By BOB LEDDY R.I. Track & Field Foundation Correspondent
17 Dec. - - The annual R.I. Track Coaches Invitational was held at the PCTA track in Providence Saturday, and at such an early stage in the schedule times and measurements portended good things to come in future events. The meet was non-scoring. Some highlights:
Berkson the Indefatigable Having already run two tough races - the 1000 and the 1500 - you might think that Classical High’s Maddy Berkson would call it a day. She’d placed third in a 1500-meter field containing some of the state’s top distance runners, and returned to the track to finish second in the 1000.
But the Classical sophomore had more to do. She reported to the long jump runway and, on her final attempt, popped a 19-feet, ¼-inch (5.79-meter) leap. More significantly, that measurement fell just three inches shy of equaling a girls’ state-record performance that has been on the books for the past 26 years. (Hope’s Pam Hughes leapt 19-3.25/5.87 at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships in Princeton, N.J.). “Most of the time I’m behind the board,’’ Berkson said, “because I’m scared of fouling.’’
Velez to the forefront Classical senior Joe Velez, the defending state indoor weight champ, threw the 25-pound ball a winning 69-9.25 (21.26) at Saturday’s RITCA meet.
At last year’s State Indoor Championsips, Velez got off a winning throw of 71-5.50 (21.78), a meet record.
A loaded field A host of top distance specialists toed the line for the girls’ 1500 meters. At the end, it was La Salle soccer star Madison Meehan hitting the tape in 4 minutes, 46.2 seconds, three seconds ahead of teammate Molly Keating.
Her soccer success aside, Meehan is no stranger to track glory. Last year she placed second behind Berkson in the State Meet 1500, and second in the 1000. On Saturday, Meehan battled initial frontrunner Keating throughout the race. Classical’s Berkson, and North Kingstown’s Aisha Mc Adams (the ’11 state indoor 3000-meter champ and state record-holder in the indoor two mile) were in the hunt. At the 800-meter split, it was Keating and Meehan going through at 2:34, and that order was maintained at the bell. But Meehan surged ahead on the straightaway in what looked more like a sprint finish.
“Molly and I run together. We work to go fast,’’ said Meehan. “I knew Molly would go out fast.’’ As to the correlation between soccer and track, Meehan acknowledged that the hard, fast runs of a soccer player help on the oval. “It’s a hand-in-hand thing,’’ she said.
Clippers’ Crawley takes gold Trevor Crawley, the Cumberland High junior, clocked 9:04.1 to win the boys’ 3000 meters. He was one second in front of Hendricken’s Colin Tierney (9:05.6). “Those guys [Hendricken runners] helped me a lot,’’ said Crawley, who placed 11th at the State Meet 3000 last February. ‘I ran as hard as I could, and I felt really good this early in the season. Usually, my kick isn’t that fast.’’
Noteables . . . Noteables Madison Meehan’s twin sister, MacKenzie, won the girls’ 1000 meters in 3:06.2 . . . Rogers High senior Grace Janes threw the 20-pound weight a winning 47-2.75 (14.39). Janes placed at last year at the State Championships, finishing sixth . . . Woonsocket’s ace high jumper Kaylnn Pitts cleared 5-2 (1.57) to take that event. Pitts finished second to state high jump record-holder Dakota Dailey-Harris at the ’11 Indoor Championships. Dailey-Harris, a senior, did not compete on Saturday . . . Westerly High senior Jeremy Octeau took the gold medal in the boys’ shot. Octeau put the ball 56-2 (17.11 meters) for the win. He was a shot put second-team All-Stater last season . . .Coventry junior Larry Warwick cleared the bar at 6-2 (1.87) to win the boys’ high jump . . . Mike Coleman, of North Kingstown, beat Barrington’s Tom Barry to take the boys’ 1000 in 2:40.6 . . . East Greenwich senior Jaimee Dorsey clocked 41.6 to win the girls’ 300 dash . . . The Skippers’ Montee Cawley beat out teammate Ben Stewart in the boys’ 600; 1:26.2 to 1:26.9 . . . Hendricken’s Mark Vuono went 4:09.6 to take the 1500.
OVAL NOTES: Before the meet began, a “Light Up the Track’’ ceremony was held for cancer awareness. White paper bags, inside of which battery-powered lights were placed, ringed the inside lane. Athletes and coaches walked the oval as a group.
GIRLS WT - 1, Grace Janes, Rog. 47-2.75 (14.39 meters); 2, Maggie Dufault, Pil.. 45-6.50 (13.88); 3, Mathaline Cooper, Class. 44-10.75 (13.68); 4, Cate Maloney, LS 44-10 (13.66); 5, Ann Dagrin, Class. 42-8 (13.00); 6, Destinee Barette, Pil. 42-0 (12.80). SP - 1, Veronica Wiggins, Tolman 35-0.50 (10.68); 2, Vicky Ebert, EWG 34-5.50 (10.50); 3, Kate St. Amand, TG 33-3.50 (10.14); 4, Katja Neves, Hope 32-9.50 (9.99); 5, Kendra Plant, Cumb. 32-7.50 (9.94); 6, Barette, Pil. 32-4.25 (9.86). HJ - 1, Kaylnn Pitts, Woons. 5-2 (1.57); 2, Rylee Candon, TG 4-10 (1.47); 3, Taylor Key, Cumb. 4-10; 4, Becky Sherwood, NK 4-8 (1.42); 5, Tiffany Jenkins, CF 4-8; 6, (tie) Angela Ragosta, Smith. and Mary Ernster, LS 4-8. LJ - 1, Maddy Berkson, Class. 19-0.25 (5.79); 2, Darian Dailey, EP 17-5 (5.30); 3, Pitts, Woons. 17-1.50 (5.21); 4, Candon, TG 17-1 (5.20); 5, Stephanie Fitzgerald, Cov. 16-6.25 (5.03); 6, Dara Falaye, Class. 16-3 (4.95). 3000 - 1, Caroline Falvey, LS 10:54.5; 2, Fiona Paine, Barr. 10:58.6; 3, Sydney Sweck, SK 11:13.2; 4, Rachel Orlando, West. 11:23.3; 5, Rachel Renzi, LS 11:32.1; 6, Becky Meinertz, Smith. 11:32.4. 1500 - 1, Madison Meehan, LS 4:46.2; 2, Molly Keating, LS 4:46.5; 3, Berkson, Class. 4:49.1; 4, Aisha Mc Adams, NK 4:56.0; 5, Jess Elliott, Prout 5:10.7; 6, Tiana Kibbe, LS 5:11.9. 1000 - 1, MacKenzie Meehan, LS 3:06.2; 2, Berkson, Class. 3:06.6; 3, Paige Ethier, SK 3:07.5; 4, Meghan Verner-Crist, Barr. 3:11.5; 5, Jenn Haley, Cov. 3:11.8; 6, Caitlin Marino, LS 3:13.2. 600 - 1, Erica Johnson, BV 1:39.0; 2, Mary Coogan, Barr. 1:42.4; 3, Haley Moen, TG 1:45.5; 4, Erika Pina, TG 1:46.4; 5, Jordan Gray, TG 1:46.4; 6, Maddie Byrnes, LS 1:46.5. 300 - 1, Jaimee Dorsey, EG 41.6; 2, Erin Kane, LS 43.9; 3, Falaye, Class. 44.1; 4, Amanda Joyal, LS 44.3; 5, Jess Kaufman, Ports. 44.4; 6, Chris Hammond, CW 44.7. 55m - 1, Jarnae Royster, Hope 7.3; 2, Falaye, Class. 7.4; 3, Quashira Mc Intosh, Hope 7.5; 4, Gabby Palko, Barr. 7.5; 5, Stephanie DiTraglia, LS 7.5; 6, Breyon Brown, Pil. 7.5. 55mH - 1, Naria Bolibruch, NK 8.8; 2, Ragosta, Smith. 8.9; 3, Britt Redding, Linc. 8.9; 4, Alica Holloway, Class. 9.4; 5, Nicole Smith, Barr. 9.5; 6, Frances Vazquez, Class. 9.7. 4x200 - 1, Portsmouth (Hannah Petrie, Mariah McManus, Leah Hibbad, Kauffman) 1:50.7; 2, Toll Gate 1:51.5; 3, N. Kingstown 1:51.9; 4, Lincoln, 1:52.0; 5, La Salle 1:52.4; 6, Barrington 1:52.5. 4x400 - 1, Toll Gate (Gray, Pena, Moen, Nora Hall) 4:16.4; 2, E. Greenwich 4:17.4; 3, La Salle 4:20.1; 4, S. Kingstown 4:27.1; 5, Coventry 4:27.6; 6, Bay View 4:32.6. 4x800 - 1, La Salle (Keating, Madison Meehan, Marino, Emily Papazian) 9:42.1; 2, S. Kingstown 10:00.3; 3, Barrington 10:12.4; 4, N. Kingstown 10:27.6; 5, E. Greenwich 10:34.4; 6, Toll Gate 10:47.5. All times hand-held.
BOYS WT - 1, Joe Velez, Class. 69-9.25 (21.26 meters); 2, Reuben Horace, BH 69-3.75 (21.12); 3, Kevin Conway, West. 63-8.75 (19.42); 4, Carlos Mangum, Cent. 59-4.25 (18.09); 5, Ndailor Sheriff, Class. 59-0 (17.98); 6, Mahlik Handley, SK 58-9.50 (17.91). SP - 1, Jeremy Octeau, West. 56-2 (17.11); 2, Aaron Comery, Cov. 51-2.50 (15.60); 3, Nick DeCiantis, BH 48-3.75 (14.72); 4, Conway, West. 48-3.25 (14.71); 5, Mangum, Cent. 46-0.50 (14.03); 6, Mike Pecchia, BH 45-8 (13.91). HJ - 1, Larry Warwick, Cov. 6-2 (1.87); 2, Steve Vazquez, CF 6-0 (1.82); 3, Jordan Barboza, BH 6-0; 4, Erik Mateo, CF 5-10 (1.77); 5, Freddy Antonian, Class. 5-10; 6, Neal Kundu, Cov. 5-10. LJ - 1, Warwick, Cov. 21-11 (6.68); 2. Eddie Uthmann, WW 21-2.75 (6.47); 3, Jarell James, Hope 21-0 (6.40); 4, Ryan Rei, Cumb. 20-9.75 (6.34); 5, Chris Moura, EP 20-8 (6.29); 6, Chris Jeffrey, LS 20-1.75 (6.14). 3000 - 1, Trevor Crawley, Cumb. 9:04.1; 2, Colin Tierney, BH 9:05.6; 3, Mike Potter, BH 9:05.9; 4, Tyler Henesler, BH 9:07.4; 5, Connor Doyle, BH 9:20.0; 6, Dylan Verner-Crist, Barr. 9:21.3. 1500 - 1, Mark Vuono, BH 4:09.6; 2, Jake Kilcoyne, Char. 4:14.8; 3, Bob Wilkenson, NK 4:21.1; 4, Henry Smithers, TG 4:21.9; 5, Connor Royley, Barr. 4:22.5; 6, Collin Manning, BH 4:24.1 1000 - 1, Mike Coleman, NK 2:40.6; 2, Tom Barry, Barr. 2:43.1; 3, Shane Watterson, LS 2:47.4; 4, (tie) Mark Rini, Cov. and Tom Fownes, Cumb. 2:48.7; 6, Drew Turner, Char. 2:50.4. 600 - 1, Montee Cawley, NK 1:26.2; 2, Ben Stewart, NK 1:26.9; 3, Zach Emrich, NK 1:28.3; 4, Dylan Manning, EG 1:28.9; 5, Allen Tat, Class. 1:29.7; 6, Zach Chapasko, LS 1:31.4. 300 - 1, Tyneil Cooper, LS 36.2; 2, Alex Perrault, BH 36.5; 3, Zack Campo, SK 36.7; 4, Jose Ortiz, Cent. 36.9; 5, Uthmann, WW 37.2; 6, Joel Ikuejamofo, Cent. 37.7. 55m - 1, Aaron Roseman, Linc. 6.4; 2, Uthmann, WW 6.5; 3, Carl Sjogren, Pil. 6.6; 4, Bill L’Europa, BH 6.6; 5, Ryan Williams, EP 6.6; 6, Derek Jackson, Class. 6.7. 55mH - 1, Angel Camilo, CE 7.8; 2, John Fleury, Class. 7.8; 3, Nyuanru Ben, LS 7.9; 4, Kyle O’Connell, BH 7.9; 5, Barboza, BH 7.9; 6, Eddy Millcette, Class. 8.3. 4x200 - 1, Hendricken (Perreault, Ryan Brannigan, L’Europa, O’Connell) 1:35.3; 2, Central 1:35.5; 3, (tie) La Salle and Classical 1:36.7; 5, E. Providence 1:37.4; 6, Pilgrim 1:38.7. 4x400 - 1, Central Nap Askie, Steve Perez, Ortiz, Ikuejamofo) 3:36.2; 2, E. Greenwich 3:42.9; 3, Chariho 3:45.3; 4, Westerly 3:46.6; 5, Toll Gate 3;49.6; 6, Classical 3:50.4. 4x800 - 1, S. Kingstown (Campo, Mason Garfield, Ben Shaw, Scott Washburn) 8:28.7; 2, E. Greenwich 8:28.9; 3, La Salle 8:30.0; 4, Chariho 8:38.7; 5, Lincoln 8:44.3; 6, W. Warwick 9:21.7. All times hand-held.
