It’s a wrap.
The last of our previews for this winter’s indoor track & field season. Here’s we feature the girls’ middle and long-distance events, which includes the 1,000-meter run, 1,500m and 3K.
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1,000m
As we indicated in our boys’ preview, this is an event that is often an extra event for most of our top athletes. The freshest legs usually wins out. That was the case last year when Toll Gate’s Alison Pankowicz earned the individual title in her first event of the day, beating the likes of St. Ray’s Rory Sullivan, Chariho’s Erin von Housen and Pilgrim’s Keaney Bayha, who all had competed earlier in the meet. In 2024, we had just one runner break three minutes. A year earlier, we had three, which is the most we’ve had in state history. Look for a year where we’re going to match that total, possibly exceed, by season’s end. The Patriots’ Bayha and Cumberland’s Kylie DeFusco have already gone under the mark. Bayha clocked a a best of 2:58.47 at the BU Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in early December. On Sunday, DeFusco edged her rival by less than a second in a league meet with a state-leading 2:58.12. Another runner we believe will go sub-3 this season is Cumberland’s Rose Toumisto, who won the Boston Holiday Challenge on Dec. 28 with a best of 3:01.47. This race will get interesting at the State Meet. More than likely, if DeFusco and Bayha run this event, it will be their second (or third) of the day. Both are our top two seeds in the 3K and the 1,500m. Tuomisto, a sub five-minute 1,500m runner, could run that event or skip it entirely to compete in the 1K fresh, save for a possible leg on the meet-opening 4x800m squad. Other runners that should be among our best are Narragansett’s Karuna Lohmann, Portsmouth’s Allie Kaull, and La Salle’s Alyssa Parenteau, just to name a few. Already this season, we have eight that have done 3:10 or faster. That’s far ahead of the pace of last year, and most years, if not all, before it.
1,500m
There’s plenty of talent here, too. It all begins with DeFusco and Bayha. DeFusco beat the Patriots standout in a league meet back on Dec. 22 where both ran the current 1-2 times in the state of 4:43.40 and 4:45.20, respectively. We expect those times to be lowered significantly this winter with the talented tandem in that mid 4:30 range by the end of the season. DeFusco owns an all-time best of 4:37.93 for the 1,500m, which she did en route to a PR of 4:57.94 for the mile at the Glenn B. Loucks Games last spring. Bayha was our state runner-up in this race at last year’s states with an indoor best of 4:42.14. She raced to an all-time best of 4:41.68 during the spring to place second again at the State Meet. We’re predicting that Bayha will not only run under 4:40 for the 1,500m, but break five minutes for the mile for the first time, maybe as early as this weekend, if she’s entered in the Yale Track Classic or some other quality out-of-state competition. From last year’s state meet, six of our top eight finishers are back, including Bayha, DeFusco, Cumberland’s Charli McCue, Parenteau, North Kingstown’s Abbie Tighe and Bay View’s Jackie Mattos, who were 2-3-4-5-7-8 in 2024. With the season just about a month old, we already have eight that have broken five minutes. Like the 1,000m, that’s a big number this early. All of the aforementioned as well as Portsmouth Allie Kaull, North Kingstown’s Laura Stowe and Maura Whitney and St. Raphael’s Mackenzie Lickert, are runners to keep an eye on this winter.
3,000m
Yep, you guessed it. It’s DeFusco and Bayha yet again in this event. DeFusco is the defending outdoor champion and Bayha has consistently been among the top three. The two stars also each have a 10:06 PR to their credit. Two weeks ago, Bayha was second in the two mile at the Beantown Winter Classic with a time of 10:45.40 at the TRACK at New Balance. That converts to about a 10:02 for 3K. Look for a possible sub 10-minute effort this season by either, or both, in the right kind of race. The Skippers’ Tighe, who was second to Bayha at the cross-country state championships this past fall, is another runner that can’t be ignored. As a freshman last year, the NK underclassman was third in this event at the indoor states and second during outdoor. She has an all-time best of 10:09.88 from her runner-up finish at the St. Germain Invitational in May. The Patriots’ Kaull should also figure in the mix and is capable of making some noise come championship time. The Portsmouth senior was fourth at the XC states and won the two mile on Dec. 28 at the MSTCA Boston Holiday Challenge with a best of 11:15.85. She’s ready to excel. We’re expecting a big year from North Smithfield’s Julia Dowling, who’s coming off a solid cross-country season. She ran a PR of 10:38.70 for the 3K on Sunday, a best by more than a minute!
