By BOB LEDDY (TAFWA)
R.I. Track & Field Foundation
29 Oct. – – The girls’ Class team prizes went to La Salle, South Kingstown and Smithfield in Classes A, B and C respectively, while the “DJ’’ Principe-led Rams copped the Class A title. Barrington emerged as Class B titlists, and East Greenwich took Class C honors. Individually, both defending state champs won their respective races; South KIngstown’s Ellie Lawler in girls’ Class B, and La Salle’s DJ Principe in the boys’ Class A event.
The races were held Saturday on the “Covered Bridge’’ course at Ponaganset High in ideal conditions for cross country running. A Class-by- Class breakdown:
GIRLS’ HIGHLIGHTS
Class A: Connolly paces Rams; Cr. East’s Cousineau in impressive effort
Junior Grace Connolly turned in a winning time of 18 minutes 40.4 seconds to lead the field. Connolly, a first-team coaches all-stater last season, finished 14 seconds in front of teammate Emily Kane. Meanwhile, Cranston East senior Shayna Cousineau ran a smart race and placed third in 19:04. Cousineau is looking to break into the all-state ranks next weaken; she was No 39 finisher at the ’15 States.
La Salle topped North Kingstown, 31-58, for the A team crown.
Class B: It’s Lawler for the gold; Burr a strong second
Defending state titlist Ellie Lawler went wire-to-wire to win the Class B run in 18:16.7. “I kept the pressure off myself,’’ the Rebel junior said. “And I love this course; it’s a nice mix of hills. Randi pushed me.’’ Coming in second was Westerly junior Randi Burr in 18:20. “We were together through the first mile,’’ said Burr, a first-team RITCA all-stater last year (third place), of her competition with Lawler. Portsmouth’s impressive sophomore Liz Sullivan clocked 18:44 for third spot, while Bay View senior Claire Hanlon went 19:12 for fourth.
The Rebels’ 52 points were good for the Class B team win. Portsmouth (61) was runner-up.
Class C: Sentinels, behind a 1-2-3 finish, cop team honors
Smithfield senior Sydney Bagus turned in a winning time of 19:46 to pace her team. Sentinel junior Una Treanor was next over the line (19:50), followed by freshman Ashlyn Maio in third (20:34). North Smithfield freshman Vickie Thurley was No. 4 in 20:55. It was Smithfield, 30-95, over Prout.
BOYS’ HIGHLIGHTS
Class A: “DJ’’ in good form; Toolin runs measured race
Principe, currently ranked fourth in the U.S. by DyeStat, ran a cool 15:39.1 over his main rival, North Kingstown sophomore Sam Toolin, who clocked in at 16:05 for second. Both runners ran strategically with next weekend’s State Meet in mind. “I was having a good time,’’ Principe said. “I wanted to stay conservative and enjoy it.’’ Toolin, fourth in the state as a freshman last year, also paced himself, while not losing his competitive edge. “I wanted to get out of the pack and let DJ do what he does,’’ the Skipper distance man said. Max Dimuccio, a freshman from La Salle, clocked 16:11 for third, while Cumberland senior Ben Drezek went 16:16 for No. 4 spot.
The Rams totaled 27 points for the Class A win. Second-place Hendricken garnered 59 points.
Class B: Mars attacks; Bulldogs’ Walker a strong second
Barrington’s talented “long ranger’’ Mars Bishop crossed the line the Class B winner in 15:50. Bishop, now a senior, was a second-team RITCA all-stater last year (12th spot). Matt Walker, a Westerly junior, continued his successful ’16 campaign with a 16:08 performance for second place. Barrington senior Hayden Ivatts clocked 16:37 for third, while No. 4 Nate Coogan (North Providence senior) posted a time of 16:49.
The Eagles downed Burrillville, 36-85, for team supremacy in Class B.
Class C: Avengers strong in turning back a determined Ponaganset
Led by senior Jackson Cronin, East Greenwich putt up 33 points over the host school (65). Cronin clocked 16:29 for the win, while teammate Willy Por was second (16:46). The Chieftains’ Jon Wahl was next (16;52), with Jonny Eckel, a Prout senior, placing fourth in 16:54. Ponaganset placed three harriers in the top dozen.
GIRLS’ RESULTS
Class A
Team scores
1, La Salle 31; 2, N. Kingstown 58; 3, Cumberland 87; 4, Barrington 93; 5, Coventry 151; 6, Toll Gate 182; 7, Chariho 216; 8, Cr. East 222; 9, Classical 257; 10, Cr. West 290; 11, Pilgrim 300; 12, E. Providence 302; 13, Woonsocket 343.
Top 21 individuals
1, Grace Connolly, LS 18:40.4; 2, Emily Kane, LS 18:54; 3, Shayna Cousineau, CE 19:04; 4, Alyson Walsh, LS 19:14; 5, Kate Zitzmann, Barr. 19:;33; 6, Wyndom Chace, NK 19:36; 7, Lily Nunnery, NK 19:41; 8, Liz La Croix, Char. 20:14; 9, Tea Bishop, Barr. 20:16; 10, Emily Wilson, LS 20:17; 11, Kate Brayman, NK 20:18; 12, Adah Anderson, Cumb. 20:25; 13, Jamie Hazel, NK 20:29; 14, Sydney Decesare, LS 20:30; 15, Brooklyn Forcier, LS 20:32; 16, Colleen Dempsey, Cumb. 20:38; 17, Julia Dempsey, Cumb. 20:40; 18, Sophia Maynard, TG 20:48; 19, Natalie Keefe, Char. 20:57; 20, Emily Haviland, Cumb. 21:05; 21, Quillyn Smith, NK 21:11. Dist. – 3.1.
Class B
Team scores
1, S. Kingstown 52; 2, Portsmouth 61; 3, Bay View 75; 4, Westerly 84; 5, E. Greenwich 92; 6, Lincoln 156; 7, Mt. Hope 205; 8, N. Providence 225; 9, W. Warwick 255; 10, Davies 310.
Top 21 individuals
1, Ellie Lawler, SK 18:16.7; 2, Randi Burr, West. 18:20; 3, Liz Sullivan, Ports. 18:44; 4, Claire Hanlon, BV 19:12; 5, Sofia White, Ports. 19:31; 6, Kalie Bremer, EG 19:34; 7, Kata Cummings, West. 19:41; 8, Nikki Merrill, Ports. 19:52; 9, Abby Murdock, West. 20:02; 10, Kali Vanderlaan, SK 20:06; 11, Sam Leal, Linc. 20:11; 12, Hannah Southwick, SK 20:18; 13, Clara Cruz, BV 20:20; 14, Kyle Fish, SK 20:29; 15, Abby Cobb, SK 20:40; 16, Meg O’Brien, MH 20:42; 17, Sarah Bain, BV 20:45; 18, Leinni Valdez Hope 20:46; 19, Lisbeth Valdez, Hope 20:50; 20, Bryn Shunney, EG 20:53; 21, Emma Shaw, BV 20:55. Dist. – 3.1.
Class C
Team scores
1, Smithfield 30; 2, Prout 95; 3, Ponaganset 113; 4, Burrillville 121; 5, N. Smithfield 134; 6, Mt. St. Charles 145; 7, St. Raphael 151; 8, Moses Brown 214; 9, Rogers 247; 10, Scituate 282; 11, Central Falls 299; 12, Narragansett 321; 13, Sanchez 326.
Top 21 individuals
1, Sydney Bagus, Smith. 19:46.3; 2, Una Trenor, Smith. 19:50; 3, Ashlyn Maio, Smith. 20:34; 4, Vickie Thurley, NS 20:55; 5, Sophia Mayo, Prout 21:01; 6, Anna Boycoat, Rog. 21:09; 7, Abby Gerrish, MB 21:18; 8, Haley Howarth, SRA 21:26; 9, Anna Logan, Smith. 21:33; 10, Sabrina Charron, Burr. 21:43; 11, Mia Nerbonne, Pon. 22:08; 12, Alyssa Vitiello, Burr. 22:09; 13, Allie Drexler, Pon. 22:10; 14, Emily Pinch, Prout 22:11; 15, Sara Cerrullo, Smith. 22:14.1; 16, Charlotte LoPiccolo, Pon. 22:14.5; 17, Rylee Morin, Pon. 22:18; 18, Allison Slitt, Prout 22:23; 19, Britt Theroux, MSC 22:24; 20, Rita Marcotte, NS 22:29; 21, Maddy Piti, Smith. 22:31. Dist. – 3.1.
JV race
Top 5 teams
1, La Salle 34; 2, N. Kingstown 41; 3, E. Greenwich 63; 4, Cumberland 121; 5, S. Kingstown 142.
Top 5 individuals
1, Michele Renzi, LS 20:52; 2, Maddie Holden, NK 21:11; 3, Erin Johnston, LS 21:19; 4, Alivia Saunders, EG 21:22; 5 Keara Fontaine, NK 21:31.
BOYS’ RESULTS
Class A
Team scores
1, La Salle 27; 2, Hendricken 59; 3, Chariho 95; 4, N. Kingstown 105; 5, Cumberland 125; 6, Toll Gate 176; 7, S. Kingstown 197; 8, Coventry 201; 9, Pilgrim 242; 10, Cr. East 298; 11, Cr. West 332; 12, Woonsocket 412; 13, E. Providence 416; 14, Mt. Pleasant 440.
Top 21 individuals
1, DJ Principe, LS 15:39.1;2, Sam Toolin, NK 16:05; 3, Max Dimuccio, LS 16:11; 4, Ben Drezek, Cumb. 16:16; 5, Joe dosReis, LS 16:20; 6, Dom Campagna, LS 16:29; 7, Nick Reygadas, TG 16:31; 8, Jeff Venter, BH 16:36; 9, Aiden Tierney, BH 16:37; 10, Nick Cehelsky, TG 16:40; 11, Kyle Keefe Char. 16:41; 12, Ben Carlisle, LS 16:45; 13, Sean Meehan, BH 16:50; 14, Jon Iamarone, BH 16:52; 15, Dan Ruggiero, BH 16:53; 16, Evan O’Neil, Char. 16:57; 17, Garrett Miller, Char. 16:59; 18, Tom Colucci, LS 17:03; 19, Dan Collard, Cumb. 17:06; 20, Jordan Dagrin, BH 17:08; 21, Max Waite, BH 17:15. Dist. – 3.1.
Class B
Team scores
1, Barrington 36; 2, Burrillville 85; 3, Lincoln 103; 4, Westerly 143; 5, Mt. Hope 157; 6, Classical 159; 7, Portsmouth 167; 8, N. Providence 189; 9, W. Warwick 209; 10, Hope 246; 11, Shea 319; 12, Davies 339; 13, Johnston 387.
Top 21 individuals
1, Mars Bishop, Barr. 15:59.7; 2, Matt Walker, West. 16:08; 3, Hayen Ivatts, Barr. 16:37; 4, Nate Coogan, NP 16:49; 5, Elliot Laidlaw, Barr. 16:50; 6, Elijah Akindolie, Hope 16:51; 7, Conor Murphy, Class. 16:53; 8, Jeff Pichie, Burr. 16:54; 9, Aidan Enright, Linc. 17:04; 10, Andre Solomon,NP 17:09; 11, Cam Charron, Burr. 17:11; 12, Brian Donahue, Barr. 17:13; 13, Nick Januario, MH 17:14; 14, Tony Rua, Burr. 17:15; 15, Tony Pitts, Barr. 17:16; 16, Joe O’Rourke, Class. 17:24; 17, Evan Thompson, Linc. 17:25; 18, George Wicker, Barr. 17:26.1; 19, Nick Gaitanis, Linc. 17:26.5; 20, Eli Mitnick, Barr. 17:27.3; 21, Boyd Foster, Linc. 17:27.9. Dist. – 3.1.
Class C
Team scores
1, E. Greenwich 33; 2, Ponaganset 65; 3, Prout 79; 4, Scituate 101; 5, Smithfield 108; 6, St. Raphael 154; 7, N. Smithfield 200; 8, Moses Brown 237; 9, Narragansett 293; 10, Tiverton 317; 11, Rogers 323; 12, Sanchez 354; 13, Middletown 359; 14, Central Falls 374.
Top 21 individuals
1, Jackson Cronin, EG 16:29.2; 2, Willy Por, EG 16:46; 3, Jon Wahl, Pon. 16:52; 4, Jommy Eckel, Prout 16:54; 5, Jack Sommer, EG 16:55.3; 6, Matt Vinacco, Scit. 16.55.9; 7, Sam Harwood,. Pon. 16:56; 8, John Pagliaro, Smith. 17:01; 9, Dam Doherty, Prout 17:09; 10, Cebestian Gentil, EG 17:11; 11, Joe Poccia, Scit. 17:12; 12, Matt Rene, Pon. 17:16; 13, Reilly Johnston, SRA 17:17; 14, Brennan Huff, Scit. 17:23; 15, Colin Cianciolo, EG 17:24; 16, Ravi Somanshi, EG 17:30; 17, Nasavel Medieros, SRA 17:32.3; 18, Mike King, Prout 17:.32.8; 19, Seth Drexler, Pon. 17:39; 20, Quentin Viera, EG 17:46.0; 21, Nick Mahar, Prout 17:46.4. Dist.- 3.1.
JV race
Top 5 teams
1, Hendricken 24; 2, La Salle 37; 3, E. Greenwich 92; 4, Barrington 115; 5, Chariho 194.
Top 5 finishers
1, Connor O’Marra, LS 16:49; 2, Jack Mc Mahon, BH 16:50; 3, Jack Wilbur, LS 16:56; 4, Ryan Mallozzi, BH 17:00; 5, Dylan Manning, BH 17:01.
JV race II
1, Matt St. Jean, BH 17:45; 2, Eric Carlson, BH 17:45; 3, Matt Smaldone, BH 17:57; 4, Mike Coppa, BH 18:03; 5, Andy Woodbine, BH 18:07.
Course Notes: Saturday’s event was the first of three championship events to be held in “Chieftain Country’’. Next Sunday, the RIIL State Championhship will be held . . . On Saturday, 12 Nov., the New England Championships makes its third visit to the Ponaganset course.