Let the bragging rights begin!
Who will be the top schools vying for the team title at their respective class championships on Saturday? What are some of the events that have grabbed our attention? Throughout the week, we’ll let you know our thoughts as we preview all three boys’ and girls’ class championships.
Below we preview the Class A boys’ and girls’ meets.
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Class A Championships – Boys
Date/Time: Saturday at 9 a.m.
Teams: Bishop Hendricken, Central, Classical,. Coventry, Cranston East, Cumberland, East Providence, Hope, La Salle Academy, Mount Pleasant, North Kingstown, Pilgrim, Toll Gate, Woonsocket
Events To Watch: Hendricken is among the favorites to win the team title on Saturday, and the 1,500-meter run is one of the events where its outstanding depth really shines through. The Hawks have the ability to sweep the top four (or more) spots in the race. The top seed is senior Fred Russell, who won this event at last week’s Bayha Division Championships with a PR of 4:04.12. Right behind him are teammates Colby Flynn (4:04.55), Brayden Seraichyk (4:06.09) and Shepherd Butler (4:08.41). At the No. 6 seed is the Hawks’ David Hayes with a time of 4:12.98. Flynn and Hayes have both run much faster than their seeds based on their mile efforts this season. Flynn clocked a 4:14.47 mile at the Apple Bank Hispanic Games back on Jan. 3, while Hayes raced to a best of 4:20.94 at last month’s Yale Track Classic. Russell and Butler are expected to run the 3K as well, so they may not be at full strength, but either way they still could factor heavily in the scoring. The Hawks have the ability to score 25 or more points in this event alone…The finish-line camera will likely determine the winner of the 55m dash. The race features four of the state’s top seven sprinters with La Salle’s Jalen Moseley (6.48), East Providence’s Jack Pawlik (6.54), Classical’s Ephraim Teah (6.56) and La Salle’s Garrett Giroux-Pezzullo (6.64). Moseley is the defending champion, while Giroux-Pezzullo and Pawlik went 1-2 at last year’s state meet. These guys know how to race in meets like this. Take your pick in this one. Look for Giroux-Pezzullo to make it happen in the 300m, which will add to his busy day that also includes the 55m and legs on the 4x200m and 4x400m. He owns the No. 1 spot in the 300m at 35.53 at PCTA…How about the 55m hurdles, too? This race matches up the state’s top two hurdlers in Moseley and Cumberland’s Matt Fontaine. Moseley, the defending titlist, ran a PR of 7.53 to finish second at the Nor’Easter at the Track on Jan. 11. His best at PCTA is 7.65. Over the past few weeks, Fontaine has been remarkably consistent, hovering in the 7.6–7.7 range with a season-best 7.63 from last week’s Headley Division Championships…Expect the meet to shift into high gear right from the beginning. The second event of the day, the 4x200m, matches up the state’s No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 squads this season with top seed and defending champion La Salle Academy occupying the top spot, followed by East Providence and Bishop Hendricken. The Rams own a season-best of 1:30.38 from the MSTCA Boston Holiday Challenge on Dec. 27 at the Track at New Balance. At PCTA, La Salle brings a best of 1:31.91 to the line. The Townies are seeded at 1:33.19, while the Hawks come in at 1:33.78 and ran slightly faster last month with a 1:33.36 at the Beantown Winter Classic. Save for Barrington, a Class B squad seeded third, this race could give us a preview of what to expect at the state championships in two weeks…As always, the weight throw should draw plenty of interest. It features defending champion Shamrock Thoun of Woonsocket and Bishop Hendricken’s Dimitri Johnson, who recently joined the 70-foot club. Thoun owns the state and national No. 2 mark at 80-9.25. In three of his last four meets—the Yale Track Classic, the East Coast Invitational and a Dwyer Division dual meet—he has gone 80-plus with throws of 80-0, 80-7.25 and 80-7.25. That’s what you call consistency. We don’t expect that to change when last year’s three-time national champion (Nike, New Balance and adidas) steps behind the cage. But don’t overlook Johnson. The Hawks have been no strangers to producing top throwers who often rise to the occasion at championship time. Johnson comes in with a season-best of 72-7 from the Bayha Division Championships, a nearly three-foot improvement that ranks him No. 3 in the state and seventh nationally. No doubt that’s given Johnson some confidence heading into this weekend’s meet.
Team Outlook: It should be all about Hendricken and La Salle when talking about the team title. The Rams will eb without top distance runner Marsahll Vernon, who is competing at the BU this weekend. But that should matter to much scoring. La Salle’s depth still matches up with the Hawks in a meet that could come down to the final few events.
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Class A Championships – Girls
Date/Time: Saturday at 9 a.m.
Teams: Central, Classical,. Coventry, Cranston East, Cumberland, East Providence, Hope, La Salle Academy, Mount Pleasant, North Kingstown, Pilgrim, Toll Gate, Woonsocket
Events To Watch: Hope has a long history of producing standout sprinters, and we’ll get a chance to see another one this weekend with Zariyah Brown entering the 55m dash as the top seed. Brown ranks No. 3 in the state after winning last week’s Sullivan Division title in a PR of 7.34. Brown will be challenged by a deep field that includes four runners seeded under 7.60—Classical’s Eniola Yusuf (7.55), East Providence’s Ryley Soutu (7.56), Classical’s Precious Adefusi (7.56) and North Kingstown’s Ellie Gagnon (7.57). Brown’s performance last week marked a .14-second best, a significant drop in sprint terms. That should give her plenty of confidence to dip even lower on Saturday. Brown should make it twice as nice this weekend, mush like she did last week. She also rank No. 1 iun the 300m where her time of 41.74 is slightly more than a second ahead of La Salle freshman Torri Charello Ingegneri (42.93). The next two seeds are also ioccupied by La Salle underclassmen with sophomore Olivia Tucker (44.09) and freshman Lena Reilly at the three and four seeds…One clipped hurdle could make all the difference in the 55m hurdles. Three athletes in the field have broken nine seconds, led by Cranston West’s Reece Vitale, the top seed with a state No. 3 time of 8.84. Also under nine seconds are North Kingstown’s Reagan Farrell (8.92) and Julianna Williams (8.97). Add in La Salle’s Jillian Lewis, who is right on the cusp with a best of 9.03, and this could be one of those races that comes right down to the final few meters…La Salle’s Alyssa Parenteau put her name atop the list in the 1,500m last week, clocking an indoor best of 4:44.90 to capture the Dwyer Division title. That time placed her nearly three seconds ahead of her closest rival in the state rankings. The Rams’ junior could find herself running solo late in the race, as her seed time is almost 10 seconds faster than the next closest competitor — teammate Olivia Wahlberg (4:54.60). Still, nothing is guaranteed. There is talent in the field, and with more on the line this weekend, several runners could be poised for big performances. Among them are Cumberland’s Charli McCue (4:57.0) and North Kingstown’s Lucy Stowe (5:01.0). Both have previously run faster than their seed times. Stowe finished third at last year’s outdoor state meet with a personal best of 4:38.47, while McCue owns a PR of 4:44.93, which earned her sixth place at that same meet. Parenteau will also return to the track in the 1,000m, where she currently holds the No. 2 seed after winning last week’s divisionals in 3:00.68. As of this writing, she is slated to square off against North Kingstown senior Abby O’Neil, who captured gold in the event at the Yale Track Classic a few weeks ago with an impressive 2:54.54. O’Neil is also entered in the 600, where she boasts a best of 1:38.07. Whether she chooses one event or attempts the grueling double, the Skippers standout has the potential to make a major impact….The weight throw should generate plenty of excitement. Red-hot Vanessa Jones of Toll Gate is the No. 1 seed with a best this season of 56-7.25. In her last five meets, Jones has gone 53-3.5 or further, including a pair of 55-footers. She’ll have some competition to push her with North Kingstown’s Tayla Schneider (51-6.5) and Woonsocket’s Avaree Caron (51-0) in the field.
Team Outlook: La Salle appears to have enough firepower to win its third title in the last four years. But don’t count out North Kingstown. Classical is another team that should place high.
