Barrington's 4x800, Hope's McIntosh earn gold at NE meet

New England Championship
Stephen Mazzone

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - A short time after running the anchor leg on her school’s winning 4x800-meter relay squad, Barrington High junior Abby Livingston made her way over to the awards’ tent. Before making it to the tent, she knelt on the ground in total exhaustion. It was a place she remained for close to 10 minutes.

That’s what happens when you pour your heart into a race, using every bit of energy (and more) to earn a victory.

Livingston was a true anchor for the Eagles at Saturday’s 68th annual New England Track and Field Outdoor Championships, erasing a three-second lead by La Salle Academy to lead her team to a meet record of 9 minutes, 5.49 seconds. La Salle also went under the meet mark of 9:12.16 with a second-place time of 9:06.22.

Livingston’s time, a scorching 2:08!

“I figured I would just go for it,” said the Eagle runner, who passed the Rams’ anchor Sheridan Wilbur with 300 meters remaining and held off the talented tenth-grader down the final straightaway. “I tried to close right in the beginning, get behind Sheridan and just try and run it. I decided to make a move with about 300 meters to go. I was thinking it might be too early but I was just going to try and go for it.”

Barrington was among two Rhode Islanders to earn gold in the New England meet at Willow Brook Park. Hope sophomore Quashira McIntosh broke the tape in the 200, coming just .01 from her state record with a winning 24:45 clocking. McIntosh set a R.I. outdoor mark by placing second in the 100 with a time of 11.97.

In the 1,600, Chariho Regional senior Bryce Kelley closed out his outstanding high school career by placing second with a time of 4:16.49. Coe-Brown (N.H.) junior Jeremy Brassard won the race at 4:16.17.

Kelley was in seventh place after the first 400 and moved to sixth by the halfway mark, passed in 2:07. In fourth with 200-meters remaining, the Chariho standout made a final surge but fell short the closing meters of the race.

“I don’t know, I wasn’t really getting myself into position like I should have,” Kelley said. “Pretty much throughout the race I let guys gap me and then I would make it up, which is pretty stupid. I don’t know? I wasn’t sharp today. I just wasn’t staying with the front pack.”

“I have run 4:16 so many times, it’s just getting frustrating,” he continued. “I just timed my kick wrong today. I could have had it if I just had gone a little sooner.”

Kelley has decided not to run next weekend’s New Balance National Outdoor (NBNO) Championships. He reflected on his running career, which included a national record as a member of last year’s indoor 4x1 mile relay team and several state titles (800, mile). He also competed in the Nike Cross-Country Nationals this past fall.

“I just appreciate everything that has happened to me and my team,” he said. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do what we did (with the national record). I am going to cherish these last few years.”

Kelley, who is bound for Florida State in the fall, considers the national record as the highlight of his years with the Chargers.

“Running as a relay team, I like that a lot more than running by myself,” he said. “I have fun at every race I run.”

Classical junior Maddy Berkson continued her recent resurgence back to the elite level by placing fourth in the 800 at the NE meet with a time of 2:09.9. Berkson earned her placement by dominating the unseeded heat.

She missed making it into the seeded section by one spot.

“I was kind of going for time anyway,” Berkson said. “I haven’t had a good 800 time this (season) and I wanted to qualify for the nationals and the world junior trials so I knew I was running for time. I just got to learn how to do pacing. I went out way too fast.”

The Classical star blazed her first 400 in 61 seconds and was close to 1:33 at the 600 mark. Berkson’s time is a season best by nearly five seconds.

“I think I have this fear of going out too slowly,” she said. “I think I crossed the 200 and my coach told me it was like 29-30 (seconds), so that was way too fast. I kind of tried to relax the second 200, but it was still pretty fast. Coming down the last 200 my legs kind of tightened up. I just tried to hang on.”

Also in the 800, recent state champion Erica Johnson of Bay View Academy placed fifth overall with a personal best of 2:10.34.

Exeter/West Greenwich junior Victoria Ebert placed fourth in the shot put with a PB of 40-8.5. It was her first time breaking the 40-foot barrier and eases the pain of placing second at the state meet last week to Cumberland senior Kendra Plant. Plant was ninth overall on Saturday with a 39-4 effort.

“I was still upset from the meet before, but track is a humbling sport,” she said. “It’s all about you. You can’t blame it on anyone else. It’s all on you. You just got to do your best. I am just really proud that I was able to do that today. I knew I had the 40 (foot throw) in me, but I was never able to just propel it out of myself at the meet. I am just super excited.”

North Kingstown senior Maria Bolibruch, who won her first outdoor state title last weekend, placed fourth in the 100 hurdles with a time of 14.88. Classical junior Alicia Holloway was sixth at 15.14.

Classical sophomore Alva Hicks was second in the discus with a heave of 134-10. Joe Colao, a senior from Westerly, was third in the boys’ discus at 172-1

Recent state titlist Bishop Hendricken finished fourth in the 4x100 with a fast time of 42.73. Along with their 42.61 clocking at the R.I. championship, the Hawks now have the second and third fastest time in state history.

Westerly junior Jackie Burr placed second in the 3,200 with a best of 10:46.1 Freshman Emma McMillian of Barrington was fifth in 11:00.52.

Although finishing out of a top-six placement, Hendricken junior Colin Tierney ran a strong time in the 3,200. He was timed in 9:22.66 to take eighth overall.

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