trainor at 6.55, and Classical’s Ephraim Teah at 6.56.
La Salle once again looks strong to defend its team title next month, and Jalen Moseley could play a major role. The Rams junior swept the 110- and 300-meter hurdles at last spring’s outdoor state meet and is the top returnee in the 55-meter hurdles after finishing second overall in 2025. He currently sits at No. 1 in the event after winning at the RITCA Invitational in 7.68, just four-hundredths of a second off his personal best.
Moseley also owns the top state marks in both the long jump at 22-7.5 and the high jump with a personal best of 6-6. In the long jump, Trainor finished second behind him this past weekend with a leap of 22-6.75.
Barrington’s Henry Stockwell and La Salle’s Eamon O’Brien, the top two finishers in the 600 meters at RITCA, have both dipped under 1:25. Stockwell ran a season-best 1:24.30 to win this past weekend, edging O’Brien, who clocked 1:24.89. The La Salle senior also posted a season best of 1:24.67 while winning the MSTCA Boston Holiday Challenge.
As we’ve noted several times already this season, Barrington’s Brooks Mello is off to a hot start. He leads the state in the 1,000m at 2:31.84, The Eagle s junior also has a 4;18.68 mile to his credit from his victory at the Beantown Winter Classic.
GIRLS
Just like the boys’ weight throw, Rhode Island has the nation-leader in the girls’ 20-pounder, too. Smithfield’s Taylor McGinness holds that distinction, following her winning throw and personal best of 56-10 from the Boston Holiday Challenge on Dec. 27. She sits just ahead of neighboring rival Ainsley Cuthbertson of Lexington at 56-3.59. The top 10 throwers in the country are currently separated by just over five inches, setting the stage for a compelling battle as the season progresses.
North Kingstown’s Tayla Schneider, the recent winner at the RITCA Invitational, is ranked No. 2 in the state and No. 11 nationally with a best of 51-7.5.
In the girls’ 4×200-meter relay, Moses Brown delivered one of the standout performances of the RITCA Invitational, shattering the meet record with a time of 1:45.94. The quartet of Kendra Satine, Amaya Felder, Rose Couto, and Skylar Maxwell erased the previous mark of 1:47.50, set by Hope in 2010.
There was an interesting connection to that former record. The Hope squad was coached by Thom Spann, who retired from the program several years ago and now serves on the Moses Brown coaching staff, overseeing the sprinters.
The Quakers’ performance is even more impressive considering it was run on a flat track. Converted to a banked surface, their time would project to at least a second faster, with even greater potential on a high-speed oval such as the TRACK at New Balance.
Posting a performance of that caliber this early in the season suggests a high ceiling for the Moses Brown relay, both heading into the state championships next month and at the New Balance Nationals in mid-March.
With the graduation of West Warwick’s Lisa Raye, the girls’ sprint events will crown a new champion for the first time in three years. Mount Hope’s Thea Jackson has established herself as the early leader in the 55-meter dash, holding the state’s top time throughout the season and racing to a personal best of 7.20 to win at RITCA.
The versatile senior also leads the state in the long jump at 17-11.5 and is tied with Exeter/West Greenwich’s Nini Olawuyi for the top spot in the high jump. Last season, five athletes surpassed 18 feet in the long jump, highlighted by Raye’s state-record leap of 19-7.75. This winter, six jumpers have already cleared 17 feet, with Jackson, Portsmouth’s Loosaper Tate (17-10), and Olawuyi (17-9.5) all within striking distance of 18. Jackson showed her potential at last spring’s outdoor state meet, where she won the title with a personal best of 19-1, just shy of the state record.
In the distance events, the season’s first two sub-4:50 performances in the 1,500 meters came this past weekend at the RITCA Invitational, where St. Raphael’s MacKenzie Lickert and La Salle’s Alyssa Parenteau finished one-two with times of 4:47.54 and 4:49.73, respectively. A week earlier, Parenteau ran a personal best of 5:08.23 to place second in the mile at the Winter Warrior Invitational, while Lickert posted a PR of 5:11.85 in a runner-up finish at the Boston Holiday Challenge on Dec. 27. A total of eight have broken five minutes this season. That’s an impressive start.
Lickert will be racing the 3K at Yale this weekend. She has indicated a goal of breaking 10 minutes for the 15-lapper this season. Will she come close this weekend?
