The New Balance Nationals have arrived.
For four straight days beginning on Thursday, The Track at New Balance will play host to The Fastest Party on the Planet. Few will argue, and most might add the Furthest, Highest and Longest, too. Though that doesn’t quite have the ring of Fastest.
But you get the picture.
As they always do, the nation’s finest track & field athletes will put on a show down in Boston, and we’re expecting several of our Rhode Islanders will, too. Leading up to each day of the meet, we’ll be highlighting what we consider the feature events involving our state.
Here’s what we consider the top events on Thursday.
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Boys’ 5,000-Meter Run
The clear favorite in this race is Nike and Brooks XC winner Jackson Spencer, who back in January ran 25 minutes flat at the World U20 Cross Country Championships. Also in the field is Jaden Merrick of Cedar Falls (IA), who comes in with a nation-leading time of 14:11.05 from last month’s David Hemery Valentine Invitational, as well as Calvin Seitz of Jasper (IN), who currently ranks No. 3 in the country for two miles with a best of 8:50.83.
As for the other top positions, it does appear wide open with Portsmouth’s Sean Gray among those contending for those coveted top-six All-American placements. Gray was tenth in this race last year, clocking a state record of 14:43.48. He followed that performance with a fourth-place showing at the outdoor nationals with another state mark of 14:36.70. Gray has big plans when he answers the gun on the meet’s opening day.
“My goal for the race is to compete with the top guys,” he said on Tuesday night. “There are a bunch of the nation’s top runners in the 5K, headlined by NXN champ Jackson Spencer. I have heard that he is going for a time around 13:45, so getting the win may be difficult. I think that with the numerous other guys that have the fitness to run low 14 minutes that I could be up in the mix with them. I am hoping to run smart and hopefully run a time around 14:10-14:15.”
Gray has run just a limited amount of races this winter, which included a PR of 8:22.31 for the 3,000m at the John Thomas Terrier Classic. His last race was a second-place finish in the 3K at the State Meet in mid-February with a time of 8:32.35.
“I’ve been building up my mileage to about 45 miles a week since states and have had great workouts,” said Gray, the state, New England and Nike Cross Northeast cross-country champion this past fall. “I think I have been able to carry my fitness from cross country over pretty well, but I’m ready to build up a little more come the outdoor season.”
Boys’ 4×800-Meter Relay
In general, a time between 7:45-7:50 could earn you a top-six placement in this race. Last year, the No. 6 time was 7:44.23.
We don’t think any of our RI entries are capable of getting that low. But don’t be surprised if we see a sub-8 performance or two (or more) from the Ocean State. The teams in question are Bishop Hendricken, Barrington, La Salle Academy and Chariho, our state champions. The Hawks might have shocked a few when they dominated the unseeded heat at the New England Championships with a foursome of Colby Flynn, David Hayes, Oliver Redmond and Fred Russell combining for a time of 8:00.73. Barrington posted a best of 8:06.08 at the Headley Division Championships. Chariho (8:06.36) and La Salle (8:07.40) also have the proven ability to break eight minutes at a meet that always creates an electrifying atmosphere.
Girls’ 4×800-Meter Relay
Of the 61 teams entered in this race, just one hails from the Ocean State.
But it’s a good one.
La Salle Academy will have the quartet of Alyssa Parenteau, Layne Stevens, Olivia Wahlberg and Carolina Terlato at New Balance. The Rams earned the bronze medal at the New Englands a few weeks ago with a state-leading 9:21.60. We’re predicting a time in the 9:10-9:15 range for this talented crew. A time under 9:12.34 would put them No. 3 on the all-time list.
