The second state qualifier of the outdoor season is on tap this Saturday with the annual Sgt. Brian St. Germain Invitational.
As expected, the field at West Warwick High School will be highly competitive, featuring some of the state’s best.
Here’s a closer look at a few of the key events to watch this weekend.
La Salle Academy’s multi-talented junior Jalen Moseley missed last week’s Classical Classic due to a college visit at LSU, but the Ram standout will be back in action at the St. Germain Invite. The defending 110- and 300-meter champion is entered in both events, where he has seed times of 14.18 and 37.67, respectively. He holds the current state record in the 110m hurdles and is also close to the 300m hurdles mark of 13.98, shared by Hope’s Yudehweh Gbaa and Barrington’s Bobby Wind.
Moseley is also a threat to break the state’s oldest track record in the long jump. The indoor record-holder will be targeting the 1936 mark of 24-0.5 set by former Moses Brown standout Dan Blount.
The girls’ 800m should generate plenty of excitement. The top seed is North Kingstown’s Abby O’Neil, who won last Saturday’s Classical Classic with a state-leading 2:15.76. O’Neil owns a PR of 2:12.89, which she ran to place third at last year’s State Meet, and she’ll have plenty of competition pushing her on Saturday.
La Salle will have three of its top runners in the race, with Alyssa Parenteau (2:16.30), Layne Stevens (2:16.68), and Carolina Terlato (2:17.06) all entered. Parenteau was a winner in the 3K last weekend, while Stevens delivered a big PR in the mile at the meet.
Mount Hope’s Thea Jackson once again has a strong chance to be a multiple winner. She holds the No. 1 seed in the 100m (12.07) and long jump (19-1) and shares the top spot in the high jump (5-4) with Chariho’s Sonja Beasley. She’s also the No. 2 seed in the 200m, where her 25.01 puts her among four athletes under 26 seconds. St. Raphael’s Francesca Justin leads the group with a 24.99.
The girls hammer throw features five athletes who have surpassed 170 feet: Smithfield’s Emma Reed (177-5), Ponaganset’s Cecelia Bizon (172-10), Classical’s Chibuzo Ihenacho (171-4) and Nelmarix Santos Mojica (171-2), and Toll Gate’s Vanessa Jones (170-4), last week’s Classical Classic champion.
It should be a fast one in the boys’ 200m, with La Salle’s Garrett Giroux Pezzullo and East Providence’s Jack Pawlik leading the field. Both come in with sub-22 times—21.64 and 21.70, respectively. Seventeen others in the field have broken 23 seconds, with La Salle teammates Brendan Cardoso (22.10) and Abrahim Ghamrawi (22.25) next on the list.
The boys’ 800m could be one of more exciting races of the day. Last week’s 1,500m champion David Hayes and fellow Bishop Hendricken teammate Colby Flynn enter with top seeds of 1:58.0. St. Raphael’s Arthur Ferris (1:58.10), Barrington’s Henry Stockwell (1:58.26) and Prout’s Juelz Harris (1:58.96) also have gone sub-2. We’re predicting a time around 1:55 with this crew.
We can’t forget recent state record-holder Ponaganset’s Amber Shaw in the girls’ pole vault. She set the current mark of 12-01.25 at last week’s Classical Classic.
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SCHEDULE
Field Events – 10 a.m.
Boys’ High Jump, Boys & Girls Long Jump, Girls’ Pole Vault, Boys’ Hammer, Boys’ Shot, Girls’ Discus, Girls’ Javelin; Second round of field events will start when the finals for the previous one have ended; Triple Jump will start after long jump finals
Running Events – 10 a.m.
4x800m
4x100m
1,500m Unseeded
110m/100m Hurdles
100m Dash Trials
1,500m Seeded
100m/110m Hurdles Finals
100m Dash Finals
400m Sections
300m Hurdles
800m Sections
3,000m Boys
200m Sections
3,000m Girls
4x400m
