Eighteen points.
Back in 1988, a talented group of runners from St. Raphael Academy were nearly perfect at the state cross-country championships. Under the direction of current Bishop Hendricken coach Jim Doyle, a squad that included Neal and Andrew Butler, Chris Magill, Juan Vargas and Chris Millington were just three points from perfection on the campus of Bryant University with an 18-92 victory over second-place Hendricken.
In the history of R.I. high school cross-country, only a nationally-ranked La Salle Academy squad in 1946 would score less, sweeping the top five positions en route to a 15-68 win over runner-up East Providence.
Can history repeat itself on Sunday?
Or at least come close.
When the gun is fired at 1:15 on Sunday afternoon for the start of the boys’ race of the R.I. Interscholastic League State Championship at Ponaganset, heavily-favored La Salle will be looking to win its first state crown in 41 years. With a team that features five of the top six runners in the state, it may also do it with a point total of less than 20.
“They are ready for it,” said La Salle coach Ken Skelly, after his team’s dominating performance at last week’s Class A meet where it defeated Hendricken, 21-43. “They are poised. They are relaxed and they are ready.”
La Salle, which is No. 11 on MileSplit’s national rankings, has been a team of dominance this season. Besides finishing the dual-meet season with an unbeaten 10-0 mark in the Metropolitan Division, the Rams also won their first Class A title since 2007. On the national scale, La Salle placed second at the Bowdoin Classic in New York in late September and a week later captured the Race of Champions at the prestigious Great American X-C Festival in North Carolina on Oct. 4.
The Rams accomplished all of these accolades despite missing one of its top runners, junior Jack Salisbury, who was recovering from a sore quadricep. On Sunday, Salisbury will be joining his teammates with the hopes of making history on the Chieftain’s covered-bridge trail.
“It will be good to have him on the line. We are excited to have him back and I think having him in the mix is only going to help us,” Skelly said. “The morale is very good to have him in the mix. We’re excited about that. But the focus is still what it was back in August. It really hasn’t changed much. We are just making sure we put our guys up there in the top 10 the first Sunday in November.”
La Salle’s varsity crew includes Salisbury, sophomore D.J. Principe, junior Matt Bouthillette and the senior quartet of Jake Grundy, Dan Paiva, Chris Notarianni and James Placco. Combined, the seven harriers have an average time of less than 15:50 for the five-kilometer distance. Four of the runners have done 15:45 or faster with Principe, the Class A champion, owning the top time in the state at 15:27.
In relation, Hendricken is in the ballpark of 16:15-16:20, an impressive average but still a considerable margin away from La Salle. The question is can the Rams be beaten?
Crazier things have happened.
Skelly likes his team’s chances but he’s not counting out the Hawks. Hendricken competed in last week’s class meet without its No. 1 runner, senior Michael Potter, who had a high fever. The Hawks' squad features a much-improved Dominic Parlato (fifth at Class A meet) as well as senior Tom Grizzetti, junior Avery Ingegneri, senior Grant Gauthier and junior Tim McMahon, who occupied the eighth through 11th positions at the class championship.
“You always have to be worried about them,” Skelly said. “Coach Doyle does an excellent job of making sure when it comes down to the day of the state championship you are going to have to run your best. To run against any Hendricken team is something we never take lightly. They didn’t have Michael Potter (on Sunday) and he’s a considerable force and we know what he can add to their mix. It definitely changes things up in terms of their team.”
La Salle, the defending New England champion, is hoping this year’s meet won’t be a repeat of 2013. At last year’s states, the Rams were again the favored squad but lost to Hendricken by a mere five points.
"Last year we had a team with the same guys we have this year,” Skelly said. “They are a year older in maturity. Our mentality is you are only as good as yesterday, and it has nothing to do with what’s going to happen at the regional and national level. It’s all about states and that’s all it’s been. Everything else is gravy. We want to show up on (Sunday) and they want to take home gold and I don’t think they’ll be satisfied with anything less than that.”
Cumberland, a third-place finisher at the Class A meet, and East Greenwich, who cruised to the Class C title, appear as though they’ll be battling for third place. The Clippers are led by junior Sean Laverty, who was a runner-up to Principe at the class meet. Noah Barreto, who won his class meet last week, fuels the Avengers.
The La Salle girls also have a chance at scoring a low number at the state meet with a squad that undoubtedly is the best in school history. Junior Eliza Rego, junior Karina Tavares and senior Sheridan Wilbur possess the three fastest clockings in the state. Rego, the Class A titlist, is ranked No. 1 based on her state and personal best of 17:38.29, a time she ran to place fourth at Great American.
The Rams are a clear-cut favorite over second-ranked North Kingstown. At the Class A meet, La Salle easily defeated the Skippers, 21-85, for the team crown.
“We were really happy today and we’re hoping that it carries through to next week,” said La Salle coach Kelly Martin, after her squad’s victory at the class meet. “It’s about staying focused and keeping the girls healthy. (At the class meet) we were certainly happy.”
Like the boys, the La Salle girls are ranked 11th nationally. This year the Rams were undefeated during the league season, placed second at Great American and also was a runner-up at the Manhattan Invitational, two high-level meets.
“It’s about staying focused and staying healthy,” Martin said. “We know we have an excellent team. If we can just keep everybody in a positive mind frame, we could do good things.”
Several teams should be battling for a top six placement, which earns a berth in next Saturday’s New England Championship at Wickham Park in Connecticut. Among the group are North Kingstown, Cumberland, Barrington, South Kingstown and Smithfield.
The girls’ race begins at 2 p.m.