The cross-country season will soon be here and once again we have a plethora of talented athletes that will traverse the courses this season. The early-prognosis - and from what we heard from several coaches over the last few month - is that East Greenwich and La Salle Academy are the favorites to win this year's boys' and girls' team titles at the State Meet, scheduled for Nov. 4 at Ponaganset. Who are the top athletes that we should keep our eyes on for individually supremacy? During the next week, we'll let you know who we feel are the strongest contenders this fall.
Here's our latest...
Randi Burr, Westerly
Randi was the Class B champion and finished third at the State Meet last year. It was only the beginning of what would be a splendid sophomore campaign for this Bulldog standout. Randi steadily got better with each passing season. She finished fourth in the 1,500-meter run at the indoor states and was a runner-up to La Salle's multiple all-stater and recent grad Eliza Rego in the outdoor 1,500m where she ran her all-time best of 4:38.23. Randi was consistently among the top finishers at most major meets in R.I. where she specialized in the middle-to-long distance events. She appeared to gain quite a bit of confidence as a tenth-grader, often pushing the pace. We're guessing that Randi has really focused on a productive summer of training and will be one of our strongest runners on the trails. She owns a best of 18:32.71 for the 5K distance, a time she should be able to improve on substantially this fall based on what she has done during the latter part of her sophomore year. A sub 18-minute effort is not too far fetched, and should land her another top finish at the state level. She already is a two-time all-stater, placing seventh as a freshman in 2014. Look for Randi to also compete after the states and New England meet, either the Foot Locker Northeast Regionals or the Nike Cross Nationals Northeast Regionals.
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For the second straight year, Randi finished as the top high school runner at the Bobby Doyle Summer Classic. Check out our interview below with the Westerly standout where she talks about this past Sunday's race and the upcoming cross-country season.
