The State Meet has arrived.
At this level, every event is a must-see. After all, they feature the very best Rhode Island has to offer. Throughout the week, Ocean State Running will preview all 19 events scheduled for Saturday’s championship meet. It’s an arduous task, but we’ll do our best to identify the athletes we believe are poised to shine the brightest on the state’s biggest stage.
We begin with the girls’ sprinting and hurdling events, which feature the 100-meter dash, 200m, 400m, 110m hurdles and 300m hurdles.
(Above photo by Sterling Vernon @rhodeandtrack)
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100m
With the graduation of West Warwick’s Lisa Raye and Xenia Raye, who dominated the sprints over the last three years, this event has been wide open in terms of picking a potential champion this year.
St. Raphael’s Francesca Justin and Mount Hope’s Thea Jackson are tied at the No. 1 seed with best this season of 12.24 seconds. At the three and four seeds are Hope’s Zariyah Brown and Moses Brown’s Kendra Satine, both at 12.35.
It’s anyone’s race on Saturday. Jackson has had the most success and experience in this event. She was third to the Raye sisters last year, where she also ran her all-time best of 12.07 from the Sgt. St. Germain Invitational.
Justin has been a consistent top finisher at statewide meets this spring and is the recent Class C winner. Satine has been strong, too. She won the recent Mount Pleasant Invitational and clocked her current best in the prelims of the Central Division Championships, a meet she placed second to Brown.
Speaking of the Hope senior, she was second to Jackson in the 55m dash at the states this past winter and later won the 300m. She knows how to perform on the biggest of stages.
This race could certainly come down to a lean at the finish.
200m
This is an event that has a chance to come down to the final few meters.
The top seed is St. Ray’s Francesca Justin. The speedy sophomore is the only sprinter to break 25 seconds this season with her best of 24.98 from the Class C Championships.
It won’t be easy for Justin to win her first individual state title as the competition is loaded behind her. The next eight seeds have broken 26 seconds, led by Moses Brown’s Skyler Maxwell (25.15), Mount Hope’s Thea Jackson (25.53) and Hope’s Zariyah Brown (25.56).
In addition to the 200m, Maxwell is also entered in the 400m and 800m this weekend. Will she compete in all three to help the Quakers score high on Saturday? That’s feasible given the amount of rest between events. Whether or not she does scratch from at least one, Maxwell is always a factor and has proven success when she competes in multiple events.
Jackson is another one that will encounter a busy afternoon at Brown Stadium. She’s entered in the 100m, 200m, high jump and long jump. Like Maxwell, competing in multiple events is old hat for the Huskies senior, who has an all-time best of 25.01 from her sophomore year.
As we indicated earlier, Brown was our 300m titlist this past winter. The longer sprints are her forte. She has a career best of 25.15 from the recent indoor season. She certainly can’t be ignored. It’s interesting to note that right now this will also be Brown’s third individual event (100m, 200m, and 400m) of the day.
400m
With the field that’s been assembled for Saturday’s meet, we’re expecting a time in the low 55-second range, possibly faster. It’s that good.
Assuming she runs, which we believe she will, Maxwell would be considered the favorite. She comes in with the top time in the field after winning the individual title at the Glenn B. Loucks Games on May 9 with a PR of 55.89. Maxwell has the potential to break 55 seconds when you factor in her 200m speed and the competition that will push her this weekend.
The next three seeds in this race have broken 57 seconds with Exeter/West Greenwich’s Kate Hebert (56.72), Barrington’s Kate Pearse (56.93), and Hope’s Zariyah Brown (56.94). On paper, this has all the makings of a classic showdown that will no doubt create some excitement on the final stretch.
By the way, nine runners have dipped under a minute with a few more on the cusp of doing the same. That’s an impressive field.
100m hurdles
The clear favorite in this race is Nini Olawuyi of Exeter-West Greenwich. The Scarlet Knight senior is unbeaten this season and clocked a state-leading 14.77 at the Southern Division Championships. Olawuyi is the only hurdler in this field that has broken 15 seconds. The 55m hurdle champion was also the runner-up in this event a year ago.
Who are some of her top competitors? It’s all about the J’s with North Kingstown’s Julianna Williams (15.40), West Warwick’s Jailynn Huffman (15.53) and La Salle’s Jillian Lewis (15.72) occupying the next three seeds.
Three more in this race have gone under 16 seconds in this event, including our top two 300m hurdle specialists, Reagan Farrell of North Kingstown and Reece Vitale of Cranston West. Farrell has a seed of 15.79, while Vitale has done 15.75. There’s also Desilet Robles of Rogers at 15.73.
Olawuyi deserves favorite status entering Saturday. But you never know in this race where one clip of the hurdle can make a difference in the end.
300m hurdles
In her first year concentrating solely on this event, Reagan Farrell has been nothing short of fantastic. The North Kingstown standout has been undefeated this season and is the only hurdler who has gone under 46 seconds, a feat she did three times this spring. She enters this meet with a best of 45.34 from her victory at the Class A Championships.
In all three races that Farrell has run 45 seconds, her top challenger was Reece Vitale of Cranston West, the No. 2 seed. That suggests Farrell consistently rises to the occasion when facing top competition.
Vitale, however, has been right there every time. She has a best of 46.77 from her runner-up finish to her rival at the Sgt. Brian St. Germain Invitational. She appears to be the Skipper senior’s top threat this weekend. Will the fourth time be the charm for Farrell or will Vitale finally be able to beat her rival on the biggest of stages?
Other top hurdlers in this race are South Kingstown freshman Bria Bender (47.52), La Salle’s Jillian Lewis (47.74) and Barrington’s Charlotte Farrell (47.87), to name a few.
