A dynasty in the making for the girls from Cumberland High?
Head coach Kerrie Carpenter believes it’s far too early to start that conversation.
She might be right — for now. But there’s no denying that the Clippers are starting to look like one of those teams for whom a title would feel right at home.
A match-up with La Salle Academy that was predicted to be close at Saturday’s RIIL Cross-Country Championships, turned into a runaway victory by the Clippers, who cruised to their third straight team title with a rather convincing 26-54 decision over the Rams on trails of Ponaganset’s Covered-Bridge Trail.
Taking command early, CHS sophomore CC Ludwig turned the race into her own by midway point and grabbed individual honors with a personal best time of 18:17.27. Last week’s Class C winner Mackenzie Lickert continued the momentum from that race to place second overall with a 12-second best of 18:44.27. The Clippers had all five of its scorers among the first 12 finishers with Ludwig, Charli McCue (third, 18:50.71), Gabby Stoothoff (sixth, 18:57.31), freshman Natalie Crawford (ninth, 19;:07.47) and Anna Bianchi (12th, 19:13.85) securing those spots.
On the boys’ side, a dynasty that has already been established by Bishop Hendricken played out like most had anticipated. Similar to the Lady Clippers, the Hawks bunched their five scorers in the first 13 positions en route to a 30-94 victory over runner-up North Kingstown. For the Hawks, it was their fifth straight crown and 29th overall in the school’s history.
In a race that came down to the final meters, Portsmouth’s Sean Gray edged Hendricken’s Colby Flynn to capture individual gold with a time of 15:16.10. Flynn finished less than a half-second behind in 15:16.51. The Hawks’ David Hayes (third, 15:29.01) and defending champion Marshall Vernon of La Salle Academy (fourth, 15:30.62) claimed the next two spots.
Rounding out the Hawks’ scoring were Flynn, Hayes, Fred Russell (fifth, 15:57.82), Shepherd Butler (eighth, 16:03.38), and Brayden Seraichyk (16:34.28).
Ocean State Running will have more coverage on the State Meet coming soon. Click on the links below for complete results and interviews (and more to come).
