Here’s the crazy part about Lisa Raye.
She’s only a freshman, she’s still has a little more than three years until she graduates.
That’s what makes her latest performances even more mind-boggling.
Continuing her quick trajectory to elite status, the gifted sprinter from West Warwick had a day to remember at Saturday”s 35th annual New England Championships. Raye erased a six-year-old state record in the 55-meter dash. And if that wasn’t enough, the speedy ninth-grader came back a few hours later to take the 300m, too.
“I’m really proud of myself, especially because I am only a freshman, which means I have more years to PR and get faster,” said Raye, whose time in the short dash is No. 2 among freshmen nationwide . “I was really happy I was able to run these times today.”
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Running in her preliminary heat of the 55m, Raye blazed to a state mark of 7.06 seconds, breaking the 2017 record of 7.09 by former Hope star Quashira McIntosh. The Wizard sprinter then led a 1-2-5 finish by the Ocean State in the finals, edging Cranston West’s Ailani Sutherland with a time of 7.12 to the Falcon junior’s runner-up effort and PR of 7.15. The Wizards’ Xenia Raye placed sixth at 7.28. She also achieved an all-time best on Saturday with a time of 7.22 in the prelims.
Raye collected her second gold of the day by taking the 300m in the unseeded heat, shifting into one last gear the final straightaway to win with a best of 39.50. Her performance bested the 1-2 finish by top seeds Ali Murphy of Norton (second, 39.67) and Kylee Bernard of Cambridge Rindge & Latin (third, 39.71) from the seeded section.
Moses Brown’s Sophia Gorriaran coasted to a meet record of 2:46.45 in the 1,000m. The Quaker senior concluded the meet by blasting a split of 54.4 for her team’s triumphant 4x400m relay squad that was timed in 3:58.39.
In the 1K, Gorriaran finished three seconds ahead of Newton South (MA) senior Amelia Everett, who was timed in 2:49.56. A total of 11 runners in the field broke three minutes. The Harvard commit’s primary goal in the five-lapper was to get the meet record and come back later and help her team to a victory in the 4×4 with a fast anchor leg.
She accomplished both on the banked oval of Reggie Lewis.
“I was kind of taking it lap by lap and seeing how I felt.” said Gorriaran, about the 1,000m. “I felt good. I was just trying to keep the pace going for a good practice and get my legs ready for next week.”
Next week for Gorriaran is a date at the Nike Indoor Nationals in New York City where she is scheduled to compete in the 4x400m, 800m and mile at The Armory. She’s ranked No. 1 in the country in both her individual events with a season best of 2:01.16 for the 800m and a PR of 4:37.54 for the mile.
Devan Kipyego defended his title in the boys’ 1,000m with a winning time of 2:29.51. As expected, the Saint Raphael Academy senior took the lead from the beginning and never let up. He won by two seconds over New Hampshire’s Lucian Glaser (second, 2:31.62).
Despite the victory, a visibly-frustrated Kipyego was not pleased with the race. He had a goal of breaking the New England record of 2:24.18 by Northbridge’s Marcus Reilly from last year.
Kipyego went into the meet after running a 4:01 mile last weekend at the BU Last Chance Qualifier.
“I know I was good enough to run it,” said the Iowa State signee, about the NE mark. “I can run (this time) in the mile, go through 2:29-2:30 in the mile. I should be able to run that. It wasn’t the day. I didn’t have the best day today. But I’ve got to bounce back, and go back at it next week. I got to turn the page and try not to remember it.”
Kipyego will be back in Boston next weekend where he’s slated to run a leg on the DMR squad and will be among the top seeds in the mile at the New Balance Nationals Indoor Championships at the TRACK at new balance.
The state had one other athlete make the top of the podium with recent state champion Salter Arms of Moses Brown capturing the long jump with a leap of 24 feet, 3 inches. Saint Raphael’s Ethan McCann Carter was fifth overall with a distance of 22-11.5.
Arms, who has been plagued with fouls in his speciality this season, had to rally back to claim his first regional crown. He fouled on his opening two jumps in the prelims before earning a spot in the finals on his last attempt.
“I’ve had a lot of bad memories in this position,” Arms said. “Thankfully coach and I made an adjustment and played it a little conservative and was able to get 22-1 to get me into the finals . That adjustment really helped me out. I was able to land three in a row and bring it up to 23-3.”
Hendricken’s Troy Silvestri had a nearly 10-second best in the two mile, placing third overall with a time of 9:14.95. Silvestri battled with the front-runners throughout the race and was just strides behind the 1-2 of Maine’s Adam Bendetson (first, 9:13.99) and Massachusetts’ Ryan Sarney (second, 9:14.88).
Among other Rhode Islanders, East Greenwich’s Reese Fahys was fourth in the girls’ two mile at 11:07.26 andLa Salle’s Jared Gibbons was fourth in the 55m dash (6.50). In the relay events, the Cranston West girls were fourth in the 4x200m (1:45.34) and Classical was sixth (1:45.90, Hendricken established a school record by taking hird in the boys’ 4x200m (1:31.18), while Central was fifth (1:33.44). Hendricken clocked 3:28.66 to take fifth overall in the 4x400m,.
