R.I. Track & Field Foundation
(MEDIA NOTE) – – The State Cross Country Championship on Sunday is the second of three major events to be hosted on Ponaganset’s “Covered Bridge’’, 3.1- mile trail. The Class meets were staged last weekend and the New England meet will be held next Saturday; the latter for the third time (2006 and 2011 the previous years).
The boys go off at 1:15; girls 2 p.m. on Sunday.
A key element will be the return to the starting line of last year’s champions: La Salle senior David “DJ’’ Principe and Ellie Lawler, the South Kingstown junior. Both Principe and Lawler also won their respective Class Meet titles last weekend, and are holders of Ponaganset course records, set at last year’s State Meet: 17:29.28 for girls; 15:09.57 for boys. But the talent doesn’t end there. Though a number of last year’s name runners have graduated, Sunday’s races will feature a rich pool of distance runners. La Salle’s teams come in as defending titlists. Last November, the girls outpointed North Kingstown, 28-74, for their third straight team crown. The La Sale boys’ squad topped runner-up Hendricken, 35-59.
GIRLS: Rebels’ Lawler will be challenged
Lawler not only was last year’s individual state champ, but went on to earn All-American status off her top-15 finish at the Foot Locker National Championships in December. At this meet last year, Lawler clocked 17 minutes, 29 seconds, which tops out as a course record. This season, Lawler posted a win at the Manchester Invitational in New Hampshire, traversing a difficult course in in 18:45. She was the first Rhode Islander over the line (18:09 for sixth spot) at last month’s Brown University Invitational Championship race at Goddard Park. Lawler took the Class B crown here last weekend in an 18:16 effort. The Rebel “long ranger’’ will face key competition from last year’s No. 3 finisher, Westerly’s Randi Burr. Burr, also a junior, went 18:32 last year behind La Salle’s star harrier Eliza Rego. Burr is second in Class B, and won last month’s Avenger Invitational (18:19).
Junior Grace Connolly of La Salle, was a first-team coaches all-stater last year off her fourth-place showing here (18:33). Connolly clocked 18:40 last weekend in winning the Class A title. Teammates Emily Kane and Alyson Walsh – junior and senior respectively – will also bolster the Rams’ scoring. North Kingstown will receive points from juniors Katy Brayman and Emma Sammartino join sophomore Lily Nunnery in the Skipper lineup. Both Brayman and Nunnery were coaches all-staters last year.
One of the notable runners in the girls’ league is Portsmouth’s Liz Sullivan. The Patriot sophomore won this year’s East Bay Challenge race in Portsmouth, and has been a consistently high scorer throughout the dual meet season, helping Portsmouth to a 10-1 mark. Competing in the Class B meet last weekend, Sullivan ran a strong third (18:44) to Lawler and Burr. Bay View senior Claire Hanlon (fourth in Class B last weekend) will also be one to watch, as will Barrington junior Kate Zitzmann, Smithfield senior and Class C champ Sydney Bagus; East Greenwich sophomore Kalie Bremer, Cranston East senior Shayna Cousineau and Chariho’s Natalie Keefe.
BOYS: Principe and Toolin: All stops out
A year ago, the Rams’ Principe logged a Ponaganaset course record 15 minutes, 9 seconds to victory. The other two members of the Ram triumvirate – seniors Matt Bouthillette and Jack Salisbury – crossed the line 2-3. Coming home three-tenths of a second behind Salisbury was Skipper freshman Sam Toolin (15:57). Principe entered the September Bowdoin Classic in New York, and posted a course-record time of 15:23. Toolin, meanwhile, won the Wickham Park invitational in Connecticut with a time of 15:52. At Class Meet time last Saturday, Principe was ranked No. 4 in the nation by DyeStat. He went 15:39 to cop the boys’ Class A title. Toolin, running with equal precision, posted a time of 16:05 for second.
Cumberland’s No. 1 is senior Ben Drezek, a first-team coaches all-stater last year on the strength of his sixth-place 16:02 finish. Drezek was the top R.I. finisher in the boys’ Championship Division of the Brown University Invitational last month. Hendricken’s top runners graduated last June, but the always-strong Hawks have benefited this fall from the work of seniors Jeff Venter and Max Waite. Jordan Dagrin, Sean Meehan and Aidan Tierney are among Hendricken’s varsity corps.
La Salle’s Ben Carlisle, Joe dosReis, and Tom Colucci will be in the mix; as will Ram freshman Max Dimuccio, who was third in Class A last weekend. For Barrington, senior Mars Bishop is returning. A second-team coaches all-state pick, Bishop was 12th in the state at 16:21. He led the Class B field here last weekend with a 15:59 showing. Westerly’s Matt Walker also made All-Class finishing second last weekend in 16:08 in the Class B run. Senior runners also include: Scituate’s Matt Vinacco; the Avengers’ Jackson Cronin (last weekend’s Class C champ), Hank Perretta and Jack Sommer; Smithfield’s John Pagliaro; Prout’s Jonny Eckel; the Skippers’ Ethan Wyllie; from Cumberland, Harry Travers and Ryan Mardo.
Qualifying girls’ teams: Bay View; Portsmouth; Westerly; S. Kingstown; E. Greenwich; N. Kingstown; Cumberland; Coventry; La Salle; Cr. East; Smithfield; Ponaganset; Barrington; Burrillville; Lincoln; N. Smithfield; Prout; Toll Gate.
Individuals: Liz La Croix and Natalie Keefe Char.; Meg O’Brien and Ella Hanley, MH; Leinni and Lisbeth Valdez, Hope; Anna Bodycoat, Rog.; Abby Gerrish, MB; Haley Howarth, SRA; Christy Long, EP; Britt Theroux, MSC.
Qualifying boys’ teams: Portsmouth; Burrillville; Classical; Barrington; E. Greenwich; Scituate; Prout; Hendricken; N. Kingstown; Cumberland; La Salle; Coventry; Lincoln; Ponaganset; Smithfield; S. Kingstown; Toll Gate.
Individuals: Matt Walker, West.; Andre Solomon and Nate Coogan, NP; Ifeanyi Njoku and Elijah Akindolie, Hope; Ryder Ferris, Cam Rancourt and Nick Januario, MH; Reilly Johnston and Nasavell Medeiros, SRA; Joe Tocco and Kevin Dussault, Pil.; Duncan Lanier, NS; Kim Hout, CE; Matt Mazzone, WW.