Better late than never!
The week flew by, and we just realized we haven’t recognized our New Balance Athletes of the Week yet!
When you have a meet like this past Saturday’s RIIL State Track & Field Championships, how do you pick just two when there are so many worthy candidates to choose from?
On the girls’ side, we had Mount Hope’s Thea Jackson capturing three events – the high jump, long jump and 55-meter dash – and placing third in another (55m hurdles). La Salle’s Alyssa Parenteau won the 1,500m and came just shy of the 1,000m title with a second-place finish for the triumphant Rams. Moses Brown’s Skyler Maxwell was at her best, too. She defended her 600m title with a three-second PR and ran legs on her school’s winning 4x200m and 4x400m squads. There was also an upset victory by The Prout School’s Julia Smith in the weight throw and a dominating performance in the shot put by North Kingstown’s Tayla Schneider.
For the boys, the list was just as long. La Salle’s Garrett Giroux-Pezzullo was a force in the sprints. He broke the facility record while defending his 300m crown, finished fourth in the 55m dash, and ran legs on the first-place 4x400m and 4x200m teams for the title-winning Rams. Teammate Jalen Moseley was a triple winner (high jump, long jump, 55m hurdles) and placed third in the 55m dash. Woonsocket’s Shamrock Thoun also made it back-to-back titles in the weight throw with a meet-record performance.
While they are all deserving of the honor, we eventually narrowed it down to our final two.
Congratulations to La Salle’s Garrett Giroux-Pezzullo and Thea Jackson — our belated New Balance Athletes of the Week!
