With the sun blazing on Brown Stadium, it was a hot day at the RIIL State Track & Field Championships.
But the competition was even hotter.
As we’re accustomed to – and as fans are treated to year after year this time of season – the athletes and teams did not disappoint.
North Kingstown finally earned a much-deserved and long-awaited girls team title. La Salle Academy came on strong in the closing events to capture its second straight championship and the program’s 21st state crown.
And then there were the athletes – countless competitors who simply performed at their best when it mattered most.
For some, it was a final farewell to the track & field season. For others, it was merely the beginning of the postseason, with this Saturday’s New England Championships and the national meets a week later still on the horizon.
Before moving on to those competitions, as we often do once the dust has settled from championship weekend, let’s take One Last Look At Another Memorable State Meet.
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Except for the relays, with athletes competing in their own individual events, track & field is often viewed as an individual sport.
Try telling that to any of the athletes who competed at Saturday’s state meet.
In our post-race interviews, we asked several athletes how important it was to compete for their respective teams and whether there was ever any hesitation when coaches asked them to take on additional events to score valuable team points.
We already knew the answer.
There was never a second thought.
For those schools involved in the team-title battles, athletes were willing to do whatever was asked of them. Sacrificing personal goals or preferred events for the good of the team wasn’t viewed as a sacrifice at all.
It was an obligation.
We see it all the time, and we saw it again this past weekend.
Countless athletes competing in relays and/or multiple events instead of focusing solely on their signature event, where an individual gold medal might have been within reach.
A perfect example of that team-first mentality came in the boys’ 1,500-meter run. With the level of talent in the field, this was a race that could have easily been won in the low 3:50 range. Instead, as expected, it turned tactical, with La Salle’s Marshall Vernon and Hendricken’s David Hayes, Colby Flynn and Fred Russell leading the way.
Any one of the four could have broken away early in an attempt to win the race outright. But all of them understood that wasn’t necessarily the formula for helping their team capture a championship.
What really caught our attention came on the backstretch of the final lap, when the race began to heat up.
Almost as if he had been shot out of a cannon, Russell exploded from fourth place to the lead. The Hendricken senior didn’t make the move because he believed he had the best chance to win. He knew teammates Hayes and Flynn possessed stronger finishing kicks.
Instead, Russell made his move to give Hendricken the best opportunity to maximize its points.
The strategy worked.
Russell’s sudden surge caught Vernon slightly off guard and, at the same time, signaled to his teammates that it was time to make their move. By the time the runners entered the final straightaway, the Hawks were in complete control, occupying the top three positions with Flynn, Hayes and Russell.
Flynn, who captured the state title in 4:01.14, covered his final 400m in under 54 seconds. Hayes was second in 4:01.49, while Russell finished third in 4:01.29. Both ran their final laps in 55 seconds.
Afterward, Flynn recalled a key moment during the closing laps when the increasingly anxious junior wanted to break the race open.
“Around like the 500-meter mark I was kind of getting antsy because we had just thrown in a 68 (second lap),” he said. “I was like I’m thinking of taking it and Fred is right there. I started to swing wide and Fred stuck his arm out and said, no.”
Russell knew what he was doing. He knew a move like that had a lower chance of being successful for his teammates.
On his final move.
“Fred just started going and it set an example for the rest of us,” Flynn said. “We just went with him. I ended up taking it but it was just a great effort by all of us.”
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Sportsmanship was everywhere at Saturday’s meet.
There are not too many sports out there that compare to track & field and cross-country when it comes to sportsmanship. You can call us biased, but we don’t feel we’re too off base on this subject.
If you spent any time watching the boys’ shot put competition, you got a prime example. We were there during the finals and the noise level was constant.
And that was each time someone stepped into the circle. It didn’t matter what uniform they were wearing, it was equally the same, fellow rivals cheering each other regardless of what singlet they were wearing. It was great to see and we’re sure it provided plenty of motivation for all those competing.
We also saw it on the track. One particular race that caught our eye was the boys’ 100m finals. The race was without top seed and defending champion Jack Pawlik of East Providence, who injured his hamstring after winning his heat in the preliminaries. With an ice pack wrapped around his leg, Pawlik watched the race not too far from where he received medical attention.
Shortly after winning the race, Barrington’s Patrick Trainor found Pawlik in the finish line area and the first words out of his mouth were how sorry for him that he couldn’t be in the race. He repeated it at least three times before Pawlik gave him a celebratory hug. It was genuine. It was heartfelt and truly showed the greatness of this sport.
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Thirty athletes.
For some schools, that number might represent only their distance runners—or perhaps even fewer.
For Tiverton High, which joined the league last year, that’s roughly the size of its track & field team.
Combined – boys and girls.
Tiverton finished the boys’ competition in a tie for 19th among the 32 schools with nine points. Considering the size of its squad and its newness to the league, that’s a result far more impressive than it might appear at first glance. The Tigers scored their points with a trio of sixth-place finishes from Brady Joslyn in the 800m (1:58.72), Colin Messenger in the 400m (50.70) and their 4x800m squad of Joslyn, Messenger, Owen Schreiner and Magnus Caspersen, who combined for a school record of 8:07.93, 0.55 seconds ahead powerhouse Hendricken.
The girls’ team, the smaller of the two squads, did not produce a state qualifier this spring. But give them time.
Remember the Tigers joined forces just last year. So far, the future looks bright.
Kudos to all the athletes on this year’s team.
And additional praise to head coach Steven Schreiner for getting the ball rolling down in Tiverton.
Well done!
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During a conversation with St. Raphael coach Chris Magill at the New Balance Nationals this past March, he spoke about star distance runner MacKenzie Lickert and her genuine passion for running.
He told us how she routinely embraced competing in multiple events at a meet—not only to score valuable points for her team, but because she simply loved to run.
And because of that passion, success followed.
Lickert has established herself as one of the state’s premier distance runners. She placed second at the state cross-country championships this past fall and emerged as one of our top 3K specialists, owning a PR of 10:13.43 from the Yale Track Classic.
But the state meet during the indoor season didn’t go according to plan.
Lickert entered the championship as the top seed in the 3,000m. Unfortunately, she came down with the flu during the week leading up to the meet. Despite being under the weather, she still competed, but finished a disappointing fourth overall.
It all came together for Lickert this past weekend.
The hard work. The dedication. The passion for the sport.
It all paid off in a big way inside Brown Stadium as Lickert captured her first state title with a convincing victory and time of 10:22.70.
“I was in the best shape of my life going into indoor and I was really excited to see what I could do,” Lickert said. “It was just very unfortunate. I got the flu just before the race. Honestly, after that race I knew I wanted to win this more than anything, and I’d do anything I could to get back to full strength. Now, I feel I’m in better shape than I was then and excited to see what I can do.”
