Like it has been for most of its nearly 60-year history, the unofficial kickoff to the competitive portion of the outdoor season will be held Saturday, April 4, with the annual Knights of Columbus 4-Mile Relays, sponsored by Marathon Sports and New Balance.
The 58th edition of the popular meet, which also features a hammer throw and a freshmen mile, will once again be held at Mount Pleasant’s Conley Stadium.
If you want to talk about tradition, the K of C Relays has plenty of it.
In the inaugural meet in 1968, Hope High’s foursome clocked 18:02.9 to capture the Division I race—a time that ranked among the best in the nation and stood as the meet record for nearly 20 years. In 1987, Xavier (CT) became one of only two teams to break 18 minutes, racing to the current mark of 17:43.3.
A young Chris Magill, now the coach at St. Raphael Academy, was a member of one of only two squads to go sub-18 at the meet. As part of the Saints’ 1989 team—coached by current Hendricken coach Jim Doyle—Magill and his teammates dipped under the barrier with a time of 17:59.2. That victory was part of a four-year run by St. Ray’s, which claimed titles from 1988 to 1991.
Through the efforts of SRA coach Debbie Doyle, girls’ competition was introduced in 1991. The Saints quickly made their presence felt, winning four of the first five titles. The current meet record belongs to longtime participant Bishop Feehan (MA), which captured the Division I title in 2014 with a triumphant 21:30.14. That quartet featured multiple all-stater Abbie (McNulty) Bennie, who is now one of the top U.S. marathoners.
Catholic Memorial’s Bill Martin won the first freshmen mile in 1972 with a time of 4:43. The inaugural girls’ race in 1990 was captured by St. Raphael’s Stella Kuras in 6:26.
The hammer competition has regularly featured some of the nation’s top throwers, including three-time Olympian and former American record-holder Rudy Winkler. Five years prior to his first Olympics in 2016, the then-Averill Park (NY) senior won the title with a throw of 191-6.
Barrington’s Bobby Colantonio, an NCAA champion in the weight throw at the University of Alabama, holds the meet record with a toss of 243-6 in 2016. His Eagles teammate, Adam Kelly, previously held the mark at 236-7.
The girls’ 4kg hammer was introduced in 1997, with Hope’s Wadudah Nurul-Islam winning the first two titles. Classical’s Alva Hicks followed by capturing the next two. The current meet record is 182-1, set by Barrington’s Annika Kelly in 2019.
***
It’s time to become part of the tradition—and maybe break a record or two (or more).
One record that has stood the test of time is Xavier’s in the boys’ 4xMile. It’s now 39 years old! Could we finally see that mark go down this spring?
In addition to Rhode Island schools, the meet is open to teams from Massachusetts and Connecticut. Registration can be completed online by clicking HERE. The cost is $20 per relay team and $10 for each individual. Teams may enter an unlimited number of entries, with a maximum cost of $150 per gender. There are three divisions for boys and two for girls, based on school size.
T-shirts to the top three teams in each division. The top 10 individuals in the hammer and freshmen mile races also get T-shirts.
