R.I. Track & Field Foundation
(MEDIA NOTE) – – Judging by performances over the course of the 2016 outdoor season, the State Track & Field Championships holds promise. The Smithfield High girls enter today’s meet looking to defend their team title. Last year, the Sentinels bridged four decades, from their first team championship to the 2015 title. La Salle posted its first state boys’ title since 1978, overcoming strong challenges from Barrington and East Providence. This year’s State Meet is the 70th for boys; 45th for girls.
Deciding which team claims the state trophy should be an interesting proposition. The Rams have scoring power, but 2016 has been West Warwick’s season to shine; same, too, for the Rogers boys. Never count out Hendricken, a program with perennial depth across the board. North Kingstown, Cumberland and Central are teams with which to reckon. The Skippers are also formidable in the girls’ league, as are Classical, La Salle, Cumberland and Pilgrim. Here’s a brief outlook:
GIRLS: Rams’ “long rangers’’; Classical sprinter Stern; Toll Gate’s Jacobsen in hammer
This will be the final State meet for two La Salle senior distance runners who have lit up the track league for the past four years. Eliza Rego and Karina Tavares have been a major part of the Rams’ success. Rego, off to Harvard in the fall, enters the meet as defending 1500-meter champ. Tavares (William & Mary) was a coaches all-stater in the 3000 meters, having finished third. The Rams will also get points on the track from such as Emily Kane and Audrey O’Neill. La Salle senior Kelsey Coughlin has already pole vaulted 9-6 (2.89).
As she enters the States, Toll Gate senior Courtney Jacobsen (University of Michigan) is among the top five nationally in the 9-pound (4-kilogram) hammer event. At the Mt. Pleasant Invitational, Jacobsen unloaded the ball a winning distance of 175-8 (53.54). Jacobsen will be pitted against Classical’s Lysah Russell. In winning the team crown last year, Smithfield gathered 83 team points. The Sentinels were bolstered by points in the field events, including Alyssa Colbert’s victory in the javelin. Colbert, who will attend the University of New Hampshire this fall (and who won three events at the Class C Championships last month) returns to Brown Stadium to defend her javelin title. Smithfield’s key scorers include seniors Olivia Holowachuk, Rohey Jobe, Meagan Malloy and pole vaulters Ireland Judge and Alex Guertin.
Classical High is fielding another potential 40-point scorer in senior May Stern (Brown University). Stern has been the top hand in the 400 meters, and enters the meet as state runner-up in that event. (She also runs legs on Purple relays.) At the Cumberland Invitational earlier last month, Stern clocked a winning quarter time of 55.2 (hand-held). At the Mt. Pleasant Invitational on May 28, Stern recorded a fully-automatic state-record 55.09. North Kingstown senior Beth Nunnery (West Point) will be a force in the distances, as will Westerly sophomore Randi Burr and South Kingstown sophomore Ellie Lawler and Portsmouth freshman Elizabeth Sullivan. Cranston West’s Jenn Iozzi will do well in the shot put circle.
BOYS: Colantonio spins the hammer; Rams’ “Big 3’’; Shepard in the long jump
Barrington senior Bobby Colantonio (University of Alabama) is the country’s No. 1 man with the 12-pound (5.44-kilogram) hammer. He’s won virtually every competition in the state this season, and enters the State Championship as defending titlist. If he repeats, Colantonio will be only the second three-time hammer champ in meet history. Classical’s Alvin Jackson won in 1970, ’71 and 72. (On a family note, Colantonio’s dad, Bob Sr., was the state hammer champ in 1978 for the Purple, with a distance of 200 feet, 4 inches/61.06 meters.)
West Warwick’s track program was impressive indoors, and that success has carried over to the spring campaign. The Wizards dominated the Class B Championships this season, posting wins in seven events. Senior Avery Williamson won the Class 100 and 200 titles. Junior Quindel Wilson went 6 feet (1.82) in the high jump, and junior Ivan Goretoy put the shot a winning 48-5.50 (14.77).
They’ve become known as La Salle’s “Big 3’’ on the track; they would be seniors Jack Salisbury and Matt Bouthillette (both to Georgetown), and junior David “DJ’’ Principe. This trio has dominated not only the Rams’ program, but distance events statewide. Salisbury won the Class A 800 and 1500, while Principe took the 3000. Bouthillette placed second in the Class A 1500 and 3000. Salisbury won the 800 and 1500 meters last year, while Bouthillette returns as the defending 3000-meter champ. North Kingstown freshman Sam Toolin has continued to build his distance resume this season; ditto for Cumberland’s Sean Laverty, Hendricken’s Dom Parlato, Classical’s Joe Murphy, Barrington’s Mars Bishop and CJ Berg of Mt. St. Charles. Central’s amazing Donatein Djero returns to defend his 100-meter title. Djero went 49-flat to win the Hendricken Invitational 400 meters. Classical’s Nathan Narcisse will look to replicate his victory in the 110 highs. Cumberland sophomore Chris Choquette will also be one to watch for in the hurdles; he was this year’s Class A champ in both the 110s and 300 intermediates. South Kingstown’s long jump specialist Anthony Shepard has reached 24-1.75 (7.36). Rogers has carried over its success in the indoor track season to the spring campaign with scorers such as Mike Garvey and Yaqoob Iqblal.
The meet schedule:
FIELD EVENTS
12:45 – Boy HT; 12:55 – Boy PV; 1:00 – Boy LJ; 1:05 – Girl LJ; 1:10 – Boy JT; 1:45 – Boy SP.
2:00 – Girl HJ; 3:10 – Girl JT; 3:30 – Boy TJ; 3:35 – Girl TJ; 3:45 – Girl PV; 3:55 – Boy DT.
3:50 – Girl SP; 5:30 Girl DT.
RUNNING EVENTS
(Boys followed by girls, except hurdles and 100 trials)
2:00 – 4×800; 2:25 – 4×100; 2:45 – Unseeded 1500; 3:00 – 300IH trials (Girl, then boys).
3:00 – 100 trials; 3:40 – Seeded 1500; 4:00 – Hurdles finals; 4:15 – 400; 4:40 – 300 hurdles.
5:05 – 200 trials; 5:25 – 800; 5:45 – Boy 3000; 6:00 – 200 finals; 6:10 – Girls’ 3000; 6:25 – 4×400.
R.I. OUTDOOR TRACK RECORDS
(As of 5/28/16)
R.I. Track & Field Foundation/Track & Field News
GIRLS
#HT (9-lb./4-kilo) – 189-3 (57.98 meters), Kate Johnston, Warwick Vets 2001
*#HT (7-lb./3kilo) – 194-1 (59.17), Alva Hicks, Classical, 2014
SP – 44-10 (13.66), Emily Carlsten, Warwick Vets 1996
DT – 147-9 (45.03), Hicks 2015
JT – 145-1 (44.22), Leigh Petranoff, Cr. West 2007
HJ – 5-10 (1.78), Dakota Dailey-Harris, La Sale 2012
LJ – 19-2.50 (5.85), Pam Hughes, Hope 1985
TJ – 39-8.25 (12.09), Micky Jusme, Classical 2008
PV – 11-9 (3.58), Jenna Poggi, Moses Brown 2009
100 – 11.82 (+ 0.0 w), Quashira Mc Intosh, Hope 2015
200 – 24.14 (- 2.0 w), Mc Intosh 2015
400 – 55.09, May Stern, Classical 2016
800 – 2:08.40, Madeleine Berkson, Classical 2013
1500 – 4:26.88, Berkson 2014
*STP (@ 2000m) – 7:29.36, Margaret Mc Caffrey, E. Greenwich 2015
*Mile – 4:52.08 (= 4:30.8 @ 1500m), Berkson 2014
3000 – 9:44.72, Berkson 2014
*3200 – 10:28.45 (= 9:45.2 @ 3000m), Eliza Rego, La Salle 2014
*Two mile – 10:30.42 (= 9:43.8 @ 3000m), Laura Turner, Portsmouth 1998
*5000 – 17:11.32, Sheridan Wilbur, La Salle 2015
100HH – 14.44 (+1.0 w), Molly Reilly, S. Kingstown 2010
300IH – 43.91, Reilly 2010
*400IH – 1:03.16, Emily Barrett, La Salle 2008
4×100 – 47.90, Hope 2009
*4×200 – 1:41.40, Hope 2015
4×400 – 3:53.41, Hope 2015
4×800 – 9:04.86, Barrington 2013
*SMR (@ 800m) – 1:46.17, Hope 2010
*SMR (@ 1600m) – 4:00.40, La Salle 2007
*#Swedish Medley (@ 800m) – 2:14.83, Hope 2015
*DMR (@ 4000m) – 11:57.15, La Salle 2015
*#4×1-mile – 20:14.01, La Salle 2015
*Heptathlon – 3920 pts., Tammy Curtis, S. Kinsgtown 1994
* Not contested at RIIL State Championship
# New England record
. h = Hand-held time.
BOYS
#HT (12-lb./5.44-kilo) – 253-3 (77.20 meters), Jacob Freeman, Hendricken 1999
*#HT (11-lb./5-kilo) – 256-6 (78.18), Bobby Colantonio, Barrington 2015
*#HT (13-lb./6-kilo) – 232-5 (70.85), Colantonio 2015
*#HT (16-lb./7.26 kilo) – 216-2 (65.89) Freeman 1999
SP – 62-1 (18.92), Len Rao, La Salle 1971
#DT – 198-7 (60.54), Al Baginski, Classical 1979
#JT – 231-5 (70.54), Matt Maloney, La Salle 2005
HJ – 7-1 (2.16), Dave Arundel, S. Kingstown 1997
LJ – 24-0.50 (7.32), Don Blount, Moses Brown 1936
#TJ – 51-5.75 (15.90), Robert Howard, Shea 1994
PV – 15-7 (4.75), James Strawderman, Cr. West 2010
100 – 10.55 (+ 1.0 w), Kadeem Kushimo, La Salle 2010
200 – 21.71 (+1.8 w), Bobby Young, Mt. Pleasant 2003
400 – 46.42, Delon Gomes, Hope 1992
800 – 1:52.0y (= 1:51.4 @ 800m), Phil Kane, Rogers 1973
1500 – 3:45.46 (Enr. mile), Andrew Springer, Westerly 2009
*1600 – 4:01.06 (Enr. mile/= 3:45.0 @ 1500m), Springer 2009
*Mile – 4:02.70 (= 3:44.5 @ 1500m), Springer 2009
*STP – (@ 2000m), 6:43.5, Amilcar Tavaris, Shea 1993
*STP – (@ 3000m), 9:38.99, Ben Drezek, Cumberland 2016
3000 – 8:23.3h, Springer 2009
*3200 – 8:51.23 (= 8:14.9 @ 3000m), Matt Bouthillette, La Salle 2016
*Two mile – 9:00.90 (= 8:20.9 @ 3000m), Mike Marsella, Chariho 2012
*5000 – 14:42.91, DJ Principe, La Salle 2015
110HH – 13.98, Pete Gbaa, Hope 2004
300IH – 38.13, Ben Stewart, N. Kingstown 2014
*400IH – 54.05, Jarell Forbes, Classical 2011
4×100 – 42.20, Hope 2007
*4×200 – 1:29.81, Hope 2007
4×400 – 3:18.7h, Hendricken 2004
4×800 -7:37.62, N. Kingstown 2014
*SMR – (@ 800m), 1:33.06, Central 2010
*SMR – (@ 1600m), 3:28.59, E. Greenwich 2010
*Swedish Medley – (@ 1000m), 2:00.28, Central 2012
*Swedish Medley – (@ 1600m), 3:28.59, E. Greenwich 2010
*DMR (@4000m) – 10:00, La Salle 2016
*#4×1-mile – 17:21.59, Hendricken 2010
*Decathlon – 6034 pts., Stewart, NK 2014
*Not contested at RIIL State Championship
#New England record
(y = Distance measured in yards. h = Hand-held time.)