It was a big weekend for several of our varsity athletes in their preparation for the upcoming class and state championships, to be held on Oct. 26 and Nov. 2, respectively. For this week’s HOKA Athletes of the Week, we’re picking two harriers we expect will be making quite and impact in the upcoming weeks.
Congratulations to La Salle Academy’s Marshall Vernon and North Kingstown’s Abbie Tighe, our male and female recipients for this week’s honor.
The Rams’ Vernon was at his best on the up-and-down terrain of historic Van Cortland Park, site of Sunday’s Manhattan College Invitational. The La Salle junior took charge from the gun to win the Letter D race in a phenomenal 12 minutes, 24.70 seconds for the 2.5-mile course. His performance was the second fastest ever by a R.I. runner. Only former St. Raphael Academy standout Devan Kipyego has gone quicker, clocking 12:14.4 to win the Eastern States Championship race in 2022.
As for Tighe, she led the Skippers to an impressive third-place finish in the Large School race at the Bob Glennon Twilight Invitational. Taking advantage of a lightning-fast 5K at the Cape Cod Fairgrounds, the gifted sophomore raced to a PR of 18:09.24 to place sixth overall.
