Around the Oval with Bob Leddy

Bob Leddy, RIT&FF Correspondent

A retired sports writer and past track official, Bob Leddy covered high school and college cross-country and track & field for twenty years with the Providence Journal. He is currently the correspondent for the Rhode Island Track & Field Foundation, and graciously continues to provide informative and interesting notes and commentary to the RITCA website.

Weight throw
(SR: 81-8.75/24.91m)
	Max Milder, Hendricken              59-1 (18.00 meters)
	Tim Phok, Classical                 58-10 (17.93)
	Gabre Winters                       58-0.50 (17.69)
 
Shot put
(SR: 62-5.50/19.03m)
	Rich Casiello, St. Raphael          49-8 (15.13)
	Jeremy Octeau, Westerly             48-3.75 (14.72)
	Gabe Reynoso, Classical             48-2 (14.68)
 
High jump
(SR: 7-1.50/2.17m)
	Craig Amado, Central                6-0 (1.83)
	Mike Sphar, N. Kingstown            6-0
	Innocent Jacobs, Chariho            5-10 (1.78)
 
3000
(SR: 8:27.21)
	Jake Sienko, Hendricken             8:39.7
	Brian Doyle, Hendricken             8:47.6
	Mike MacKenzie, Hendricken          8:54.7
 
1500
(SR: 3:53.32)
	Bob Allen, Cr. West                 4:05.3
	Nick Ross, E. Greenwich             4:07.7
	Sienko, Hendricken                  4:11.2
 
1000
(SR: 2:28.97)
	Doyle, Hendricken                   2:37.5
	Sienko, Hendricken                  2:37.6
	Ross, E. Greenwich                  2:38.2
 
600
(SR: 1:20.81)
	Ken Cheston, N. Kingstown           1:26.5
	Amado, Central                      1:26.5
	Zach Fraielli, La Salle             1:26.7
 
300
(SR: 34.77)
	Jarrell James, Hope                 36.7
	Manny Gomes, E. Providence          36.8
	Ryan Gower, Barrington              37.1
 
55m
(SR: 6.34)
	Kadeem Kushimo, La Salle            6.2
	Brandon Aikens, Cumberland          6.3
	Mike Read, Barrington               6.3
 
55mH
(SR: 7.41)
	Sphar, N. Kingstown                 7.6
	Tim Clarkin, Coventry               7.8
	Jarrell Forbes, Classical           7.8
 
4x200
(SR: 1:29.72)
	Barrington                          1:33.7
	Central                             1:35.3
	N. Kingstown                        1:35.4
 
4x400
(SR: 3:24.81)
	Cumberland                          3:32.9
	N. Kingstown                        3:35.6
	Hendricken                          3:35.9
 
4x800
(SR: 8:04.05)
	E. Greenwich                        8:24.9
	Hendricken                          8:31.0
	Westerly                            8:47.3

Jan. 6, 2010 – La Salle maintained its lead in the second seasonal poll by a group of girls’ track coaches. The Rams collected 90 points, including four first-place ballots. Toll Gate, meanwhile, accounted for 88 points, and an equal number of first-place ballots. The Titans were second in preseason polling. Barrington’s 82 points were good for third, and South Kingstown (fourth with 72 points) collected a pair of first-place votes. Smithfield (No. 5) and Hope (No. 6) followed.

Central Falls made the coaches top 10 for the first time. The Warriors have a strong field event corps this season.

Oval Notes: Girls’ Division Championships are slated for Jan. 28 and 29 (Thursday and Friday), and the Class Championships will be held Feb. 4 and 5 (also on Thursday and Friday) . . . The boys’ divisional meets are scheduled to be run on Saturday, Jan. 30, with the Class Championship meets slated for Saturday, Feb. 6 . . . All meets will be held at the Providence Athletic Facility track.

Team                 Pts.    1st-place    Prev. poll
1. La Salle          90      4            1
2. Toll Gate         88      4            2
3. Barrington        82                   3
4. So. Kingstown     2       2            4
5. Smithfield        56                   5
6. Hope              54                   6
7. No. Kingstown     34                   7
8. E. Greenwich      24                   - -
9. Bay View          17                   10
10. Central Falls    10                   - -
Other teams - Cr. West 9; Classical 6; Westerly 5; Pilgrim 2; Chariho 1.

Dec. 31, 2009 – The new track facility at the Providence Career & Technical Academy hosted its first major meet yesterday with the first annual R.I. Classic Track & Field Invitational. The two consecutive meets (boys’ followed by girls’) featured prep athletes from eight states. The Classic event (a non-scoring meet) replaces the Brown Invitational, which was discontinued after last year. While the Brown was a two-day event, this year’s Classic was held in one day. Meet officials hope to return to the two-day format next year.

Rhode Island had four individual winners, all in the boys’ meet. Cranston West senior James Strawderman won the pole vault at a height of 4.42 meters (14 feet, 6 inches), well ahead of the second-place effort (12-6). “I felt good, but coming back from Christmas [break] is hard,’’ said Strawderman, who went in at 3.96 meters (13 feet).

Strawderman said he has been competing this winter at “all-comers’’ open meets at Boston’s Reggie Lewis track, but yesterday’s vault is his best thus far. Strawderman is the R.I. record-holder in the outdoor pole (4.64/15-3).

In the 55-meter dash, La Salle senior Kadeem Kushimo clocked 6.52 seconds to victory, while Woonsocket senior Wes DeChristofaro took the gold in the long jump. DeChristofaro’s leap was 6.69 meters (21 feet, 11.50 inches). And in the freshman mile, Cumberland’s Trevor Crawley clocked 4:55.59 to take the win.

The Hendricken sprint medley relay (at 1600 meters) won that event with a time of 3:54.17.

The boys’ Track MVP went to Central’s Craig Amado, who finished second in the 300 meters (37.19) and second in the triple jump (13.69 meters/44-11).

Other standout local performances included Robert Allen’s in the boys’ mile. Allen, a junior from Cranston West, finished second in 4 minutes, 20.68 seconds. Allen, starting on the inside land, took the initial lead in the race, then battled Bishop Guertin’s Francis Hernandez for the lead. Hernandez was the eventual winner with a time of 4:18.82. “That was my first mile run,’’ said Allen, a cross country All-Stater last fall. “I felt confident coming in.’’

Hendricken went 4-5 in the mile; Brian Doyle placed fourth in 4:24.32, and Jake Sienko fifth in 4:24.70.

In the girls’ portion of the meet, Barrington senior Sarah Barry finished fifth in a loaded mile field. Barry’s time was 5:09.52 in a race that was won by Saratoga (N.Y.) Springs High’s Brianne Bellon (5:03.74). The Eagles’ Abigail Jones finished seventh (5:11.92); La Salle sophomore Molly Keating eighth (5:16.12); Bay View’s Stephanie Beaudette ninth (5:18.86) and Cranston West senior Arianna Colella tenth (5:23.15).

The Eagles’ Molly Malinowski ran a strong 10:47.02 in placing third in the 3,000 meters. North Kingstown’s Kate Delgreco placed fifth in that race (11:13.24) and the Rams’ Victoria Beardwood sixth (11:20.36). Hope sophomore Royal Cheatham finished second in the 55-meter dash (7.28), and the Blue Wave came in second in the 4x200 (1:49.52).

Around the Oval Notes: At the Dec. 28 Boston Holiday Invitational, held at the Reggie Lewis track in Roxbury, Hope’s Cheatham captured the 55 meters in a meet-record 7.42 . . . Central’s Amado won the triple jump with a distance of 13.42 meters (44 feet, one-half inch).

Local Girl Finishers

Local Boy Finishers

Dec. 20, 2009 – The inaugural R.I. Track Coaches Association Invitational meet took place on Saturday (19 Dec.) in the new indoor facility of the Providence Career Technical Academy. The meet replaces the former CCRI Invitational, which was held for boys and girls over a period of two evenings. The new meet also featured the long and triple jumps, thereby establishing meet records for those events. (This meet was non-scoring).

Girls’ Highlights

Three cross country All-Staters from the past season had good performances on the new Mondo-type 200-meter track Saturday . . . In the 1,500 meters, Barrington junior Abigail Jones was victorious with a time of 4 minutes, 57.8 seconds . . . The Eagles’ Molly Malinowski clocked 10:55.4 to take the 3,000 . . . In the 1,000 meters, Cranston West senior Arianna Colella ran 3:13.6.
Central Falls junior Aleide Fernandes captured both the 20-pound weight throw and the shot. Fernandes unloaded the weight 15.67 meters (51 feet, ½ inch), and put the shot 11.72 (38-5 ½) . . . In the new horizontal jump events, Barrington’s Linnea Totushek won the long in 4.82 meters (15-10) . . . In the triple jump, Smithfield senior Kim Ezeama took the gold with a combined leap of 10.50 (34-5 ¾) . . . Hope’s Angie Quiah clocked 1:42.6 to win the 600 . . . Toll Gate sophomore Jordan Gray was victorious in the 300 (43.8) . . . The 55-meter hurdles was won by Shea’s Cedra Dalomba in 9.0 . . . The Sentinels’ Ezeama won the 55-meter dash in 7.2.

Boys’ Highlights

Hendricken senior Jake Sienko had his first major win of the season, capturing the 3,000 in 8 minutes, 39.7 seconds, a meet record . . . Cranston West junior Robert Allen won the 1,500 in 4:05.3 over East Greenwich’s Nick Ross (4:07.7) . . . The Hawks’ Max Milder was the gold medalist in the 25-pound weight throw with a distance of 18.00 meters (59 feet, 1 inch) . . . St. Raphael’s Rich Casiello put the shot a winning 15.15 meters (49-8) . . . In the triple, Central senior Craig Amado went 14.03 (46-¾) to win the event . . . The long jump was won by Portsmouth junior Kyle Torres (6.25/20-6 ¼) . . . The Skippers took a pair of relays. In the 4x200, the foursome of Ken Cheston, Sheldon James, Troy Crawford and Brandon DiGiulio clocked 1:35.4 . . . In the 4x400, Geoff and Ken Cheston, Jamhar Comena and Crawford did the honors for North Kingstown. Their combined time was 3:35.6.

Track Notes: The R.I. Track & Field Invitational is the next major meet to take place at the Providence site. The date is Wednesday, 30 December.

Dec. 11, 2009 – Coach Dave Wright’s La Salle Rams, who are defending state indoor track champions, collected 85 points (including six first-place ballots) from coaches voting in the initial 2009-10 season poll. Toll Gate, third among teams last year, came in second with 68 votes, and Barrington (which tied with the Titans last season) placed third in the polling with 65 votes.

Track Notes: Teams have already started using the brand-new track at the Providence Career Technical Academy (PCTA) field house in Providence . . . The first annual R.I. High School Track Classic is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 30 at the PCTA site. The one-day meet replaces the Brown Invitational, which was discontinued after last year. The new meet is a qualifier for the Millrose Mile in New York . . . Other Millrose qualifiers: The Dartmouth Relays will be held Jan. 8-9, 2010 in Hanover, N.H. . . . January 15-16 are the dates of the annual Yale Invitational . . . The second annual Boston Holiday Challenge will be held on Monday, Dec. 28, at the Reggie Lewis Track in Roxbury . . . Yale freshman Jenna Poggi, an ‘09 Moses Brown graduate, competed in the season-opening “Lidlifter’’ meet at the university’s Coxe Cage. Poggi, who holds two indoor state records, finished second in the women’s pole vault with a height of 3.35 meters (11 feet). She also clocked 9.51 in a preliminary heat of the 60-meter hurdles. Poggi’s high school records are in the 60-meter dash (7.90) and the pole vault (3.66/12 feet) . . . The next poll will come during the first full week of January.

Team                Pts.    1st-place votes
1. La Salle         85      6
2. Toll Gate        68      1
3. Barrington       65      2
4. So. Kingstown    49
5. Smithfield       47
6. Hope             46
7. No. Kingstown    26
8. Westerly         23
9. Cr. West         16
10. Bay View        15
Others: E. Greenwich, Cumberland and Classical 5; E. Providence and Central Falls 4; Coventry 3;
Chariho 1.