The state’s best will collide at the PCTA Field House on Saturday for the RIIL Indoor Track & Field Championships. Who are some of the top athletes that will be competing this weekend? Here we feature the girls’ middle/long distance events, which includes the 1,000-meter run, 1,500m and 3,000m.
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1,000-Meter Run
The heat sheets are in, which means the final declarations have been made. As expected, Alyssa Parenteau will drop the 3,000m and focus solely on the 1,500m and 1,000m double.
What does this mean for the 1K?
Plain and simple, she’s the one to chase.
Parenteau showed exactly why at the Class A Championships with her impressive 1,500m/1,000m PR double. After winning the 1,500m in 4:42.91, she returned roughly an hour later to clock 2:59.56 in the 1,000m. That mark leads the field by more than three seconds over the next two seeds – Cumberland’s Charli McCue (3:03.16) and Ram teammate Olivia Wahlberg (3:02.46). Wahlberg will be doubling back from the 1,500m earlier in the meet.
Keep an eye on McCue as well as Chariho freshman Meridian Alge and North Kingstown’s Maura Whitney, the fourth and fifth seeds. Unlike the top two, this trio will enter with fresh legs.
McCue’s recent PR was done at the Class A meet, where she was second to Parenteau and improved on her previous best this winter by nine seconds!
Alge owns a best of 3:03.62 from the Class B meet. The talented ninth-grader, who also sports a strong 800m best of 2:18.66, was a double winner at the divisional championships. At that meet, she returned with a 3:05.43 in the 1K after capturing the mile in a PR 4:54.13.
Whitney comes in with a PR of 3:04.46 from her victory at the Class A meet, a race she won by nearly three seconds. There’s no doubt the NK junior got some confidence from that race that she can bring into Saturday’s competition.
1,500-Meter Run
With four runners seeded under 4:50 and eight of the nine entrants under 5:00, Saturday’s field is loaded. This could be one of those races where several athletes are still battling up front in the closing laps.
But the one we feel will emerge as champion in the end is Parenteau.
After matching her then-indoor best of 4:49.73 with a second-place finish to St. Raphael’s Mackenzie Lickert at the RITCA Invitational earlier this season, the La Salle junior has elevated her game and is running with confidence. That was evident in her double victories at both the Dwyer Division Championships and the Class A meet. At divisionals, she clocked then-bests of 3:01.47 in the 1,000m and 4:44.90 in the 1,500m.
Parenteau has not raced since the class meet two weeks ago, opting instead to focus on preparation. She’ll be rested and ready as she looks to claim her first individual state title.
How about the competition behind her. For starters, she can’t afford to take them lightly.
Wahlberg delivered a more than seven-second indoor best of 4:45.53 to finish runner-up to Parenteau at the class meet, a performance that firmly established her as a contender.
Lickert enters as the No. 3 seed at 4:47.54, the mark she ran to defeat Parenteau at the RITCA Invite. Don’t overlook the Saints’ junior. Though it’s worth noting she’ll be doubling back from the 3,000m, where she is also the top seed.
Bay View’s Jackie Mattos is another legitimate threat with a best of 4:49.11.
And then there’s Mount Hope’s Jessica Deal.
The Huskies’ senior has a history of delivering in championship meets, regardless of her regular-season résumé. She most recently captured the Class C title in a season-best 4:55.15, five seconds faster than her previous SB.
Need proof she can rise to the occasion?
At last spring’s outdoor state meet, Deal produced the race of her life, finishing second to Cumberland’s Kiley Defusco with a massive PR of 4:36.88, nearly a 14-second improvement over her previous season best.
See what we mean?
3,000-Meter Run
The favorite here is Lickert.
She enters with a personal best of 10:13.43, which she ran to place sixth overall at the Yale Track Classic. The big question is will Lickert go for broke and chase a sub-10 – a goal she set at the start of the season – or focus simply on securing the win with two more races still on her schedule?
The Saints are not in contention for the team title, so there’s little need to conserve energy if breaking 10 minutes is the objective. Guess we’ll find out once the gun is fired. If she hits 800 meters in the 2:37–2:40 range, she’s committed to a major PR attempt.
Lickert’s biggest threat is North Kingstown junior Abbie Tighe. The Class A champion owns a season best of 10:32.67 from her runner-up finish at the Sullivan Division Championships. She’s another athlete who tends to elevate her performance in championship meets.
Last year, Tighe ran an indoor best of 10:12.10 at the Yale Track Classic. She’ll likely need to dip well under that mark to seriously challenge Lickert.
Meanwhile, La Salle will look to pile up valuable team points in its quest for a title. The next three seeds all wear maroon -sophomore Sabrina Ghamrawi (10:47.23), junior Salya Mohan (10:48.16), and sophomore Stella Pelagio (10:48.76).
Photo by Sterling Vernon @rhodeandtrack
