Boys' State Meet: Hawks, Rams appear ready for epic showdown

The Boston Red Sox winning the World Series over the St. Louis Cardinals Thursday night was something that was hardly imaginable last fall when the Sox finished dead last in the American League East.

But when it comes to the postseason and the World Series, that wasn’t the biggest shocker by the Red Sox the last decade. The biggest one occurred in 2004 when Boston rallied from a 0-3 deficit against the Yankees with four- straight wins in the best-of-7 ALCS to earn its ticket to Fall Classic where it proceeded to sweep the Cardinals in four straight for the coveted Commissioners Trophy.

In sports, just like in life, anything can happen. Nothing is etched in stone. Nothing is scripted. Will a similar scenario (or upset) happen on Sunday at the boys’ state cross-country championship where most are predicting a heated battle between last year’s top two finishers, defending champion Bishop Hendricken and La Salle Academy? Could a talented East Greenwich team figure in the mix? It’s anybody’s guess.

Right now, the odds are favorable that the title will go to Hendricken or La Salle. At the Class A Championship this past Saturday, the Hawks held off the Rams with a narrow 30-34 victory. How evenly matched were these two schools? Hendricken averaged a time of 16 minutes, 19.07 seconds for its seven runners, while La Salle was at 16:22.8.

If this weekend’s state meet mirrors the Class A meet, it will be tough to contest against the two powerhouses. The Hawks are nearly guaranteed first-place individually with senior Colin Tierney appearing to be in peak form. Tierney posted the fastest time of the day at the class meet, winning  by 25 seconds with his 15:32.24 clocking on the Chieftains’ demanding, five-kilometer course.

“I wasn’t surprised,” said longtime Hendricken coach Jim Doyle, after the race. “He expected to be in that position. He knew that he was going to have to take charge throughout the race and win it. That was his plan to go out and see what happens.”

If Hendricken wants to repeat the magic on Sunday, another triumph by Tierney will certainly help. Behind the Hawk standout is a tremendous amount of talent from the two teams that could go either way. The Rams possess a strong 1-2-3 punch with sophomore Jack Salisbury, freshman DJ Principe and junior Jake Grundy. Salisbury (15:57.13) and Principe (15:57.74) finished second and third, respectively, at the class meet with a mere .61 separating the tandem. Grundy, who had an off-day and was eighth overall at 16:33.66, is capable of running in the low 16-minute range or better. He owns a best of 16:11 this year.

La Salle had a great meet from junior Chris Notarianni, who placed fifth with a huge PR of 16:23.17. The Rams’ fifth man was junior Dan Paiva. Like Grundy, Paiva didn’t have his best outing at the class meet. He was 16th overall with a time of 17:02.27, more than 48-seconds slower than what he ran at the season-opening Injury Fund Carnival. If the Rams can click with all their runners, a state crown is certainly within their grasp.

A key reason that the Hawks were able to slip by the Rams on Saturday was the performance of Tom Grizzetti. The sophomore finished fourth overall with a time of 16:16.67, more than 18-seconds faster than his previous best set at the Great American Cross-Country Festival in early October. The Hawks had their remaining three scoring runners at the class meet finish within 17 seconds of each other with junior Michael Potter taking sixth at 16:28.88, senior Collin Manning placing seventh in 16:31.58 and sophomore Dominic Parlato finishing 12th with a time of 16:45.97. Potter is capable of improving on his time substantially. He has twice dipped under 16 minutes this season, including a 15:35 at the Injury Fund. If he can manufacture another sub-16 this weekend, and his remaining teammates come to race as well, Hendricken may be looking at its sixth consecutive (and 22nd overall) state crown.

The dark horse on Sunday is East Greenwich, a team that finished 11-1 to undefeated Hendricken in the Suburban Division. There is no doubt the Avengers are a huge underdog, but weirder things have happened when the chips are on the table. Remember the Sox-Yankees in 2004?

Senior teammates Garrett Scanlon and Graham Chapski are a solid duo that’s capable of doing damage at The Reservation. The pair went 1-2 at the Class C meet, won convincingly by the Avengers. Scanlon owns a best of 16:00 and Chapski has run 16:03 this season. Both times were done on a very-fast 5K course at Burrillville Middle School (BMS), which hosted the Injury Fund Carnival and the Skee Carter Bronco Invitational. In order for the Avengers to even think of putting a scare in this meet, it will need A-plus efforts from everyone that wears the maroon and white singlet. Junior Tommy Sommer, who was fifth at the Class C meet, ran 16:20 earlier in the season at BMS. He will have to come close to that effort on a more difficult course and Scanlon and Chapski, at the least, will also have to match their PRs. And that’s just the beginning.

In last year’s state meet, Hendricken defeated La Salle, 44-64, for the title. East Greenwich was third with 93 points. The pressure is on Hawks and Rams to win on Sunday. With its talent and a little luck going its way, East Greenwich wouldn’t mind crashing the party.

“In my eyes, this team is better than last year,” Scanlon said. “We are going to be chasing. We got a chance to surprise a few people. There is no doubt in that."

For a look back at last year's state meet, click here.