There’s dominance, and then there’s what Bishop Hendricken has demonstrated throughout the season and on the state’s biggest stage Saturday.
Continuing to make the case that their dominance could extend into early December, the Hawks captured their sixth consecutive team title at the RIIL State Cross-Country Championship at Ponaganset. Placing all five scorers among the top 11, Hendricken cruised to a decisive 27-67 victory over runner-up Barrington. East Greenwich placed third with 98 points.
Colby Flynn, the Hawks’ gritty senior, added to the celebration on the Chieftains’ Covered-Bridge Trail by claiming the individual crown. After finishing third in 2024 and runner-up last year, Flynn completed his climb to the top with a time of 15 minutes, 26.51 seconds.
Finishing second over was La Salle Academy’s Will Souza with a PR of 15:37.29. Rounding out the top five were Providence Country Day’s Leo Woodman (third, 15:31.95), Hendricken junior Shephard Butler (fourth, 15:32.56) and La Salle senior Matt Lewis (fifth, 15:37.29).
“One the line I was like, ‘There’s a lot of good kids in this race. I have to run smart. I can’t do anything stupid because I could mess this up for myself,'” Flynn said. “That’s kind of the mentality I had coming into this race. Me and Shep were working together, and then Will Souza came up. We just worked together through out the race.”
This was a meet whose outcome seemed all but decided long before the Hawks set foot on the starting line. Hendricken entered the weekend riding a wave of momentum, backed by a resume that included impressive regional victories at last month’s Bowdoin Park Invitational (NY), the Shore Coaches Invitational (NJ) and the Manhattan University XC Invitational (NY). The Hawks were also just a week removed from a 53-point rout of La Salle Academy at the Class A Championships.
Just as they’ve done throughout the season, the Hawks put on a clinic in pack mentality. Only 42.40 seconds separated their top five finishers, with Flynn, junior Shepherd Butler (fourth, 15:32.56), senior Andrew Williams (sixth, 15:42.92), junior Oliver Redmond (ninth, 15:59.49) and sophomore Luke Tremble (11th, 16:08.91) filling those spots. Further demonstrating their depth, senior Jeremy Dru finished 12th overall in 16:15.97.
Longtime Bishop Hendricken coach Jim Doyle, whose squad captured the school’s 30th state title since its first in 1978, was pleased with his team’s performance on a course that wasn’t particularly conducive to fast times. Late-night and early-morning rainfall left conditions slippery, adding another challenge to the race.
“It was a great team effort by all of these guys,” Doyle said. “It’s always tough around the state meet. You don’t know how everyone is going to react. They held together pretty well. Everybody did well.”
Barrington silver medal was fueled by the talented trio of senior Brooks Mello (seventh, 15:52.19), senior Colby Napolitano (eighth, 15:54.84) and junior Ryan Hurlock (10th, 16:05.24), who all cracked the top 10.
While Hendricken’s team victory was never in doubt, Flynn still had to navigate a talented lead pack to secure his first individual state title.
The Hawks standout did the pacesetting as a large, somewhat spread-out lead pack went through the opening mile in under 4:50. Flynn, who recently committed to the University of Pennsylvania, made his most decisive move as he approached the covered bridge with a little more than 800 meters remaining.
“You run single file through that.” he said, about the bridge. “I kind of just went ahead of everyone because I got in their first. That’s kind of when I broke apart.”
The Hawks now turn their attention to defending their title at next weekend’s New England Championships in Orono, Maine. From there, they’ll head to Bowdoin Park for Nike Cross Regionals Northeast, where they’ll have an opportunity to secure one of two qualifying spots for Nike Cross Nationals in Oregon on Dec. 5.
Hendricken enters the postseason ranked No. 1 in the Northeast and No. 15 nationally.
“As I told them all year, ranking means nothing at all,” Doyle said. “It’s what they do on that day. They’re well aware of that, and they’ve worked hard.”
