“Around the Oval’’
STATE MEET PREVIEW
R.I. Track & Field Foundation
The 2015 edition of the State Track & Field Championship this Saturday at Brown Stadium promises to be one of the most exciting in recent years; strength in every department spread among the 19 scoring events and both genders. The meet gets underway at 12:45 p.m. with the girls’ hammer. Events on the track commence at 2 p.m. with the 4×800 relays.
Last year, Classical High notched its third team title, fueled by senior Maddy Berkson’s 32-point performance and aided by team wins in the discus, triple jump, 400 and high hurdles. North Kingstown aced its third-ever boys’ team prize, powered by senior Ben Stewart and his state-record 38.16 in the 300 intermediates.
Returning to defend their 2014 titles: Alva Hicks, Classical (discus); Paige Olausen, North Kingstown (javelin); Carly Timpson, Narragansett (high jump); Quashira “Q” Mc Intosh, Hope (100, 200); Bobby Colantonio, Barrington (hammer); Jack Salisbury, La Salle (1500); Nathan Narcisse, Classical (110 high hurdles); May Stern, Classical (400 meters.)
GIRLS: Ram-tough in distances; “Q” owns the dashes
Senior Mc Intosh has been the most electrifying dash specialist in recent memory. She turned in a meet-record 11.96 (- 0.6w) in the 100 last year, and went 24.73 (-0.4w) to take the 200 meters. “Q”, who graduates this year from Hope’s partnership school, the E3 Academy, won both Class A dashes, plus the quarter. She clocked 24.45 (-0.5w) to win the Loucks Games 200 in New York, and was a double winner at the annual Schomp Invitational last month.
La Salle is loaded in most every event, but the team’s nucleus is its distance corps; junior Eliza Rego has been the linchpin of the group. She won the 1500 and 3000 meters at the Class A Championship; last year second in the state behind Berkson in the 1500-meter event. Senior Sheridan Wilbur is another key “long ranger’’ for La Salle. On May 9, Wilbur ran leadoff leg on the Rams’ state-record distance medley relay. Other distance runners to watch are North Kingstown’s Beth Nunnery, Barrigton’s Emma Mc Millan, Westerly’s Randi Burr and South Kingstown’s Ellie Lawler and Sofia White, of Portsmouth.
Classical’s Hicks will be the one to beat in the throws competition. She captured the discus and shot titles at last weekend’s Mt. Pleasant Invitational. Another Mt. Pleasant Invitational winner in the hammer – Toll Gate’s Courtney Jacobsen – will also be a threat, as will Cranston West’s Jenn Iozzi. Currently, Jacobsen is ranked third nationally with the 4-kilogram ball. Abby Cousens and Hicks teammate Lysah Russell will among the top competitors. North Kingstown’s Tereza Bolibruch will score in the hurdles. She is the freshman state champ in both the 100 and 300 intermediate hurdles. Pilgrim’s Melanie Brunelle is a top dash and field event competitor, and is equally effective in the long jump. In the dashes also, look for the Falcons’ Oceana Williams to score. Over at the pole vault pit, La Salle’s Kelsey Coughlin will seek to improve on her 9-6 (2.89-meter) clearance. Teammate Michaela Mc Namara and Portsmouth’s Rachel Chavous will score as well.
BOYS: Rams go the long route. A battle looms in the hammer circle
It’s been back and forth all season between Barrington High hammer titans Adam Kelly and Bobby Colantonio. The pair have maintained the top two spots in United States rankings.
Colantonio, then a sophomore, won the state hammer throw with a mark of 215-6 (65.68), but has long surpassed that distance this season. Similarly, senior Kelly (second in the state last year) has upped his marks. Kelly and Colantonio went 1-2 at last weekend’s Hendricken Invitational meet. Jared Briere, of Woonsocket, the Eagles’ Mike Alvernaz, and Classical’s Joe Palazzo will be in the hunt. In the shot, look for Cumberland senior Andrew Walters, this year’s Class A champ in the event. Francy Mata, a senior from Mount Pleasant, won the Class A discus with a toss of 133 feet (40.53).
For La Salle, Salisbury, Dan Paiva, DJ Principe, Jake Grundy and Matt Bouthillette have been the top scorers in the distances. Salisbury, a junior, is back to defend his 1500-meter title. (Last weekend in Eugene, Ore., Salisbury ran the fifth-fastest time in the country at the Prefontaine Classic’s prep mile event; he finished third in 4:06.74.) Salisbury, Principe and Bouthillette went 1-2-3 at the Schomp Invitational 1500. Bouthillette clocked 3:56.9 to win the Class A 1500, while teammate Principe posted a winning time of 8:56.8 for 3000 meters at the same meet.Barrington’s Mars Bishop, Portsmouth’s Pat Hook, Cumberland’s Sean Laverty, Classical’s Joe Murphy, North Providence’s Nate Coogan and East Greenwich’s Tommy Sommer have been top performers this season in the distance runs. Bishop’s 4:02.5 time was good for gold at the Hendricken Invitational 1500 meters. The Hawks’ Grant Gauthier, Mike McKiernan and Tom Mc Mahon are also point-scorers in the distances.
Newell Roberts, a Classical senior, soared to a season-high 14 feet, 3 inches (4.34 meters) to win the Hendricken Invitational pole vault last weekend. East Providence has top-flight horizontal jumpers in Trystan Casey and Paulo Pereira. Casey went 42-11 (11.50) to win the Hendricken Invitational triple jump. Hawk senior Ben Murphy will bear watching in the high jump sector. In the dashes, Donatien Djero, of Central, Mount Pleasant’s Trevane Clarke, Clasical’s Narcisse and Narragansett’s Mike Silvestri (a double winner at the Class C Championships.)
The Rogers High contingent includes Marquise Scott and Levon Chambell in the dashes, and Yaqoob Iqbal and Kelvin Serrano in the jumps.