While the focus this week is on Saturday’s RIIL Class Championships, we’d like to interrupt things a little here and recognize a few awards that have recently been given over the last week, recognizing accomplishments done during the cross-country season.
On Jan. 21 the Gatorade Player of the Year awards were announced for cross-country nationwide. Congratulations to Cumberland’s Cecelia “CC” Ludwig for be given that honor here in Rhode Island. Ludwig capped off a strong season on the uneven terrain by winning the individual title at the state meet. She led the Clippers to their third straight title by covering the five-kilometer course at Ponaganset in a time of 18 minutes, 17.27 seconds. She continued her excellence at the New England Championships where she placed fifth overall and was the top RI finisher at the Nike Cross Northeast Regional Championships, earning All-Region honors by taking 13th overall. It’s not just running where Ludwig has shined at Cumberland. She also has maintained a 3.62 GPA in the classroom. In addition, she’s a member of the student council, has been a volunteer youth running coach at McCourt Middle School and has donated to several community services endeavors. The boys’ awards will be announced in less than two weeks.
Following that award, this past week Bishop Hendricken coach Jim Doyle and Cumberland coach Kerrie Carpenter were recognized for their role in leading their respective boys’ and girls’ squads to team titles this past fall. Along with a similar honor given to them by the RITCA, both were awarded Coach of the Year by U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Association.
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The Class Championships will feature two notable absences this weekend—and it has nothing to do with injury or illness. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
Distance aces Sean Gray of Portsmouth and Marshall Vernon of La Salle Academy will be at Boston University on Saturday competing in the John Thomas Terrier Classic. Gray and Vernon are slated to toe the line in a loaded 3,000-meter race on the banked oval at BU.
The talented tandem is entered together in heat four of 11, scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Both carry seed times of 8:10, setting the stage for a potential assault on the indoor state record of 8:14.15, set by former La Salle great DJ Principe in 2017.
Another La Salle alum and current assistant coach as his alma mater La Salle alum and current assistant coach Joseph dos Reis is in Heat 2 of the race with a seed of 7:58. Among the the runners he’ll be facing is former East Greenwich star Nick Martin, a sophomore at the University of Rhode Island. Martin comes in with a seed of 7:58.50.
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Here’s an interesting stat with the Class Championships on tap this weekend: since the 1955–56 season, only eight public schools have captured the Class A title. Cumberland High was one of them in 1977–78, and yours truly was a member of that squad. That team would later go on to win the state championship as well.
The squad was coached by longtime mentor and current RITCA official Tom Kenwood, who was in just his fourth year as head coach at the time.
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Here’s another interest stat. Not sure it’s ever happened before, at least this late in the season. Prior to the class championships, the state best for the pole vault for both the boys and girls was 12 feet. For girls, Ponaganset’s Amber Shaw made that possible with her outstanding season so far where she matched the state record with her PR performance at the Yale Track Classic. La Salle’s Judah Mullings and Barrington’s Kelly Hill were both tied at 12 feet before Saturday.
