By BOB LEDDY (TAFWA)
R.I. Track & Field Foundation
31 Oct. – – Defending Class A and state champions La Salle Academy exited the “Covered Bridge’’ course at Ponaganset High on Saturday with an implied message: We’re the team to beat.
The Ram again captured both the boys’ and girls’ Class A crowns – with keen competition on this day from North Kingstown on the girls’ side, and Hendricken in the boys’ scoring. Defending state titlist David “DJ’’ Principe looked good on Saturday as he outdueled teammate Matt Bouthillette and posted a winning time of 15:19.98 in defending his ’14 Class A crown. (Bouthillette finished second in 15:28.) In an eye to the future, the Rams also won the boys’ and girls’ JV State Championships. South Kingstown’s impressive sophomore Ellie Lawler clocked 17:50.59 to cop the girls’ individual title, turning back a challenge from La Salle’s Eliza Rego (18:01.)
Bay View’s 45 points were good for team gold in the girls’ Class B race, while Barrington handily won boys’ team honors in that bracket. East Greenwich repeated its total success of a year ago and again swept team honors in Class C. The Avengers beat Smithfield, 37-42, for the girls’ title, and outpointed runner up Ponaganset, 40-86, in the boys’ division.
BOYS: Rams’ Salisbury is back; Skippers’ Toolin the real deal
After being idle much of the cross country season due to injury. La Salle senior Jack Salisbury returned to the starting line on Saturday. He placed fifth in the Class A race in 15:51.
“I felt OK,’’ said Salisbury who said he’s committing to Georgetown University next fall. “I’ve been taking it easy this week; doing some training. He way I look at it, nothing gets me in better shape than a race. I felt better as the race went in. my legs loosened up.’’
Principe, a junior, was “Mr. Fleetfoot’’ in winning the Class A run. “I wanted to set the tone in the first mile,’’ he said, adding that he went through the two-mile mark in 9:49. “Matt [Bouthillette] and I were working together. I’ve got another week [before State Meet] to straighten everything out.’’
Toolin, this year’s state Freshman champion (and undefeated in dual-meet competition), finished third in the Class A race on Saturday in 15:39. “I felt pretty good,’’ the Skipper standout said. “I’ve trained on this course before, but never in competition.’’
Hendricken senior Dom Parlato placed fourth in the boys’ Class A race (15:51.) Classical senior Joe Murphy went 16:29 in winning the boys’ Class B gold. Westery High’s talented sophomore Matt Walker finished second in 16:35. In the boys’ Class C event, Mt. St. Charles junior Charlie Berg won in a time of 16:18. Alan Greenleaf, a Ponaganset senior, was next in 16:25.
GIRLS: Lawler in control; Rams take 4 of top 6 spots; Eagles’ Mc Millan sidelined
Emma Mc Millan, the three-time defending state champ, is still recovering from what Barringotn coach Annmarie Marino described as a “stress reaction.
“She’s not a hundred percent healed,’’ Marino said. “She’s at practice with the team every day, but she’s not ready.’’ Mc Millan was on the starting line on Saturday to cheer on her teammates. The Class A race was a battle between Lawler, Rego and La Salle sophomore Grace Connolly. “It was back and forth between me and Eliza,’’ said Lawler.
Connolly, a Barrington High transfer this year, placed third in 18:32. Karina Tavares, a 2014 coaches all-stater (second in the state), came across fourth in 18:47. Emily Kane, a Ram sophomore, completed her team’s dominance of the top scoring positions to finish fifth in 18:53.
The girls’ Class B laurel wreath went to Westerly sophomore Randi Burr in 18:56. Burr was a first-team coaches all-stater last year. Bay View junior Claire Hanlon posted a 19:05 time for second spot, followed by Pilgrim senior Danika Wayss (third in 19:14) and Portsmouth High freshman Elizabeth Sullivan at 19:42.
Marissa Mc Phillips, in her final prep cross country season, was the Class C champ in 18:48. She was 10th in the state last year. Smithfield sophomore Una Treanor finished second in 19:34.
Course Note: Next Sunday’s State Championship at Ponaganset begins at 1:15 with the girls’ race. The boys go off at 2 p.m.
GIRLS’ RESULTS
Class A
Team scores
1, La Salle 23; 2, N. Kingstown 63; 3, S. Kingstown 95; 4, Cumberland 102; 5, Barrington 143; 6, Coventry 162; 7, Chariho 170; 8, Cr. West 232; 9, Classical 283; 10, Hope 291; 11, E. Providence 3-4; 12, Woonsocket 348.
Top 21 finishers
1, Ellie Lawler, SK 17:50; 2, Eliza Rego, LS 18:01; 3, Grace Connolly, LS 18:32; 4, Karina Tavares, LS 18:47; 5, Emily Kane, LS 18:53; 6, Katy Brayman, NK 19:07; 7, Beth Nunnery, NK 19:14; 8, Kate Zitzmann, Barr. 19:15; 9, Elise Papazian, LS 19:19; 10, Alyson Walsh, LS 19:24; 11, Audrey O’Neill, LS 19:27; 12, Hannah Southwick, SK 19:28; 13, Lily Nunnery, NK 19:29; 14, Tea Bishop, Barr. 19:34; 15, Emma Sammartino, NK 19:44; 16, Ana O’Callaghan, Cumb. 19:45; 17, Julia Dempsey, Cumb. 19:47; 18, Liz LaCroix, Char. 19:46.2; 19, Grave Henson, Cumb. 20:28; 20, Lisbeth Valdez, Hope 20:33; 21, Naomi Fastovsky, SK 20:35. Dist. – 3.1.
Class B
Team scores
1, Bay View 45; 2, Portsmouth 57; 3, Westerly 61; 4, Toll gate 103; 5, Lincoln 108; 6, Mt. Hope 136; 7, Tolman 184; 8, Shea 251; 9, Davies 263.
Top 21 finishers
1, Randi Burr, West. 18:56; 2, Claire Hanlon, BV 19:05; 3, Danika Wayss, Pil. 19:14; 4, Liz Sullivan, Ports. 19:42; 5, Abby Murdock, West. 20:16; 6, Sofia White, Ports. 20:35; 7, Kata Cummings, West. 20:46; 8, Amanda L’Esperance, Linc. 21:00; 9, Emma Shaw, BV 21:03; 10, Smaantha Leal, Linc. 21:20; 11, Cassie Gendron, BV 21:22; 12, Sarah Bain, BV 21:24; 13, Sophia Maynard, TG 21:25; 14, Margaret O’Brien, MH 21:31; 15, Clara Cruz, BV 21:42; 16, Haley Scardina, Ports. 21:51; 17, Bryana Mullin, Pil. 21:57; 18, Rebekah Lawson, Ports. 22:00; 19, Kate Hawes, TG 22:08; 20, Maranda Duffe, Pil. 22:20; 21, Mary Powell, Ports. 22:22. Dist. – 3.1.
Class C
Team scores
1, E. Greenwich 37; 2, Smithfield 42; 3, MSC 130; 4, Burrillville 146; 5, Prout 147; 6, Scituate 174; 7, Ponaganset 177; 8, Narragansett 181; 9, Moses Brown 2-4; 10, N. Smithfield 242; 11, St. Raaphael 281; 12, Sanxhez 304.
Top 21 finishers
1, Marissa Mc Phillips, Narr. 18:48; 2, Una Treanor, Smith. 19:34; 3, Kalie Bremer, EG 19:45; 4, Sydney Bagus, Smith. 20:04; 5, Ashton Deakin, EG 20:22; 6, Abby Kaye, Scit. 20:53; 7, Cassie Bissitt, Smith. 21:00; 8, Emma Macdonald, EG 21;03; 9, Sarah Basler, EG 21:06; 10, Anastasia Psilos, Prout 21:22; 11, Audra Ravennelle, Smith. 21:31; 12, Lauren Salvadore, EG 21:38; 13, Haley Howarth, SRA 21:39; 14, Claudia Fox, Burr. 21:43; 15, Stella Noecker, MSC 21:43.7; 16, Isabella Moratore, EG 21:46; 17, Allyssa Vitiello, Burr.21:50; 18, Isabella Cournoyer, Smith. 21:51; 19, Faye Cournoyer, MSC 21:54; 20, Sarah Levine, MB 21:57; 21, Shannon O’Connor, MSC 21:59. Dist. – 3.1.
JV meet
Top 5 teams
1, La Salle 18; 2, N. Kingstown 50; 3, E. Greenwich 92; 4, Coventry 134; 5, Cumberland 154.
Top 5 finishers
1, Michele Renzi, LS 19:37; 2, Mackenzie Doyle, LS 20:02; 3, Alanah Gaudrea, NK 20:14; 4, Gabby Celico, LS 20:14.9; 5, Emily Wilson, LS 20:15.
BOYS’ RESULTS
Class A
Team scores
1, La Salle 33; 2, Hendricken 48; 3, Cumberland 66; 4, N. Kingstown 85; 5, Chariho 137; 6, Coventry 200; 7, S. Kingstown 231; 8, Cr. East 241; 9, Woonsocket 286; 10, E. Providence 301; 11, Cr. West 317; 12, Hope 347; 13, Tolman 371; 14, Mt. Pleasant 458.
Top 21 finishers
1, DJ Principe, LS 15:19; 2, Matt Bouthillette, LS 15:28; 3, Sam Toolin, NK 15:39; 4, Dom Parlato, BH 15:51; 5, Jack Salisbury, LS 15:51; 6, Sean Laverty, Cumb. 15:58; 7, Avery Ingegneri, BH 16:05; 8, Ben Drezek, Cumb. 16:12; 9, Alex Campagna, LS 16:18; 10, Mike Kiernan, BH 16:21; 11, Kyle Keefe, Char. 16:28; 12, Harry Travers, Cumb. 16:32; 13, Max Waite, BH 16:35; 14, Jake Cardello, BH 16:43; 15, Tom McMahon, BH 16:49; 16, Alex Martinez, LS 16:55; 17, Will Mardo, Cumb. 16:58; 18, Ethan Wyllie, NK 16:59; 19, Mike O’Brien, NK 17:00; 20, Ben Carlisle, LS 17:03; 21, Nick Muscumeci, NK 17:07. Dist. – 3.1.
Class B
Team scores
1, Barrington 43; 2, Mt. Hope 73; 3, Pilgrim 97; 4, Toll Gate 115; 5, Classical 156; 6, Lincoln 163; 7, Westerly 172; 8, Portsmouth 179; 9, N. Providence 259; 10, Shea 275; 11, Davies 310; 12, W. Warwick 325; 13, Warwick Vets 325; 14, Johnston 407.
Top 21 finishers
1, Joe Murphy, Class. 16:29; 2, Matt Walker, West. 16:35; 3, Bryce Obrien, MH 17:00; 4, Will Connolly, Barr. 17:01; 5, Grant Auber, Barr. 17:06; 6, Hayden Ivatts, 17:12; 7, Nick Reygadas, TG 17:14; 8, Riley Rancourt, MH 17:16; 9, Nick Cehelsky, TG 17:20; 10, Brandon Lawton, Pil. 17:24; 11, Kevin Dusseault, Pil., 17:25; 12, Eli Mitnick, Barr. 17:28; 13, Nate Coogan, NP 17:32; 14, Nick Januario, MH 17:33; 15, Evan Thompson, Linc. 17:34; 16, Dom Portelli, Barr. 17:36; 17, George Wicker, Barr. 17:42; 18, Aidan Enright, Linc. 17:53; 19, John O’Rourke, Class. 17:55; 20, Cam Rancourt, MH 17:55.7; 21, Max Agustin, Barr. 18:01. Dist. – 3.1.
Class C
Team scores
1, E. Greenwich 40; 2, Ponaganset 86; 3, Smithfield 113; 4, Prout 117; 5, Scituate 125; 6, Burrillville 176; 7, Central Falls 220; 8, MSC 223; 9, N. Smitfield 232; 10, Narragansett 279; 11, St. Raphael 298; 12, Sanxhez 323; 13, Moses Brown 353; 14, Middletown 408; 16, Rogers 418; 17, Tiverton 507.
Top 21 finishers
1, Charles Berg, MSC 16:18; 2, Alan Greenleaf, Pon. 16:25; 3, Zach Durand, Burr. 16:39; 4, Jack Cronin, EG 16:39.9; 5, Matt Vinacco, Scit. 16:40; 6, Joe Higgins, EG 16:41; 7, Oliver Hazard, NS 16:45; 8, Adam Courtemanche, Smith. 16:48; 9, Alec Gannon, EG 16:51; 10, Jack Sommer, EG 16:53; 11, Hank Perretta, EG 16:53.8; 12, Jon Eckel, Prout 16:58; 13, Sam Harwood, Pon. 17:06; 14, Dante Prosseda, EG 17:12; 15, Dylan DePriest, EG 17:16; 16, John Pagliaro, Smith. 17:20; 17, Trent Walker, EWG 17:22; 18, John Wahl, Pon. 17:22.9; 19, Brennan Huff, Scit. 17:28; 20, Cam Doherty, Prout 17:29; 21, Jacob Mcconnell, Prout 17:32. Dist. – 3.1.
JV race
Top 5 teams
1, La Salle 30; 2, E. Greenwich 51; 3, Hendricken 52; 4, N. Kingstown 118; 5, Cumberland 173.
Top 5 finishers
1, Jordan Dagrin, BH 16:58; 2, Tom Colucci, LS 17:00; 3, Tim Sanzi, EG 17:10; 4, Jeff Pedersen, EG 17:11; 5, Connor O’Marra, LS 17:14.