--
As the indoor season is now underway, talented runners from around Rhode Island traveled to the famous Reggie Lewis Center to compete in the Boston Holiday Challenge. In total, seven schools from Rhode Island made the trip including cross country State Champions Bishop Hendricken as well as cross country runner-ups Cumberland.
The meet has hosted talented teams including athletes from Saratoga Springs women's team. The meet has been dominated by Rhode Island runner's in previous years including Saint Raphael's Darius Kipyego and David Delbonis of Bishop Hendricken winning their events in 2019.
In the sprints, Bishop Hendricken dominated with a win in the men's 4x200 running 1:33.01. This is a new RI #2 and only .03 behind La Salle's performance at RITCA. In the 4x400 Hendricken took 3rd with a 3:40.77 for another RI #2. Saint Raphael's ran 3:43.05 for 4th. In the 300, Rhode Island 200 meter state champion and RI #1 for 300 ran a few hundredths of a second off his PR to take 2nd in the 300 with a 36.74. He was followed by his teammate Jake Kopech in 4th running 37.26. Hendricken looks primed to rely on the sprints as they did in 2020 to take home the team title come February.
In distance, Devan Kipyego made it known his cross success was going to translate to the track. After running 4:07 in the 1500 at RITCA, Kipyego found himself in another tactical mile splitting 2:15 at 800. He, and Evan Mcgregor of Hendricken, traded the lead several times before Kipyego opened a lead with 150 to go and took the win in 4:21.59. Mcgregor and teammate Wilson Jablonski placed 2nd and 4th with 4:23.91 and 4:31.01 respectively.
Kipyego was also entered to run the 2 mile against the cross country state runner-up Henry Dennen of Cumberland. Kipyego sat back most of the race letting Henry and Tyler Sheedy of Dover lead before closing in a 30 to run 9:26.41 and edge Henry out with a 9:27.22. Aidan Moreira of Bishop Hendricken took 6th in 9:47.3. Kipyego's mile, and 2-mile performances earned him athlete of the meet. An honor his brother won in 2019 where he set the Rhode Island 600 meter state record. In the Freshmen boy's mile, Jack Moretta and Ollie Ide placed 2nd and 3rd with a 4:42.4 and 4:51.26 respectively. Rhode Island dominated the distance scene as they prep for bigger races in the coming weeks.
On the women's side, Rylee Shunney of East Greenwich placed 4th in the mile in 5:13.40 and Grace Carr of Cumberlan took 10th in 5:20.61. Pilgrim Freshman Keaney Bayha ran a gutsy race in the 2 mile running an 11:37.01. These are very impressive times coming so early in the year.
In mid-distance, Kipyego's teammate Pedro Mayol ran an all-time best 1:23.72 closing in a sub 28 the final 200. Pedro ran a tactical race sitting in the back before passing the field on the final bend to take the win. North Kingstown's Jake Sullivan ran 1:24.5 for second, and these times are good for RI #1 and #2. This may set up a battle along with La Salle's Lachlan Bishop and Classical's Javier Gomez.
In the field events, the men's throwing events were dominated by Rhode Island. Liam Capozza of Barrington led four fellow Rhode Islanders over 50 feet in the weight throw. All four throwers were from Bishop Hendricken showing their depth in the event. In the shot, Blessjoey Nyannah placed 3rd with a throw of 47 feet 6 inches and is good for an RI #3. In a rare opportunity to compete in the Pentathlon, Bearet Henderson of Narragansett made the most of it, setting a personal best 2570 and placing 4th overall. Liam Capozza was the field event athlete of the meet for his 65 feet 6-inch throw which was a meet record.
Overall, the Boston Holiday Challenge showed the talent in Rhode Island's distance and sprint. With Devan Kipyego and Pedro Mayol, Saint Raphael's looks to be a threat across every distance event. Bishop Hendricken sprints will also be tough to beat as their depth and star power are tough to match. As Dual Meets are set to continue in the coming weeks, the next time some of these schools will face off are at the Divisional and Class Meets.