“Around the Oval’’ La Salle’s Keating 9th in Grand Prix mile
B y BOB LEDDY R.I. Track & Field Foundation
4 Feb. - - The Chariho boys’ 4x800-meter relay team were out to break the Rhode Island indoor record for the event last weekend at the Sweeney Meet at the PCTA track. And the Charger men did just that, smashing the state standard with a combined winning time of 7 minutes, 54.3 seconds (hand-held).
Today at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational at the Armory Track in New York, the Fan Foursome of Dan Kilcoyne, Drew Turner, Bryce Kelly and Mike Marsella outdid themselves again in the 4x800, finishing third in a time of 7:50.25. The clocking not only is a new R.I. mark, but a New England one as well. The Chariho guys bettered by three seconds the regional standard of 7:53.50, set in 2003 by a relay from Deering High in Portland, Maine at the New England Indoor Championships of that year.
Running leadoff on the Armory’s banked oval, Kilcoyne clocked 1:55.88. Turner, like Kilcoyne a senior, went 2:07.22 for the second leg. Senior Kelly took the baton and legged out a 1:53.96 third leg.
Marsella, who next weekend will be on the same track for the Millrose Mile, burned his anchor leg in 1:52.90.
“Mike, Bryce and Dan had all run at the Armory before,’’ said Bill Habarek, the Chariho coach. “We were in last place when Bryce got the baton. He closed and gave Mike a good position. Mike kind of got boxed in, and it took him awhile to move out. If was a good race and a great experience,’’ the coach said.
A physical mile At the New Balance Grand Prix junior mile at Boston’s Reggie Lewis track, La Salle senior Molly Keating finished ninth in a 12-girl field; her time was a personal-best 5 minutes, 2.10 seconds (= 4:39.2 @ 1500m). The race was won by Haley Pierce, of Wilmington, Del. In 4:48.59.
“It was an aggressive race,’’ said Ram coach Kelly Martin. “She got bumped around a little bit. There were a lot of elbows. But she had a lot of fun, and made a P-R by one second. She knows she can go faster.’’
OVAL NOTES: Former Bay View All-State distance runner Stephanie Beaudette clocked 17:47 for 5000 meters at a recent meet. Beaudette is a sophomore at Division II University of Pennsylvania at Indiana. Beaudette clipped 22 seconds off her previous P-R for the event. She’s 10 seconds shy of making an NCAA Div. II provisional time.
