One last stop. One last tune-up. One last chance.
It’s all on the line this Saturday as athletes make their final preparations before next weekend’s State Meet with the season’s last two varsity competitions—the Bishop Hendricken Invitational and the Mount Pleasant Invitational.
Both meets are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. The boys will travel to the Hawks’ Warwick campus for the Hendricken Invite, while the girls will compete at Conley Field in Providence for the Mount Pleasant Invite.
For many athletes, Saturday represents one final opportunity to sharpen their form, improve their seedings, and build momentum heading into the championship portion of the season.
This weekend’s meets should provide the perfect tune-up for the upcoming State Championships at Brown University, with several events expected to offer a championship-level atmosphere.
The 4×400-meter relay should provide plenty of excitement and perhaps another down-to-the-wire finish. After all, it features two teams that delivered exactly that at the Class A Championships – La Salle Academy and East Providence.
In a thrilling race that came down to the final strides, the Townies edged the Rams by just 0.14 seconds, clocking a meet-record 3:22.92. The result became even more significant afterward when La Salle was disqualified due to the use of an ineligible runner, adding another layer of intrigue to a rivalry that figures to continue this weekend.
East Providence undoubtedly gained a tremendous amount of confidence after its upset victory over the Rams.. La Salle owns the fastest time this season with its’ 3:20.38 effort at the Penn Relays Carnival in late April. Could we see a time that challenges that mark this weekend?
Hendricken, once again, is among the favorites for the team title at the State Meet. The Hawks are expected to score a considerable amount of points in the distance events. We’ll get a preview of their strength there as the Hawks have loaded it up in the 1,500m with the top five seeds, including top seed David Hayes. The talented senior has put together the best season of his career, setting personal bests in the mile, 1,500m and 800m. He comes into Saturday’s meet with a best of 3:56.41 from his victory at last weekend’s class meet; although he did run faster en route to a 4:10 mile at the BSR Elite Meet a few weeks ago. After his solo performance at the class meet, which he won by seven seconds, Hayes proved he could have gone even faster if pushed by coming back and winning the 800m with a best of 1:55.77.
He’ll be pushed on Saturday by some familiar training partners. The No. 2 through No. 5 seeds wear the Hawks’ singlet – Colby Flynn (3:57.71), Fred Russell (4:01.26), Brayden Seraichyk (4:03.59), and Shepherd Butler (4:04.19). Look for a few runners to break up the Hawk party, particularly St. Raphael’s Joseph McFarland (4:05.0) and Portsmouth’s Patrick Orbon (4:05.06), the next two seeds.
The hammer features four throwers that have exceeded 220 feet this season and also rank among the top seven in the nation – Hendricken’s Dimitri Johnson (230-2), East Greenwich’s Ryan Evans (226-6), Woonsocket’s Shamrock Thoun (222-6) and Barrington’s Joe Adams (220-1).
On the girls’ side, we have a few events that have also sparked our interest.
The top thrower in the javelin is state-leader Lia Wasilewski, who moved up to tie for No. 8 all-time in the state rankings by unleashing a winning toss of 133-8 at the Class A meet. Her effort tied her with last year’s state titlist MacKenzie Cleary, who had her PR at the New Balance Nationals.
Collectively, this has been one of the state’s best years for the 400m. In total, 10 have dipped under a minute this spring. Three of them will be on the line this weekend.
The No. 1 seed is Kate Pearse of Barrington with a best of 56.93 from her victory at the Sgt. Brian St. Germain Invitational. Her top challengers are freshman Meridan Alge of Chariho (58.38) and La Salle sophomore Olivia Tucker (59.51).
Seven athletes in the hammer have thrown farther than 170 feet, led by Ponaganset’s Cecelia Bizon with a nation No. 3 of 181-0. Woonsocket’s Avaree Caron (172-5), Classical’s Chibuzo Ihenacho (171-4) and Nelmarix Santos Mojica (171-2), North Kingstown’s Tayla Schneider (170-7) and Toll Gate’s Vanessa Jones (170-4) should all make this event interesting with a number of them capable of winning.
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ENTRIES – Hendricken Invitational
ENTRIES – Mount Pleasant Invitational
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Bishop Hendricken Invitational
10:00 a.m.
Sophomore 1500m
Freshman 1500m
Junior Varsity 800m
Junior Varsity Sprint Medley Relay (100, 100, 200, 400)
10:00 a.m. – Field Events
High Jump
Pole Vault
Javelin
Hammer Throw (Both Circles, Followed by Discus)
Long Jump
Triple Jump
11:00 a.m.
4x800m
4x400m
100m Hurdles Trials
100m Dash Trials
1500m
100m Hurdles Final
100m Dash Final
400m
300m IH
800m
200mFinal
3000m (Seeded)
1600 Meter Relay (4×400, 3-Turn Stagger)
11:30 a.m.
Shot Put (Open Pit)
Mount Pleasant Invitational
10:00 a.m.
Sophomore 1500m
Freshman 1500m
JV 800m
JV Sprint Medley Relay (100m, 100m, 200m, 400m)
High Jump
Pole Vault
Javelin
Hammer Throw (both circles, followed by Discus)
Long Jump
Triple Jump
11:00 a.m.
4x800m Relay
4x100m Relay
100m Hurdles Trials
100m Trials
1500m
100m Hurdles Finals
100m Finals
400m
300m Hurdles
800m
200m Finals
3000m Seeded
4x400m Relay (3-Turn Stagger)
11:30 a.m.
Shot Put (Open Pit)
