While most of our RI track & field athletes will be taking the week off from competition, a solid contingent will be heading to Boston on Wednesday for the annual MSTCA Boston Holiday Challenge. Unlike previous years, this season’s meet will take place at the TRACK at New Balance.
The girls’ 60-meter dash will feature some of our star sprinters with West Warwick’s Lisa (7.5 seconds) and Xenia Raye (7.74) holding the No. 1 and No. 4 seeds and Cranston West’s Ailiana Sutherland (7.98) at No. 13. In the boys’ race, Cranston West’s Alonzo Parker-Sharpe brings a 7.20 seed time to the line.
Xenia Raye is one of the top seeds in the Championship 400m with her time of 56.98. In the girls’ Championship Mile, Saint Raphael Academy’s Rory Sullivan will be looking to break five minutes on the lightning fast oval. She’s among a talented field with her seed time of 5:03.26.
La Salle’s Will Souza is ranked No. 2 in the Freshmen Mile. The Saints’ JJ Rocha is a nine seed in the boys’ Mile with his best of 4:27.38. La Salle’s Maeve Casey (5:24.0) and Cranston West’s Lilliana Pendergast (5:26.36) are the No. 19 and No. 26 seeds in the girls’ Mile.
La Salle’s Grady McGinnis will be looking to improve on his best of 2:37.94 for the boys’ 1,000m. He enters Wednesday’s meet as a No. 9 seed.
Portsmouth’s Sean Gray is ranked sixth in the boys’ two mile with his best of 9:39.92. The La Salle girls are a five seed in the 4x800m relay with a time of 10:12.38.
In the field events, La Salle’s Nathan Alnabe (54 feet, 2.75 inches), Smithfield’s Seth Borges (45-5) and Cranston West’s Ryan Lake (43-9.25) are the No. 2, No. 7 and No. 11 seeds, respectively, in the boys’ weight throw. For the girls, there’s five among the top 10 with La Salle’s Grace Keposyhao (41-4, No. 3), Smithfield’s Taylor McGinness (29-9, No. 4), West Warwick’s Ava Gallo (36-4.75, No. 7), La Salle’s Kennedy Hilton (35-3.5, No. 9) and La Salle’s Lia Bejarano (34-10.5, No. 10).
Smithfield’s Konney Ezeama is a seven seed in the triple jump (13.18 meters) and La Salle ‘s Alexander Campbell ranks fifth in the pole vault (3.65m).
