By BOB LEDDY R.I. Track & Field Foundation Correspondent
9 Oct. - - The La Salle girls’ cross country team - last week raked 28th nationally - received good, top-to-bottom performances Sunday at the annual Manhattan Invitational, held at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.
In the Eastern States Championship highlight 2.5-miler, the Rams scored No. 9 among teams (236 points). Senior and defending state individual titlist Molly Keating was the top Ram over the line. Keating finished 19th overall with a time of 15 minutes, 16 seconds. The race was won by Jillian Fanning, of Fayetteville, N.C. in 14:03.
In the boys’ Eastern States, Hendricken (39th in U.S. last week) placed fifth among teams (191 points), and was paced by Mark Vuono, who came in 22nd (13:17). Ed Cheserek, of New Jersey, posted a winning time of 11:55, a course and meet record. In the boys “B’’ race at Van Cortland, Chariho went all the way: tops among teams (61 points) and powered by race winner Mike Marsella. Marsella clocked 12:43 for 2.5 miles, the second-fastest ever for a R.I. prep boy runner.
Coventry’s Dan Clarkin led the Oakers in the boys’ Varisty “G’’ event; he finished 21st in 14:05. In the Varsity “A” boys’ 2.5-miler, it was Dylan Verner-Crist placing 16th for Barrington (13:35).
The Chariho girls were the top R.I. team in the girls’ Varsity “A’’ event, led by Liz Hansen. Cranston West placed sixth among Varsity “B’’ girls’ teams. The Falcons were paced by Alex Hackett, who finished 14th in 16:31. And Coventry wound up 16th in girls’ Varsity “C’’ scoring, with Meg Paquet as the first Oaker finisher (21st in 17:02).
The Ram girls won team honors in the JV “D’’ race at Van Cortlandt, backed by Hayley Roberts’ first-place performance (17:27). The Ram boys won team accolades in one of the Freshman Division races. Jake Grundy led La Salle’s effort, clocking 6:09 over 1.25 miles.
At Wickham Park in Manchester, Conn. over the weekend, the Toll Gate boys won the unseeded varsity race.
Course Notes: Adding significance to any national ranking by a Rhode Island cross country team are data from the National Federation of High Schools (2010-11 season) . . . There were 13,839 girls’ teams, and 14,097 boys’ harrier squads . . . The annual Columbus Day cross country races will be held on the holiday at Roger Williams Park.
GIRLS Manhattan Invitational At Van Cortlandt Park, N.Y. Eastern States Championship R.I. team score 9, La Salle 236. R.I. results 19, Molly Keating, LS 15:16.7; 44, Evie Jansen, LS 16:37; 53, Tiana Kibbe, LS 16:48; 58, Caroline Falvey, LS 16:56; 62, Caitlin Marino, LS 17:02; 66, Emily Papazian, LS 17:04; 67, Vicky Varone, LS 17:08. Dist. 2.5. Varsity “A’’ R.I. team score 19, Chariho 567. Top R.I. finishers 63, Liz Hansen, Char. 17:53; 121, Abby Dandurand, Char. 19:16.5; 122, Paige Ross, Char. 19:16.8; 125, Paige Vargo, Char. 19:21; 136, India O’Neill, Char. 19:48. Dist. 2.5. Varsity “B’’ R.I. team score 6, Cr. West 190. Top R.I. finishers 14, Alex Hackett, CW 16:31; 35, Sarah Nacci, CW 17:24; 51, Michaela Hackett, CW 18:05; 58, Morgan Abbenante, CW 18:12; 100, Elena Zanarov, CW 19:39; 104, Nora McCabe, CW 19:51. Dist. 2.5. Varsity “C” R.I. team score 16, Coventry 348. Top R.I. finishers 21, Meg Paquet, Cov. 17:02; 38, Jenn Haley, Cov. 17:27; 70, Autumn English, Cov. 18:15; 92, Kate Stinehour, Cov. 18:37; 127, Giana Rocchio, Cov. 19:42. Dist. 2.5. Varsity “E’’ R.I. team score 4, N. Kingstown 170. Top R.I. finishers 7, Aisha Mc Adams, NK 15:45; 29, Jaxine Wolfe, NK 17:07; 33, Allison Lomas, NK 17:15; 50, Erin Mc Manus, NK 17:40; 51, Bree Croteau, NK 17:41; 60, Peyton Wallace, NK 17:53. Dist. 2.5. JV “A’’ R.I. team score 5, N. Kingstown 178. Top R.I. finishers 10, Kelsey Spitalnic, NK 17:45; 16, Hannah Lynch, NK 17:58; 18, Melissa Viens, NK 18:04; 108, Ashley Weber, NK 20:27. Dist. 2.5. JV “D” R.I. team score 1, La Salle 20. Top R.I. finishers 1, Haley Roberts, LS 17:27; 2, Katie Maiorisi, LS 17:37; 3, Maddy Byrnes, LS 17:41; 5, Siobahn Kelly, LS 17:45; 9, Leah O’Nelii, LS 18:03; 17, Alexa Paiva, LS 18:30; 18, Rachel Renzi, LS 18:33. Dist. 2.5. Freshman “D’’ R.I. team score 3, La Salle 74. Top R.I. finishers 5, Emily Coughlin, LS 7:26; 10, Katie Hendrix, LS 7:36; 17, Erin Macomber, LS 7:52; 18, Grace Feistahamel, LS 7:53; 24, Sheridan Wilbur, LS 8:05. Dist. 1.25.
Wickham Invitational At Manchester, Conn. Varsity Race (seeded) R.I. team scores 21, Prout 568; 23, E. Greenwich 581. Top R.I. finishers 23, Jess Elliott, Prout 21:43; 45, Chris Sidhu, EG 22:34; 98, Hannah Tighe, EG 23:45; 105, Lauren Smith, EG 23:55; 110, Jamie Anderson, Prout 24:06. Varsity Race (unseeded) R.I. team scores 1, Bay View 176; 31, Toll Gate 742. Top R.I. finishers 10, Erica Johnson, BV 21:18; 29, Emily Meinertz, Smith. 22:10; 38, Amanda DellaGrotta, BV 22:42; 44, Julia Watson, BV 22:55; 46, Tatianna Medina, BV 23:01; 52, Tess Russo, TG 23:12; 59, Emma D’Arpino, BV 23:26; 64, Kayla Saucier, BV 23:31; 74, Molly Burke, BV 23:49; 133, Casey Soares, TG 25:07.
BOYS Manhattan Invitational At Van Cortlandt Park, N.Y. Easters States Championship R.I. team score 5, Hendricken 191. R.I. results 22, Mark Vuono, BH 13:17; 28, Tyler Henesler, BH 13:23; 30, Colin Tierney, BH 13:24; 32, Mike Potter, BH 13:25; 79, Collin Manning, BH 13:56; 101, Greg Beaudette, BH 14:20; 121, Connor Doyle, BH 16:13. Varsity “A’’ R.I. team scores 4, Barrington 162; 24, La Salle 571. Top R.I. finishers 16, Dylan Verner-Crist, Barr. 13:35; 27, Even Little, LS 13:51; 28, Connor Royley, Barr. 13:53; 29, Ryan Saeger, Barr. 13:54; 38, John Connolly, Barr. 14:00; 51, Will Casazaza, Barr. 14:16; 60, Tom Barry, Barr. 14:23. Dist. 2.5. Varsity “B’’ R.I. team scores 1, Chariho 61; 5, N. Kingstown 142; 8, La Salle 226. Top R.I. finishers 1, Mike Marsella, Char. 12:43.4; 2, Jake Kilcoyne, Char. 13:04; 4, Bryce Kelley, Char. 13:10; 7, Dan Kilcoyne, Char. 13:22; 17, Austin Gaudreau, NK 13:43; 22, Mike Stephens, LS 13;49; 28, Mike Coleman, NK 13:59; 29, Dallin Smith, NK 14:00; 30, Bob Wilkinson, NK 14:03; 31, Andy Estrada, LS 14:06; 35, Adam Rego, LS 14:13; 38, Mike Wilkinson, NK 14:19; 47, Mike Gilligan, Char. 14:29; 102, Chris Clarkin, Char. 15:26. Dist. 2.5. Varsity “G’’ R.I. team score 9, Coventry 271. Top R.I. finishers 21, Dan Clarkin, Cov. 14:05; 29, Mark Rini, Cov. 14:14; 39, Zack Szymkowicz, Cov. 14:25; 73, Pat Ryan, Cov. 14:51; 109, Greg Fusco, Cov. 15:23. Dist. 2.5. JV “E’’ R.I. team score 20, Chariho 622. Top R.I. finishers 47, Drew Turner, Char. 16:02; 80, Jason Rainey, Char. 16:36. Dist. 2.5. Sophomore “B’’ R.I. team score 12, Chariho 329. Top R.I. finishers 40, Matt Drummond, Char. 15:26; 51, Steve Gencarelli, Char. 15:41; 66, Teal Megliaccio, Char. 16:09; 87, Jade Gerasini, Char. 16:36. Dist. 2.5. Sophomore “C’’ R.I. team score 5, Hendricken 200. Top R.I. finishers 14, Pat Gower, BH 14:49; 29, John Wheeler, BH 15:25; 34, Niall Coughlin, BH 15:30; 41, John Clavin, BH 15:45; 56, Matt Constant, BH 16:16. Dist. 2.5. Freshman “A’’ R.I. team scores 5, Chariho 161; 12, Hendricken 431. Top R.I. finishers 20, Matt Tierney, Char. 6:51; 29, Tom Turner, Char. 6:57; 55, Jason Darmanin, Char. 7:16; 75, Skylar Van Horn, Char. 7:26; 80, Luke Hudden, BH 7:32. Dist. 1.25. Freshman “B’’ R.I. team score 1, La Salle 20. Top R.I. finishers 2, Jake Grundy, LS 6:09; 3, Dan Paiva, LS 6:15; 4, Ryan Tracy, LS 6:21; 5, Chris Notarianni, LS 6:23; 6, Matt Corio, LS 6:24. Dist. 1.25. Freshman “D” R.I. team score 3, Hendricken 112. Top R.I. finishers 13, Pat Flanagan, BH 6:28; 22, Grant Gauthier, BH 6:38; 23, Jack Rossi, BH 6:43; 25, Matt Bacon, BH 6:45; 29, Jared Boulanger, BH 6:49. Dist. 1.25. Freshman “E’’ R.I. team score 8, Hendricken 263. Top R.I. finishers 39, Ben Murphy, BH 7:00; 40, Chris Ferreira, BH 7:01; 53, Tom Grizzetti, BH 7:07; 61, Ethan O’Neill, BH 7:12; 70, Matt Pelli, BH 7:18. Dist. 1.25.
Wickham Invitational At Manchester, Conn. Championship Race R.I. team score 11, E. Greenwich 246. Top R.I finishers 24, Ben Fazio, EG 17:22; 43, Scott Kulm, EG 17:50; 57, Jon Contreras, EG 18:15; 66, Garrett Scanlon, EG 18:23; 96, Ben Cpntreras, EG 19:38.
Varsity Race (seeded) R.I. team score 4, Prout 190. Top R.I. finishers 22, Steve Conte, Prout 17:47; 62, Matt Peacock, Prout 18:35; 63, Rob Rocchio, Prout 18:37; 71, Zach Rusiloski, Prout 18:44. Varsity Race (unseeded) R.I. team score 1, Toll Gate 252. Top R.I. finishers 18, Henry Smithers, TG 17:41; 45, Joseph Frost, TG 18:26; 46, Austin Medeiros, TG 18:26; 61, Brandon Goda, TG 18:41; 90, Ben Dinobile, TG 19:10; 91, Brock Massa, TG 19:11.
