It was a memorable weekend for Bishop Hendricken’s relay squads at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor Championships.
The Hawks’ 4xMile and Distance Medley Relay teams each earned All-American honors and came agonizingly close to rewriting the Rhode Island record books.
On Sunday, the final day of competition at Franklin Field, the foursome of Colby Flynn, Jamel Florio, Oliver Redmond, and David Hayes secured Hendricken’s second podium finish of the meet, placing fifth overall in the Distance Medley Relay with a time of 10 minutes, 0.57 seconds. The effort fell just 0.56 seconds shy of the state record of 10:00.01, set by La Salle Academy at the 2016 New Balance Nationals.
The performance came three days after the Hawks finished as a runner-up in the 4xMile Relay on opening day, clocking 17:22.86. In order, Flynn (4:16.92), Fred Russell (4:21.09), Brayden Saraichyk (4:25.72) and Hayes (4:19.15) handled the baton duties. The Hawks finished just 1.27 seconds shy of Hendricken’s state-record time of 17:21.59, set in 2010.
“Our goal was to go under 17 minutes and finish as high as possible without focusing on records,” said Bishop Hendricken coach Jim Doyle. “Sometimes when you focus too much on records, you lose sight of what you’re trying to accomplish. We had an outside objective of breaking 17 minutes. The race didn’t turn out that way exactly as we hoped but it wasn’t for the guys not trying. They were unbelievable. They gave 110 percent. I couldn’t have asked for anything more from those guys.”
In the DMR, the Hawks quartet had to deal with challenging conditions.
“The guys ran well,” Doyle said. “Saturday morning brought tough conditions. It was windy and there was the heat. The gusts were up to 30 miles per hour, and it was 90 degrees. They hung in there and ran well.”
Unlike previous races, such as the Penn Relays Carnival in late April where the Hawks placed ninth overall in a then-season-best 10:09.03, Doyle flip-flopped the order with Flynn running the opening 1,200m leg and Hayes anchoring the 1,600m leg.
The strategy appeared to work, with Flynn giving the Hawks an early lead after a 3:01.96 split and Hayes bringing them home with a 4:11.63 anchor.
“We had done it in reverse during the Indoor Nationals,” said Doyle, about his team’s fifth-place finish at the mid-March meet. “David ran well on the 1,200. He’s got great leg turnover and speed. But the last few weeks we looked at David and Colby, and thought about it more. Colby likes to get into a race. He gets really excited when he’s in a race, and David is a chaser.”
“(Colby) responded so well,” he continued. “It was great. He set the stage when they went out. They went out at 59 seconds. Then, they kind of slowed it down and the next quarter was like 64 seconds. He was 2:03 at the 800. He then turns around and does a 58-second last quarter to run a 3:01.7. It was just incredible, and we had the lead.”
Florio clocked a quick 49.92 for his 400m leg and Redmond was timed in a strong 1:57.07 for his 800m leg.
“Both were big,” Doyle said. “They kept us in there.”
Hayes closed with a 61-second final lap despite an aggressive early pace that took him through the opening 400 meters in 60 seconds and the halfway mark in 2:03.
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Other Day 4 highlights on Sunday included a PR performance from North Kingstown’s Abby O’Neil in the 800m. The Skipper junior raced to a time of 2:12.22 to place 54th among a field of 126 runners.
In the long jump, recent New England titlist and state-record holder Jalen Moseley of La Salle leaped a distance of 23 feet, 3.5 inches. He was 19th among 55 athletes.
Moses Brown’s Skyler Maxwell was 67th among 103 runners in the 400m. The Quakers senior and reigning state champion crossed the line in 57.27. In the boys’ 400m, East Providence’s Justin Jardine was timed in a solid 49.31.
La Salle earned a spot in the 4x100m finals. The squad of Casey Ashe, Garrett Giroux-Pezzullo, Antonio Bearden and Moseley were eighth overall with a time of 42.08.
