Rhode Island athletes saved some of their best for last at the New Balance Nationals Indoor.
In the final two days, the Ocean State produced a wave of standout performances, personal records, and All-American finishes.
On Saturday, La Salle continued its stellar weekend against the nation’s elite, earning its third All-American honor with a third-place finish in the 4×200-meter relay. The Rams clocked a time of 1:27.32.
The quartet of Jalen Moseley, Garrett Giroux-Pezzullo, Jackson Alves, and Antonio Bearden finished just 0.12 seconds shy of the state record they set a day earlier in the prelims.
It was the Rams’ second straight 1:27 effort, a two-second PR from its previous best.
“It was a huge confidence booster, turning it from ‘I think we can do it’ to ‘I know if we execute, we’re going to get the job done,’” Giroux-Pezzullo said. “Coming into it knowing what had to happen and that we could make it happen was really big for us.”
The Rams concluded the weekend by placing third in their heat and 18th overall in the 4x400m on Sunday with a season best of 3:20.68. That squad consisted of Eamon O’Brien, Bearden, Abraham Ghamrawi and Giroux-Pezzullo, who anchored with a 47.12 split.
The Rams now hold the state’s two fastest times ever in the event, clocking the current state mark of 3:20.04 at the 2025 meet.
In the weight throw competition, held Saturday, Woonsocket’s Shamrock Thoun and Toll Gate’s Vanessa Jones each placed second overall.
Thoun, the defending champion, had a top throw of 80 feet, 8.25 inches. Winning the event was Nevada’s Kayden Hulet, who unleashed a nearly five-foot PR of 86-9.5.
Hulet continued his winning ways on Sunday at the Nike Indoor Nationals in New York with a toss of 85-0.25. In that meet, East Greenwich’s Ryan Evans was second (80-7.5) and Thoun was fourth (79-4.5).
For the girls, Jones followed her win at NIN with another impressive performance. She had the third 58-plus effort of her career with a distance of 58-0.5.
Bishop Hendricken came just shy of All American honors in the distance medley relay. The Hawks finished seventh in the race with a time of 17:40.68.
In the girls’ 400m, Moses Brown’s Skyler Maxwell (33rd, 56.45) and Hope’s Zariyah Brown (43rd, 56.80), the respective 600m and 300m titlists at the State Meet, were the top finishers for RI.
Ponaganset’s Amber Shaw was less than two inches from her PR in the pole vault on Saturday, tying for 25th overall with a height of 11-10.75. Twelve vaulters in the field cleared the same height.
