No surprises in boys' divisional championships

Throughout the indoor season, the top teams statewide in the coaches’ poll have consistently been Bishop Hendricken, La Salle Academy, Classical High and North Kingstown

With the state championship less than a month away, nothing has changed.

All four schools made their case as legitimate contenders for the Feb. 15 meet  in their respective divisional championships Saturday at the Providence Career and Technical Academy field house.

La Salle tied Classical for the Metropolitan Division crown with 117 points apiece. Hendricken was an easy victor in the Suburban Division meet, defeating runner-up East Greenwich, 223.5-75.5. in the Southern Division, North Kingstown earned the plaque with a 163-99 win over runner-up Chariho.

La Salle, a team fueled by their distance core, collected 80 of those points in the middle- to long-distance events. The Ram trio of freshman D.J. Principe, sophomore Jack Salisbury and sophomore Matt Bouthilette crossed the line in unison in the 3,000-meter run with Principe awarded the victory at 9 minutes, 11.20 seconds. La Salle dominated the 1,500 with Salisbury (4:09.30) leading a 1-2-3-4 finish that was separated by a mere 1.30 seconds. The Maroon and White also had the first four placements in the 1,000 with junior Dan Paiva crossing the line first at 2:40.9, just 2.4 seconds from the third-place tie of Salisbury and Bouthilette.

Head coach Vin McGinn credits the unselfishness of his athletes as a primary reason for their success.

 “The big thing is they are committed to each other as a team, as a unit,” he said. “They really want to accomplish things as a team. They are willing to sacrifice individual performances to get a better team performance…They really focus as a team. They really want to do whatever it takes to try and achieve that goal, and their goal is to try and compete for the team title.”

The meet was barely 20-minutes old and La Salle already snared a first-place finish with its 4x800 squad of sophomore Jake Grundy, junior James Placco, junior Chris Notorianni and Paiva combining for a time of 8:15.70, nearly a lap ahead of second-place finisher East Providence (8:45.50).

The Rams also struck gold with high-jumper Sean Greene, who leaped a personal-best 6 feet, 6 inches, the top height in the state.

“Sean Greene, he is like Joe Cool,” McGinn said. “He’s one of our characters this year. He’s just a really passionate kid. He’s also very mellow and keeps it under control. He comes in every day. He does his job.”

Classical, which finished second at the state meet last year, proved it still has some talented athletes that can make things happen this winter. The Purple left the meet with five first-place finishes.

Senior Abdul-Lateef Orulebaja captured the 55 hurdles with a fast time of 8.07. The Purple collected 21 points in the event by taking four of the six placements. Orulebaja also placed second in the high jump at 5-10 and ran a leg on the runner-up 4x400 squad that was timed in 3:42.4.

Classical’s Ilan Rich, the state’s top sprinter, broke the tape in the 55 dash with a 6.63 clocking. He was also on the winning 4x200 team of senior Daniel Polanco, Aljenis Candelier and Allen Tat that combined for a time of 1:34.0. Candelier earned 10 more points by taking the long jump with a distance of 20-11.25. In the weight events, Tom Vadis copped the shot put with a heave of 46-3.75. He was also second in the 25-pound weight with a strong effort of 67-11.25.

Moses Brown, a fourth-place finisher in the meet, had two of their athletes make it to the top of the podium. In the 600, senior Amos Cariati continued his consistency with a solid 1:24.90 clocking. Junior Nick Snow prevented another Classical victory by holding off the Purple’s Nathan Narcisse in the 300 with a time of 36.81. Narcisse finished at 36.84.

Barrington’s Adam Kelly, the nation’s top thrower, won the 25-pound weight at 75-4.5.

Despite missing at least four top athletes North Kingstown still managed a dominating performance in the Southern Division meet. Senior Zach Emrich and junior Ben Stewart were multiple point-scorers for the Skippers.

Stewart competed in four events. He held off Chariho’s Max Leatham to win the hurdles at 8.02, the state’s fastest time this season. He also took the 300 (37.03), the long jump (20-5.75) and ran a leg on the first-place 4x200 squad that was timed in 1:34.3.

“He’s a great athlete,” said North Kingstown coach Charlie Breagy. “He works hard and he’s a perfectionist at everything that he does. He takes every event like it’s the No. 1 event for him.”

Emrich, one of the country’s best for the 600, ran just enough to win his specialty on Saturday with a time of 1:29.6, more than nine seconds slower than his state mark. He also coasted to the 1,000 crown with a 2:46.5 clocking. His biggest contribution of the day came in the 4x200 where he was the leadoff leg for the winning squad.

“He ran just enough to get a win for us today. The big thing for Zach was to make sure our 4x200 team got a state qualifying time to get into the fast section,” Breagy said. “Zach went out there and did it. The first lap he was so far out there it was unbelievable. It was a great effort.”

In all, North Kingstown captured nine events. Senior Dallin Smith was first in the 1,500 (4:19.9), sophomore Jason Flanagan took the 25-pound weight (61-8.5) and the Skippers also earned gold in the 4x800 (8:50.5)

“The weight team did very well today,” Breagy said. “Everyone PR’d in the weights. All the races on the track we tried to win today.  Overall, I would say it was probably our best performance as a team this year without a question.”

Chariho, a team that could make things interesting for the favored teams at the states, had big days from senior teammates Stephen Gencarelli and Kyle Kirby. Gencarelli won the 3,000 (9:34.7), placed third in the 1,500 (4:27.80) and was sixth in the 1,000 (2:57.3). Kirby was victorious in the high jump with a leap of 6-2.

The Chargers also won the 4x400 relay (3:38.0) and had second-place efforts from Leatham in the 55 hurdles (8.11), Mitchell Carrier in the 1,500 (4:20.10) and Jung Kim in the 1,000 (9:45.60).

“Our goal today was to push (North Kingstown),” Chariho coach Kyle Croteau said. “We said if everything goes good today, if everything goes wrong for them, we have a shot at pushing them. We pushed and made them earn everything they earned today.”

Hendricken, which will be eyeing its 27^th team crown next month, showed its depth in the Southern Division meet. The Hawks captured 10 events and had three or more of their athletes score in eight of them.

Junior Power Kanga was a double-winner, taking the 55 dash at 6.82 and the 300 with a time of 37.92. In the long jump, junior Lee Moses nearly broke 23 feet, coming a quarter inch from that mark with an outstanding leap of 22-11.75.

The Hawks’ Colin Tierney improved on his state best for the 1,500 with a winning time of 4:03.2. He was also second in the 1,000 at 2:40.7. Hendricken also got wins from Ben Murphy in the high jump (6-2), Alex Cerbo in the shot put (53-3),  Chris Celona in the 25-pound weight (58-9) and all three relays (4x200, 4x400, 4x800).

East Greenwich junior Tommy Sommer ran a strong race to take the 3,000 with a PB of 9:05.8. Junior teammate Graham Chapski posted a quick time of 2:37.7 to win the 1,000.

In the Northern Division, Cumberland nearly doubled the total of second-place finisher Mount St. Charles with a 144-78 win over the Mounties. The Clippers, a team capable of placing among the top 10 at the state level, won five events. Senior Kevin Seaver took two events with victories in the 3,000 (9:34.10) and the 1,000 (2:51.8). Senior Alex Southiere broke the tape in the 1,500 (4:24.5), junior David Agudelo won the 600 (1:28.4) and senior Jason Lambrou was a winner in the long jump (20-9).