(Above photo by Sterling Vernon at @rhodeandtrack)
It’s a chess match.
When you have teams with the level of talent of La Salle Academy, Barrington High and Bishop Hendricken, it’s all about utilizing your athletes in the most effective manner, making the right moves to maximize every available point.
Checkmate!
La Salle made all the right moves and, quite frankly, the Rams brought their ‘A’ game to Saturday’s RIIL Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The result was a closer-than-it-looks 128-115 victory over runner-up Barrington. Hendricken settled for third with 96 points.
Going into the final two track events – the 200-meter dash and 4x400m relay – Barrington held a slim one-point lead over La Salle. But the Rams saved their best for last, piling up 26 points in the meet’s final events to secure the championship.
Teammates Garrett Giroux Pezzullo and Jalen Moseley ignited the late surge by placing first and fourth, respectively, in the 200m. Moments later, La Salle’s state-leading 4x400m put the finishing touch on the title chase, cruising to a two-second victory over East Providence.
“The guys stepped up. We have great senior leadership but also young guys that really seized the moment out here to help us bring home the championship,” said La Salle coach Eldon Santiago. “We knew it was going to be tight throughout. Going into those last couple of events, we knew we had to put ourselves in the best position possible for our 4×4 guys to go out there and deliver.”
And deliver they did.
The two big scorers for La Salle were Giroux Pezzullo and Moseley.
In addition to his victory in the 200m (21.88 seconds), Giroux Pezzullo held off East Providence’s Justin Jardine down the stretch to capture his second straight 400m with a strong time of 48.64, just 0.22 seconds ahead of Jardine. Per usual, he also ran legs on the Rams’ first-place 4x100m (41.86) and 4x400m (3:21.64) squads.
“Coming in today, I was ready,” he said. “I changed my mindset a little bit. I just said I’m going to have some fun and see what I can do. I feel I have proven a lot the last four years. I’ve left it all on the track, so I’m really happy to come out here today and put on a show.”
Moseley finished with 33 individual points. He swept the hurdle events, clocking a PR of 14.09 and racing to a near best of 37.90 in the 300m hurdles. Both times, Cumberland’s Matt Fontaine secured the silver. Moseley also was second in the long jump (23 feet, 1 inch) and had his fourth-place showing in the 200m (22.34).
“Going into this meet I came in with a great mindset,” Moseley said. “I was trying to get a new state record in the 110 hurdles, trying to break 14 (seconds). For the 300 hurdles, maintaining my aggressiveness, even for the 110. And just finish strong.”
The versatile junior, the state-record holder in the long jump, was edged in that event by Barrington’s Caleb Satisfield, who secured the victory on his final attempt with a leap of 23-3 after Moseley had reached 23-1. Satisfield also won the high jump at 6-6.
“It was really just me being in my head a little bit, and not having the right mindset,” Moseley admitted. “I just got to remember to look up, stay happy and smile, and I’ll be good.”
La Salle also got 10 points in the pole vault where senior Judah Mullings soared to a winning height of 13-0. North Kingstown’s Cole Stotewell also cleared 13-0. Mullings was awarded the victory on fewer misses.
La Salle also scored points from sophomore Brad Laforest (fourth, 49.85) and sophomore Casey Ashe (seventh, 51.11) in the 400m, senior Marshall Vernon in the 1,500 (fourth, 4:04.41) and the 3,000m (fourth, 8:45.05), senior Eamon O’Brien in the 800m (seventh, 1:58.77), senior Antonio Bearden in the 110m hurdles (third, 15.02), 300m hurdles (fifth, 40.19) and high jump (fourth, 6-4).
Additional points came from the Rams’ 4x800m relay team, which finished third in 8:05.37, sophomore Andre Smith in the triple jump (sixth, 41-10) and junior Brendan Cardoso in the long jump (fourth, 22-6.5).
After receiving the traditional Gatorade bath from his athletes, Santiago said it is more than just talent that makes the Rams successful.
“It is a fun bunch,” he said. “I told those guys I don’t think I have ever cried after a championship. We put so much into it. There’s a lot of time and effort and energy that goes into it, especially for these seniors – Garrett, Antonio, Eamon, Marshall, Judah. These guys, they really changed our program. They have re-written the record books with relays, with the individual events. I am so proud of the guys. They are exceptional leaders. They really set the tone for the younger guys to follow.”
Saturday’s team title was the Rams’ fourth championship since 2024-25 when you factor in their two consecutive indoor crowns. Santiago credits his seniors with being an integral part of the program’s recent dominance.
“I told the guys, you always want to leave the program better than you found it. Those guys have set a really high bar,” he said. “Years from now, I hope they can look back at these championship moments and be proud of what they’ve done, because they’ve really left an incredible legacy.”
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Portsmouth’s Sean Gray turned in a record performance in the 3,000m. The Patriots senior captured his third straight title with a new state mark of 8:18.90. Gray never left the victory in doubt, building a sizable cushion after the first few laps and winning by more than a 100m over runner-up Brooks Mello of Barrington, who was timed in 8:33.50.
The Virginia-bound senior, and teammate Patrick Orbon (fifth, 8:49.78), were originally going to compete in the 1,500m, too. Gray was seeded No. 2 in the event.
“A few days ago, our coaches talked to us about maybe doing one event and having that be the 3K, because of the heat today,” he said. “He let us think about it a little bit and just doing one event. So Patrick and I decided to do the 3K because it’s our stronger event.”
It was clear from the start that Gray had his sights set on the 2022 state record of 8:20.52, established by former St. Raphael standout Devan Kipyego. Despite spending most of the race well ahead of the field, Gray never let up, breaking the mark with no one within striking distance down the stretch.
“It was really difficult, mentally more than physically,” he said. “Coming around with about 1,200 meters, maybe 1,400 to go, I took a look back to see where everyone else was because I was hurting pretty bad at that point. I had about a 150-meter lead on Colby (Flynn) and Marshall (Vernon). What was going through my head was, ‘Just slow down.’ But then I thought back to getting that record and just pushed hard through it and went after it.”
In the 100m dash, top seed Jack Pawlik of East Providence ran the fastest preliminary time at 10.62 but grabbed his hamstring immediately after crossing the line. He did not return for the final, with an ice pack wrapped on his leg after receiving medical attention.
Barrington’s Patrick Trainor emerged victorious in the 100m with a convincing win and a PR of 10.68. Classical’s Ephraim Teah was second at 10.91. Trainor was also third in the 200m (22.29), sixth in the long jump (22-3) and ran a leg on his team’s fifth-place 4x100m squad (43.57).
Hendricken scored 28 points in the 1,500m, highlighted by a sweep of the top three places with junior Colby Flynn (first, 4:01.14), senior David Hayes (second, 4:01.79) and senior Fred Russell (4:02.29). The race turned tactical in the early stages with all three runners and La Salle’s Marshall Vernon among the leaders. The group went through the 800m around 2:17, which included a 70 second 400m split for the second lap.
Vernon increased the pace from there and by the gun lap, all four runners were in kick mode. Coming down the backstretch, Russell made the most significant move, bolting to the front with a little more than 250 meters remaining.
“With like 300 meters to go I felt like I had one more gear to take it up,” Russell said. “I thought if I go now, David and Colby could feed off that. Marshall, being in the lead, it will be to his disadvantage, if I take it. If we play our numbers right, if I go now, Colby and David could follow and that’s what happened.”
From that point, it soon turned into an all-out sprint coming down the homestretch with Flynn just edging out Hayes with a few meters remaining. Vernon hung on to fourth at 4:04.41, and the Hawks’ Brayden Seraichyk placing fifth at 4:09.22.
Sophomore Kaeden Manni of Smithfield was a double winner. Manni captured the shot with a heave of 51-11.5 and the discus with a toss of 169-8.
Hendricken’s Dimitri Johnson continued his late-season momentum in the hammer with a first-place toss of 221-9. East Greenwich’s Ryan Evans was second at 214-1. Since taking over the No. 1 spot in the state rankings with a then-best of 227-2 at the St. Germain Invitational on May 10, Johnson has won three of his last four meets, including the Hendricken Invitational last Sunday where he beat Evans by three inches with a nation No. 2 of 230-3.
“That was the first meet I won this year and after that I was able to keep the momentum going,” he said. “That was the first meet where I was able to put it all together. It all came together and I was able to continue it today.”
