La Salle boys capture first title since 1971

(All photos by RAPHAEL BIEBER)

La Salle Academy head coach Vin McGinn considers this year’s group of athletes a step above the rest. He bases it not only on their apparent talent, but their dedication.

This past Monday was just another example.

“When we had the snowstorm and it was an optional practice I told the guys, ‘Look, I know its bad weather, but don’t worry if you can't make it in.’ They all came in,” he said. “They all came into practice. They are a really special group.”

On Saturday afternoon, that special group earned a special place in the school’s history. For the first time since 1971, the Rams captured the ultimate prize by winning the team title at the R.I. Track & Field Indoor Championship. Fueled by a distance core that dominated the three longest races on the track, La Salle defeated second-place Classical, 81-69. Bishop Hendricken was third with 66 points and pre-meet favorite North Kingstown was fourth with 63 points.

“About 3,000 kids have come through the La Salle track program since 1971,” said McGinn, shortly before receiving the hardware for his team’s crown. “It’s been 43 years since we won and this is the group that won.”

The Rams, who captured the Metropolitan Division title a few weeks ago and were third at the Class A meet on Feb. 2, were clicking from the start inside the Providence Career and Technical Academy field house. The Rams won the first event of the day, the 4x800-meter relay. The quartet of junior Dan Paiva, junior Chris Notarianni, junior James Placco and sophomore Jake Grundy combined for time of 8 minutes, 11.1 seconds.

In a mild upset, sophomore Matt Bouthilette added 10 more points to that total by winning the 3,000, defeating pre-race favorite Colin Tierney of Bishop Hendricken. Bouthilette hung behind the front-running Tierney throughout the race and then with about 300-meters remaining, blasted past the Hawk senior and held his position to the finish, crossing the line in a personal best of 8:43.5. Tierney took second at 8:47.09.

“Matt was right on Colin the whole way,” said La Salle distance coach Bill Myers. “You could just tell by his stride that he had an extra gear in him. He ran 4:21 for the mile this year and I knew he had good closing speed. He has great leg turnover. I knew if he was with Colin with a lap to go he would have a great opportunity to win.”

Bouthilette had it in his mind that a victory was possible if he utilized patience.

“I decided in my head I just have to stick in back of him and move around with about one and a half or two (laps) to go,” he said. “I just stayed on him and with one and a half to go I just made my move and didn’t look back from there.”

Perhaps a preview of what was in store, the Rams received six more points in the event with a third-place finish from freshman D.J. Principe, who was timed in a PB of 8:51.18.

Sophomore Jack Salisbury was a double-winner for La Salle by taking the 1,500 with a time of 4:04.51 and the 1,000 at 2:36.32. In both events, the Rams were prevalent among the top six. Salisbury led a 1-2-5 finish in the longer race and a 1-3-4 finish in the shorter one.

The three races, the 3000, the 1,500 and the 1,000, produced 56 points of the Rams’ total.

“I just told them to be aggressive. Every event they were running today, just be aggressive,” Myers said. “I was hoping to score 18 points in each event, 3,000, 1,500 and the 1,000. They executed perfectly.”

Salisbury led from the gun of the 1,500, defeating Paiva, the runner-up at 4:05.28. East Greenwich senior Garrett Scanlon was third in 4:07.23. In the 1,000, the La Salle standout had to hold off a hard effort by North Kingstown junior Joe Craven (second, 2:36.63) and Placco (third, 2:37.40) the final straightaway.

“The first race, the 1,500, I just went out and took the lead. My strategy was not to let anybody pass me,” Salisbury said. “The second race, the 1,000, my plan was just to stay on with the leader and kick it in the last lap, which I felt comfortable doing. But I got out to a bad start. I was like second to last on the first turn. Then I started to work to get back up and then I settled into a comfortable position and with a lap to go my teammate Jamie he kicked it in and that motivated me to kick it in as well and I just kicked it in the last lap.”

It wasn’t just the distance runners that made the difference in the outcome. The Rams also collected 10 points from senior Sean Greene in the high jump. The senior beat Hendricken junior Ben Murphy in a jump-off with a leap of 6 feet, 4 inches.  Sophomore Broderick Santilli was fourth in the 55 dash with a 6.62 clocking.

“Sean Greene was great. Broderick Santilli came up huge in the dash,” McGinn said. “It was fantastic. It was a fantastic day.”

Not surprising, North Kingstown senior Zachery Emrich pulled off a tough double by winning the 600 and the 300. Emrich had to withstand a spirited effort in the 600 by Moses Brown senior Amos Cariati, who was second with a PB of 1:23.25. NK senior Ben Stewart was third with a time of 1:24.81.

Emrich who also ran leadoff legs on the Skippers’ second-place 4x400 (3:33.71) and fifth-place 4x200 (1:35.73) relay squads, had a winning time of 36.24 in the 300. Moses Brown junior Nick Snow was second at 36.76.

It was a bittersweet day for the Brown University-bound runner.

“I’m happy with the wins, but I didn’t accomplish my goal because I don’t think we won as a team,” said Emrich, before the final verdict was announced. “I am happy with the 300 and the 600. We thought it would be between Hendricken and us but as the meet played out La Salle just dominated the distance events. They scored like 1-3-4 in like everything. It’s hard to come back from that.”

Classical earned a win from senior Ilan Rich in the 55 dash. Rich, who was the top seed in the event, was timed in 6.55. The Purple also captured the 4x200 (1:33.82) and the 55 hurdles where defending champion Abdul Lateff-Orulebaja led a 1-3-4 finish with a time of 7.92. He edged Narragansett senior Vin Santos, who claimed the runner-up spot at 7.93. Classical’s Aljenis Candelier was third (7.98) and teammate Nathan Narcisse was fourth (8.05).

Candelier also was second in the long jump with a distance of 21-8.25. Hendricken’s Lee Moses won the event with a 22-7.75 effort. In the 25-pound weight, the Purple’s Tom Vadis was second at 65-11.5. He was also third in the shot put at 50-0.

Just five days after beloved athletic director and educator George Nasuti passed away at the age of 52, Woonsocket senior Connor Fugere earned an emotional victory in the shot with an all-time best of 54-3.75. Hendricken senior Alex Cerbo was second at 53-4.75.

Junior Adam Kelly made it two in a row for Barrington in the 25-pound weight. The nation’s top weight-thrower captured the event with a heave of 74-7.5. Last year, former standout Charlie Ionata, a freshman at Wake Forest, was the victor.

Central took the final event of the afternoon, the 4x400. The foursome of senior Josue Astacio, junior Destin Bibemi, senior Anderson Mota and senior Argenis Placencia combined for a winning time of 3:32.44.

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