SOUTH KINGSTOWN – There is minimal room for error when you’re a sprinter. When the competition is at its toughest, one bad start for an elite runner can make the difference between finishing first or second in a state meet or never making it to the finals.
Ryan Williams, a top-ranked speedster for East Providence, learned that lesson the hard way at the indoor championships this past winter when the Townie junior had trouble out of the blocks in the preliminaries of the 55-meter dash and was a spectator when the gun was fired for the finals.
Williams is looking to erase those misfortunes from the states during the outdoor season. He took the first big step to accomplishing that goal on Saturday with a double-winning effort at the annual Rick Schomp Invitational. The EP standout captured the 100-meter dash with a fast time of 10.6 seconds and sizzled to a meet record of 21.9 in the 200.
Williams, who also anchored the Townies’ second-place 4x100 relay (44.70), is using his experience from a few months ago as motivation.
“I am looking for redemption, of course,” he said. “I want to have a strong outdoor season, get some more PRs, and possibly run 10.3 in the 100."
What was the key to Williams’ productive day on the track? It was something that might have made a difference just a few months ago.
“It was my starts. The trials, semis and finals were perfect,” he said. “They were right where I wanted to be. All I had to do was keep my head down, just run straight and cross the finish line with a ‘W’. I accomplished what I came here to do today.”
The Schomp meet, held at the Curtis Corner Middle School athletic facility, was the first state-meet qualifier for the upcoming outdoor championships on June 1. In the boys’ competition, Bishop Hendricken withstood a tight battle with East Providence, taking the team plaque with a 71-69 win over the Townies. The Hawks, who trailed E.P. by 20 points after 17 events, snared the title by collecting 22 points in the final two events (3,000 and 4x400). La Salle Academy cruised to the girls’ crown, defeating runner-up South Kingstown, 91.5-46.
La Salle was fueled by a stellar outing from Sheridan Wilbur. The Rams’ sophomore held off freshman teammate Eliza Rego by two tenths of a second in the 1,500 with the state’s top time of 4:39.20. She was also second in the 800 at 2:15.20 and ran a leg on her school’s triumphant 4x400 relay of Rego, Erin Kane and Amanda Joyal that combined for a time of 4:05.7. Joyal also copped the 200 with a winning 26.3 effort.
In one of the featured races of the afternoon, North Kingstown senior Marie Bolibruch tied a meet record by taking the 100 hurdles with a time of 14.80. Bolibruch, who won her second straight indoor title in the 55 hurdles a few months ago, beat defending outdoor titlist Angela Ragosta of Smithfield and Cumberland’s Breigh Souliere, twice a runner-up on the indoor surface. Souliere took second at 15.6 and Ragosta was third in 16.0.
Lincoln’s Taylor Flaxington won the pole vault by nearly two feet, clearing a height of 9 feet, 9 inches. Smithfield’s Morgan McDonald and North Kingstown’s Victoria Stack were second and third, respectively, at 8-0.
Flaxington, who has done 10 feet a number of times indoors, set an outdoor PR with her victory.
“The season has been going really well,” said the Lion senior, who was third at last year’s state meet. “Outdoor is a little different than indoor because you have to deal with weather. I think 9-9 was a good thing to start going into these meets.”
Lincoln, which finished ninth among the 24 schools, also got a first-place medal from its 4x100 team of Kristen Giarrusso, Marissa D’Amelio, Shirley Carrington and Christine Redding that set a school record with a time of 51.4.
“They have been trying for (the record) all season,” said Lincoln coach Sue Carlson. “Dual meets you don’t always get optimum conditions. You are at the mercy of the weather of the day. Today was a perfect day. The wind conditions were perfect. The handoffs, everything fell together exactly the way we have been practicing it.”
Woonsocket senior Kaylnn Pitts claimed two individual victories, winning the high jump with a leap of 5-3 and the triple jump at 36-2. Karly Gregory, the defending long jump state champion, won her specialty with a season best of 17-1.75.
Barrington, a fourth-place finisher in the meet with 36 points, had three individual victors with senior Erica Johnson taking the 800 (2:15.2), freshman Emma McMillian winning the 3,000 (10:17.7) and senior Shenelle Teixeira beating the field in the 300 hurdles (47.20).
Classical senior Marthaline Cooper won the hammer with a toss of 161-07.
East Greenwich middle-distance ace Ben Fazio captured a tight race over Barrington’s Tom Barry in the boys’ 1,500 with a personal-best time of 
4:05.5. Barry was second at 4:06.10. La Salle had the next three finishers with Jack Salsbury placing third (4:07.0), Dan Paiva taking fourth (4:07.1) and Michael Stephens snagging fifth (4:13.9).
Barry led the field through an opening 2:14 at the 800 mark. Fazio surged to the lead by the next curve and withstood a strong push by Barry the remainder of the way
“That’s generally what I try to do. With 700 to go, I like to go then,” said Fazio, who won the 1,000 at the indoor states. “The pace kind of got slow the second lap and I figured someone had to take it out harder. Other than that, there really wasn’t a plan. I just want to get a good qualifying time for the states. It was a three-and-a-half second PR. I was figuring a 4:07. This is definitely, definitely good. I am happy. “
Barry came back about 90 minutes later and won a neck-and-neck race with North Kingstown star Zachary Emrich in the 800. Barry overtook the front-running Emrich during the final 50 meters of the race en route to a 1:58.7 clocking.
The meet was minus several juniors, who were taking their SATs. Emrich was one of those juniors. He arrived just a few minutes before the start of the race and, with minimal stretching, still ran a strong time of 1:59.0 for second.
“At first, when I didn’t see him there, I was thinking I was going to have to take the lead,” Barry said. “He put up a good fight. I know he didn’t have much time to warm up. I did my best trying to stay with him as long as I could and give it all I could at the end…That (time) is good for me. It’s a second off my PR and I also ran the 1,500 today. I am really happy with it. It’s a good showing and I am happy with what this season has to offer the rest of the way.”
Emrich admitted he wasn’t feeling 100 percent due to the limited warm-up time.
“I felt like crap,” he said. “I was testing all morning. I didn’t get out of school until like 1:20 (p.m.). I got out of the testing room, got in my car, drove here and ran. It wasn’t that fun.”
East Providence collected 18 points from Chris Moura, who placed first in the long jump with a distance of 20-11.50 and was second in the triple jump with a leap of 41-04. Teammate Trystan Casey won the triple at 41-07 North Kingstown’s Conor Hayward soared to a height of 13-0 to win the pole vault and Erik Mateo of Central Falls captured a close competition in the high jump with a 6-0 effort, a height matched by three other athletes.
In the hammer throw, Barrington senior Charlie Ionata won by nearly 16 feet with a heave of 225-0. Coventry’s Aaron Comery took the shot put at 53-1.25.
Cumberland senior Trevor Crawley, who has taken a little time off to rest an injured foot, looked relaxed in winning the 3,000 with a time of 8:48.5. He was followed by Hendricken’s Tyler Henseler (second, 8:57.9) and Connor Doyle (third, 9:00.00).
Crawley, who never trailed in the race and was 4:40 at 1,600 meters, talked about the injury that has sidelined him for a few days this season.
“My shin was bothering me so I sort of altered my stride a little to compensate and it caused the tendon and the nerves (at the top of my foot) to jam up and cause inflammation,” he said. “It hurts when I tie my shoes. I took Sunday, Monday and Tuesday off (this week) because we weren’t sure if it was a stress fracture. But it definitely didn’t feel bad today.”
