“Around the Oval’’
By BOB LEDDY R.I. Track & Field Foundation Correspondent
15 Oct. - - La Salle senior Molly Keating led all Rhode Island runners in the girls’Championship Division race at the Brown Northeast Cross Country Invitational, held in perfect weather conditions at Goddard Park. Keating, the state’s defending champion, clocked 18 minutes even to finish fifth overall in a regional field. The girls’ highlight race was won by senior Kelsey Margey, of Friends Academy on Long Island (17:28).
In the boys’ Championship race, Chariho senior Mike Marsella was the first Rhode Islanmder, placing fifth in 15:25.
In the day’s most thrilling finish, the boys’ Championship run was captured by Edward Cheserek, a junior from St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark, N.J., and currently the No. 1-rated prep harrier in the United States. Cheserek smashed the course mark by running a smooth, even-split 14:34.6. (The record, 15:00.5, was set in 2004 by New Hampshire’s Cory Thome). Cheserek won the ’10 Brown Invitational in a time of 15:00.8.
Keating out quickly Keating, who a week earlier finished ninth at the Eastern States Championship in New York, answered the Brown Invitational gun by getting out in front. “There are some sharp turns, so I wanted to get out quickly,’’ she said. “I just stayed with my group. I wanted to be in the top five. The course is so fast, but there was mud on the majority of it. The weather was awesome!
“I’m getting ready for States,’’ Keating added. “I tried to keep in mind who were the Rhode Island finishers.’’
Skippers Mc Adams looks good And to be sure, another of the state’s top harriers finished behind Keating. North Kingstown junior Aisha Mc Adams crossed the line sixth in the Chapionship field with a time of 18:29 on a 5:57 pace. As with Keating, Mc Adams wasted no time as the pack went out.
“I went in just wanting to get out fast,” Mc Adams said, “but not as fast as Manhattan.’’ She was referring to her “E’’ Race performance at the Manhattan Invitational. In that 2.5-miler, the Skipper Long Ranger finished seventh in 15:45. “I helped myself with my pace,’’ Mc Adams said of her Brown performance. Cheserek doesn’t dissappoint
Cross country fans were abuzz in anticipation of seeing Edward Cheserek run in the boys’ Championship event. And the 17 year-old from Kenya gave a performance befitting his status as a nationally-ranked harrier. Cruising on a 4:41 pace, the junior from St. Benedict’s Prep achieved his aim going in: to break the course record. He sent that old mark packing, while hitting the finish tape nearly a full minute ahead of second-place finisher Joel Hubbard, of Marshfield, Mass. (15:21).
“I wanted to break it,’’ the diminutive Cheserek said while being mobbed by friends and admirers after the race. “I got it. I felt strong and good out there. “I broke away after the mile,’’ he said. “When I heard 4:40 [split], that was too slow. I picked it up. At the second mile, I was 4:40 again.’’
Cheserek, who moved to the United States from Kenya last year, is being sponsored by a Kenyan orphanage to attend St. Benedict’s. On the track, he owns a 14:25.74 clocking for 5000 meters. He’s preparing next for his state’s County Championships. Strong run for Chargers’ Marsella
All-Stater Marsella, who finished fifth at last year’s R.I. Championship, went through 4:43 at the mile checkpoint en route to a final clocking of 15:25.5. “This was a test to see what Mike could do,’’ said Chariho coach Bill Habarek.
Course Notes: Approximately 190 teams participated in the Brown event . . . Cumberland boys’ cross country coach Tom Kenwood was presented the Service to Cross Country Award by the Brown meet directors. Kenwood, who also helms indoor and outdoor track at Cumberland, has been coaching for 37 years . . . The La Salle girls won the JV-II team title.
Click Here for Complete Results
GIRLS Championship Race R.I. team scores 3, Barrington 95; 4, La Salle 97; 7, S. Kingstown 146; 9, N. Kingstown 209. Top R.I. finishers (w/overall place) 1 (5), Molly Keating, LS 18:00; 2 (6), Aisha Mc Adams, NK 19:29; 3 (9), Paige Ethier, SK 18:36; 4 (13), Abigail Livingston, Barr. 19:03; 5 (18), Fione Paine, Barr. 19:21; 6 (21), Megan Verner-Crist, Barr. 19:35; 7 (23) Evie Jansen, LS 19:45; 8 (26) Caitlin Marino, Barr. 19:48; 9 (28), Tiana Kibbe, LS 19:55; 10 (29), Kendall Feaster, SK 19:58; 11 (32), Alice Burgess, Barr. 20:03; 12 (33), Britt Laraway, SK 20:05.0; 13 (34), Julianna Portelli, Barr. 20:05.2; 15 (40), Kelly Reiss, SK 20:17. Dist. 3.1. Varsity A-I R.I. team scores 20, Prout 491; 26, Classical 667; 28, N. Smithfield 882. Top R.I. finishers 22, Jess Elliott, Prout 20:08; 66, Alicia Holloway, Class. 21:42; 85, Vicky Matrullo, Prout 22:00. Varsity A-II R.I. team score 15, Westerly 404. Top R.I. finishers 32, Jackie Burr, West. 19:58; 48, Adele Hansen, West. 20:27; 52, Rachel Orlando, West. 20:37. JV-I R.I. team scores 6, Prout 164; 10, N. Smithfield 272. Top R.I. finishers 9, Sienna Carraccio, Prout 22:32; 14, Heather Kilaski, Barr. 23:02; 22, Courtney Sutherland, Narr. 23:21; 32, Casey McGovern, Prout 23:57; 39, Alicia Sorti, Prout 24:16. JV-II R.I. team scores 1, La Salle 29; 17, N. Kingstown 529. Top R.I. finishers 3, Courtney Dawless, LS 20:44; 5, Hayley Roberts, LS 20:48; 6, Siobahn Kelly, LS 20:49; 7, Kate Maioisi, LS 20:54.1; 8, Leah O’Neill, LS 20:54.5; 14, Maddy Byrnes, LS 21:11. Freshman Race R.I. team scores 3, La Salle 122; 5, N. Kingstown 130; 6, Barrington 134; 7, E. Greenwich 215; 8, Westerly 234. Top R.I. finishers 5, Margaret McCaffrey, EG 16:20; 6, Emily Coughlin, LS 16:22; 8, Isabella Perrin, NK 16:26; 10, Sophia Burgess, Barr. 16:32; 12, Maddy McLaughlin, West. 16:33. BOYS Championship Race R.I. team scores 4, Chariho 163; 10, Barrington 280; 12, La Salle 323; 16, N. Kingstown 369; 17, E. Greenwich 374. Top R.I. finishers (w/overall place) 1 (5), Mike Marsella, Char. 15:25; 2 (14), Jake Kilcoyne, Char. 15:44; 3 (24), Bryce Kelly, Char. 16:10; 4 (33), Ben Fazio, EG 16:21; 5 (35), Dan Kilcoyne, Char. 16:22.1; 6 (36), Dylan Verner-Crist, Barr. 16:22.8; 7 (46), Connor Royley, Barr. 16:34; 8 (48), Adam Rego, LS 16:36; 9 (50), Vic Ricci, Prout 16:40; 10 (55), Jake Grundy, LS 16:42; 11 (61), Dallin Smith, NK 16:49; 12 (64), Tom Barry, Barr. 16:52; 13 (70), Rob Wilkinson, NK 16:59; 14 (74), Scott Kulm, EG 17:00; 15 (79), John Connolly, Barr. 17:04. Dist. 3.1. Varsity A-I R.I. team scores 22, Moses Brown 598; 23, Classical 647; 28, N. Smithfield 805. Top R.I. finishers 48, Bob Rocchio, Prout 17:53; 55, Matt Peacock, Prout 18:00; 59, Zach Rusilowski, Prout 18:11; 62, Ryan Pinch, Prout 18:13; Steve Cicero, Prout 18:41. Varsity A-II R.I. team scores 5, Cumberland 192; 10, S. Kingstown 325. Top R.I. finishers 2, Trevor Crawley, Cumb. 16:03; 20, Matt Sutcliffe, Cumb. 16:43; 31, Jake Manning, SK 17:03.4; 32, Tom Fownes, Cumb. 17:03.7; 45, Mason Garfield, SK 17:17; 57, Josh Rosa, SK 17:33; 70, Kevin Seaver, Cumb. 17:43; 72, Matt Smith, Cumb. 17:44. JV-I R.I. team scores 5, Barrington 31; 9, Prout 255; 14, Moses Brown 403. Top R.I. finishers 4, Nate Waddell, EG 17:35; 9, Eric Bernson, Barr. 17:53; 12, Antineh Kutenplon, Barr. 17:56; 14, Marcus Sefranek, Barr. 17:59; 41, Cassidy Laidlaw, Barr. 19:25; 50, AJ Butera, Prout 19:49; 60, Brandon Hazelton, Prout 20:09; 73, Jim Doyal, Prout 20:41; 81, Tom O’Keefe, Barr. 21:12. JV-II R.I. team scores 10, N. Kingstown 347; 12, Chariho 415; 20, Cumberland 580. Top R.I. finishers 29, Jon Carney, NK 17:46; 32, Conor Fleurant, Cumb. 17:49; 51, Ben Stewart, NK 18:17; 57, Steve Gencarelli, Char. 18:20; 66, Drew Turner, Char. 18:29. Freshman Race R.I. team scores 5, Hendricken 220; 6, N. Kingstown 226; 7, Narragansett 305; 9, E. Greenwich 318; 10, Cumberland 347. Top R.I. finishers 8, Kurt Richardson, Narr. 13:49; 16, Joe Craven, NK 14:16; 20, Mike Toolin, NK 14:26; 29, Gant Gauthier, BH 14:44; 32, Ryan King, Prout 14:49.
