Two Invites occupy Saturday's slate

Athletes in the state will be split up this weekend with two invitationals taking place on Saturday.

Most of Rhode Island’s title contenders for both boys and girls will be down in Exeter/West Greenwich for the annual Schomp Invitational, a state-meet qualifier. Bishop Hendricken, La Salle Academy, Classical and East Providence are among the boys’ team that will make the trip. One race that should draw some interest is the 1,500-meter run. The top five seeds in the event all hail from La Salle with indoor state 1,500m champion Jack Salisbury the top seed with his 4:02 best. Right behind at 4:04 is sophomore classmate Matt Bouthilette, the 3,200m titlist in the winter.  Although he’s the No. 6 seed, East Greenwich senior Garrett Scanlon is certainly capable of breaking up the Rams’ party. He has a season best of 4:13, which he did to win the Cumberland Invitational last month. But he also has a PB of 4:05 that he did on the indoor surface in January at the divisional championships.

North Kingstown’s multiple all-stater Zachery Emrich will be looking to dip under 50 seconds in the 400m and Barrington teammates and nationally-ranked hammer throwers, senior Adam Kelly and sophomore Bobby Colantonio, share the 1-2 positions in that event with both capable of improving on their bests of 220 and 210, respectively. The 3K could be interesting with Bishop Hendericken senior Colin Tierney and La Salle junior Dan Paiva as the top two seeds and the only runners under nine minutes.

The girls’ meet includes indoor state champion and runner-up, La Salle and Classical, respectively.  The 1,500m will feature eight runners that have run faster than five minutes. Westerly senior Jackie Burr (4:48.80) and Narragansett sophomore Marissa McPhillips (4:49.30) lead the group. The race to watch could be the 3K where Classical’s Maddy Berkson will be running her first big meet of the outdoor season. She’ll be match against La Salle’s talented duo of sophomore Eliza Rego and junior Sheridan Wilbur. All three are capable of running sub 10 minutes at the early-season meet.

The Schomp Invite begins at 9 a.m., with the hammer. The remaining field events start at 10, followed by the track events at 11.

Cranston West is the site for the other invitational on Saturday, the Brian Moretti Invitational (Falcon Invitational).

Moses Brown and the host Falcons are the top schools at this inaugural event. Combined, the two schools have the top seeds in 30 of the 37 events. MB junior Owen Russell could snag three goal medals. He’s ranked No. 1 in the hammer, discus and the shot put. His hammer best of 209-5 is more than 76-feet further than his closest competitor.

Cranston West senior Annabelle Hauck, a German exchange student, could also be a multiple threat. She owns the best seed in the long jump and is tied for No. 1 in the pole vault. She’s also ranked third in the 100.

The field events for the Moretti meet begin at 1 p.m., and the track races are scheduled for 1:30

Schomp Performance List

Moretti Performance List