R.I. Track & Field Foundation
As was the case a year ago, both La Salle teams enter a State Indoor Championship as the teams to beat this season. Last February, the La Salle girls copped their ninth straight team title. The boys from Ram Country posted their second consecutive team prize. The girls’ squad nearly doubled the team scores put up by runner-up Hope and third place Classical. The boys team were 104-58 winners over second-place Hendricken.
Essentially, the Rams kept intact the majority of their scorers from the 2014-15 campaign. But La Salle will face challenges on both sides of the ledger.As the R.I. Track & Field Foundation coaches polls this season have shown, the Rams don’t have the lock on talented athletes. For the girls, North Kingstown, Cumberland and Classical will put competitive teams on the track. The Central High boys’ team is super-strong this season, as are squads from Hendricken, North Kingstown, Rogers, Cumberland, West Warwick and East Providence.
Here’s a brief look at what to look for:
GIRLS: Jacobsen tops in weight; Stern in dashes; Burr, Nunnery among distance entries
At last month’s Headley Division championships, Toll Gate senior Courtney Jacobsen again demonstrated why she is not only the state’s No. 1 with the 20-pound (9 kilo) weight, but currently fourth in the nation. Jacobsen unloaded the ball a winning 56 feet, 7.50 inches (17.25 meters). At the Medium Class Championship last week she out-distanced the field by more than a foot, at 54-0.50 (1647). Jacobsen, who finished third here last year for a coaches all-state spot, will face a talented field of throwers, such as state runner-up and coaches all-stater Lysah Russell, of Classical and Smithfield’s Megan Malloy, who placed sixth in ’15. In the shot put sector, Classical senior Yusuff Fummibi is state runner-up at 35-10 (10.92).
Classical senior May Stern takes the track as defending 600-meter champ (1:38.22). Stern has enjoyed a banner season thus far, posting new state records in the 300 and 400 meters (38.86 and 55.41 respectively). At the Headley Division meet, Stern contributed 40 points to her school’s winning total of 113. Stern was gold in the 300 and 55-meter dashes, and ran legs on two Purple relays. She clocked a winning 41.57 at the Large Class meet. Senior Eliza Rego has been a dominating force in distance runs. A double-winner last year, Rego clocked 4:42.06 to beat teammate Karina Tavares. In the 1000, Rego and Tavares also went head-to-head, with Rego mining gold in 2:54.76. Rego holds the state record in the 1500, at 4:34.30. Other topnotch distance women include the Rams’ Cianna Lynch and Audrey O’Neill, Westerly’s Randi Burr, Cumberland’s Amy Laverty and Claire Hanlon, of Bay View. Hope High seniors Chevell Burgess and Isis Hack will also be featured in dashes, as will Cranston West’s Jenn Iozzi in the shot put circle.
Meaghan Scullin, the Cumberland High senior, is defending champ in the long jump. Scullin went 17-9.25 (5.41) to beat Coventry’s Charleen Theroux (also back this year) by eight inches. Scullin also competed in the high jump, where she finished fourth with a 5-foot (1.52) leap, and won Large School honors by winning the long jump. Tereza Bolibruch, the Skippers’ speedy sprinter, clocked 8.71 to win the Bayha Divisiion 55 meters. Smithfield won the Small Schools crown last weekend, and received 20 points from Sydne Bagus’ wins in the 1000 and 1500.
BOYS: La Salle’s ‘Big 3’; Central’s scoring power; Colantonio rules in weight circle
At the 2015 States, then-junior Jack Salisbury twice mounted the winner’s platform for his performances in the 1000 and 1500 meters (2:39.27 and 4:05.35 respectively). Last weekend at the New Balance junior mile, Salisbury set a new state mile record of 4:08.33. If Salisbury wins the 1500 meters n Saturday, he will have done what no one has indoors: win three consecutive titles at that distance. Salisbury joins fellow “long rangers’’ David “DJ’’ Principe and Matt Bouthillette. Principe clocked 8:50.83 to take the 3000, with Bouthillette earning second-tea, RITCA all-state honors in that event. (The smooth-running Principe owns a new state record for 3000 meters: 8:26.51.) The three distance men have been the linchpin of La Salle success, but the Rams have other scoring options, particularly freshman Joe dosReis. At the Freshman States earlier this month, dosReis finished as runner-up in the 3000 meters (9:55.16.) Underclassmen Al Campagna, Sam Coleman and Cam Morenzi also chipped in points last season.
A strong Rogers contingent has been impressive all seaason. Last weekend, the Vikings grabbed the Class C team prize, led by Mike Garvey’s wins in the long jump and dash. An equally well-oiled West Warwick team copped its first class championship last Saturday, winning the B title. Avery Williamson, Ivan Goretoy and Amir Spriggs are among the Wizard lead scorers. In the middle distances is Barrington High junior Mars Bishop. He is defending state 600-meter champ (1:24.13), and won this season’s Metro Division title in that event. He collected two gold medals at the Class B Championship with wins in the 600 and 1500 meters. Sam Toolin, North Kinsgtown’s amazing distance man, continues to make known his presence. Hendricken’s Tom McMahon and Avery Ingegneri will compete against Cumberland’s Sean Laverty and Jim Haupt.
The Central High boys’ program has made its presence known. This season, a Knight 4×400 relay set a new R.I. record, a 3:22.48 clocked at a meet at the Armory Track in Manhattan. Donatien Djero, Austin Wolo and Dametrius O’Connor were part of that relay, and Djero comes into this meet as a double winner lasts year; all are juniors this year. They comprised 75% of Central’s winning 3×200 relay (1:32.52). The Knights swept the first three places in the Class A 300 meters, with Wolo posting a winning time of 35.46. East Providence will have scoring power with the likes of seniors Paulo Pereira and Alejandro Duarte. The pair went 1-2 last year in the long jump, with Duarte posting a winning mark of 29-8.50 (6.31), to Pereira’s 20-7 (6.27). Avery Williamson, a West Warwick senior, will also by on the long jump runway, as well as sprints. With weight champion Adam Kelly in his first year at Princeton, his Barrington teammate Bobby Colantonio has stepped into the spotlight. Last year, Colantonio was state runner-up to Kelly in the 25-pound (11.36 kilo) weight. He threw 79-9 (24.30) in that effort. This season, Colantonio has moved to No. 1 in the U.S. rankings. He threw 77-5 (23.59) to win the Metro bracket medal. At a meet in New York earlier this month, Colantonio threw a winning 80-1 (24.41).
The meet begins at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday. The time schedule:
11:30 – Girls’ and boys’ pole vault, jointly (non-scoring)
Girls’ weight (boys to follow).
Boys’ high jump (girls to follow)
Girls’ long jump (boys to follow)
Boys’ shot (girls to follow)
12 noon – 4×800
12:30 – 4×200
12:40 – 3000
1:10 – Hurdles/dash trials
1:40 – 1500
2:10 – Hurdles finals (Girls, then boys)
2:15 – Dash finals (Girls, then boys)
2:20 – 600
2:35 – 300
2:50 – 1000
3:05 – 4×400