Throughout the next few weeks, Ocean State Running will be putting the spotlight on some of the top performances of the outdoor track and field season. While we’ve had our share of showstoppers over the past few months, these are the moments that we feel stood out the most and left the biggest impression.
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When we made the more-than-one-hour drive to UMass Lowell on May 15 for the fourth annual BSR Elite Scholastic Meet, we kind of knew what to expect in the boys’ mile. With several of the region’s best receiving invitations to the featured race, we knew it would be competitive, and we knew it would be fast.
Just like the previous year’s race, it lived up to the hype. All but two of the 14 entrants broke 4:20, led by a meet-record 4:05.77 from Newburyport’s Michael Mohoric (MA).
One thing that was hard to miss at the meet was the performances by Rhode Island’s runners on a perfect night for racing. In the seeded section, four broke 4:17 with Bishop Hendricken’s David Hayes leading the charge, placing third overall with a six-second PR of 4:10.58. He was followed by Portsmouth’s Sean Gray in fifth at 4:11.02. La Salle’s Marshall Vernon (11th, 4:16.03) and Hendricken’s Colby Flynn (12th, 4:16.96) also dipped under the mark. Barrington’s Brooks Mello made it five on the night, winning the unseeded section with a personal-best 4:14.59.
