Organizers of the Ocean State X-C Invitational got their wish this past weekend with clear skies for the two-day event.
But the nearly 5,000 runners that made the trek to Goddard State Memorial Park still had to contend with unseasonably hot conditions at the Warwick, R.I. venue. At its peak, the mercury level reached 85 degrees.
“The heat was factor,” said Chelmsford (Mass.) High senior Quinn Cooney. “It wasn’t a big factor, but warming up, my warmup was a little shorter, a little brisk. I just tried to keep it out of my mind and concentrate on the race.”
In the high school events on Saturday, Cooney ignored the heat and a challenge from fellow Bay-Stater Dan Romano of Mansfield to win the Championship Race of the regional competition, which attracted schools from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Connecticut and New Jersey.
The Chelmsford standout was clocked in a time of 15 minutes, 45.95 seconds. Romano also dipped under 16 minutes on the fast terrain with a 15:56.17 clocking.
“Right from the start I got up with the lead pack,” Cooney said. “Dan Romano and I were doing most of the work up front. The last mile is when I started to make my move. I made a hard move, a definitive move. That was my plan from the start.”
Chelmsford coach Brian Crane was content with what he saw from his No. 1 runner.
“Today was a big day for him to see where he is,” he said. “We have kind of just run against our own conference right now. Today was to see where he is on the map against other kids from other states. We were kind of anxious to see where we were at. We knew we were good but kind of didn’t know exactly where so today he kind of went out smooth, got in the front where he wanted to be, good position by the two mile. At the two mile, he was strong enough to put down the hammer and he ended up with a victory.”
Cooney is looking to improve on his eighth-place finish at last year’s All State Meet. Saturday’s race certainly built his confidence.
“It definitely gives me a good boost,” he said.
Massachusetts swept the top three placements with Whitinsville Christian’s Jamison Koeman taking third overall in 16:09.42. New Jersey’s Zach Michon of Robbinsville was fourth at 16:17.78, New York’s Julio Ruiz-Gomez of Monsignor Farrell placed fifth in 16:21.02 and the host state’s Sean Laverty of Cumberland took sixth at 16:27.03.
Laverty was the early race-leader, taking the pace out hard for the first half mile of the race.
“I was feeling really good at the beginning so I figured I should establish where I wanted to be…Overall. I felt pretty good,” he said. “My PR is 16:16. I was sort of expecting to PR today. I still have the rest of the season so I am still happy with what I did. I was just over five minutes for the first mile. I was about 10:13, 10:15 for the second mile. I was trying to hold on with the other guys. I just tried to hang in there for the last mile.”
With three of its runners among the top eight, Robbinsville (N.J.) won the team title, defeating second-place St. John’s of Shrewsbury (Mass.), 50-111.
The girls’ Championship Race was won by Connecticut’s Gabrielle Richichi of New Fairfield with a time of 18:23.02. Richichi, a senior, hung with the lead pack for the first two thirds of the race and broke away the final mile. Rachel Ludwikowski of Suffern (N.Y.) was second at 18:44.72.
“She eased into (the pace),” said New Fairfield coach John Warrington. “That was the plan; just feel her way and get into position by the second mile, and go for it. That’s exactly what she did.”
Richichi, who last year finished third at the State Open meet and was fifth at the New England Championship with her current 5K best of 17:54, has been progressing nicely this fall season
“I am very, very happy,” Warrington said. “This is the first season where she has been able to do her base work. Everything she has done up until this year has been done on natural ability. We are very pleased with how she is running.”
At the state meet, Richichi will be competing against the top-ranked runner in the country, Foot Locker runner-up and defending state champion Hannah DeBalsi of Staples. Is the junior standout untouchable against a runner of Richichi stature?
“Hannah is in a class by herself so we got her chasing her,” Warrington said. “We know Gabby is very, very good. We’ll find out this year. We’ll see. We’ll see.”
The Rhode Island tandem of Bethany Nunnery of North Kingstown (third, 18:56.07) and Emma McMillan of Barrington (fourth, 18:56.07) were the next two across the line. They were followed by the Tolland (Conn.) trio of Caitlin Swanson (fifth, 19:03.25), Katherine DeLoreto (sixth, 19:10.53) and Courtney Akerley (seventh, 19:10.53).
Tolland, the defending state champions, earned the team crown, 49-77, over Red Bank Catholic (N.J.).
“They work together as a team and they race together as a team,” said head coach Judy LaFontaine. “We were expecting first or second place. They looked great. They had a good day today. They have been working really hard and it showed today.”
Next on the agenda for Tolland is the Wickham Invitational on Oct. 11.
“Coe Brown is going to be there from New Hampshire. They are the defending New England champions,” LaFontaine said. “We will see how close we can get to them.”
In the other varsity races, Greenwich Central (N.Y.) senior Jeremy Spiezio turned in the second fastest time of the day by capturing the Varsity 1 event with a 15:47.62 clocking. He was comfortably ahead of Bromfield’s Nick Steele, who was second at 16:14.88. Hopedale beat Brokefield for the team prize, 83-135.
Spiezio’s sister, Tori, copped the girls’ Varsity 1 race in 19:22.80. Caroline Timms of Our Lady of Lourdes (N.Y.) was second in 19:37.18. Greenwich Central brought home the hardware, defeating runner-up Suffield, 94-119.
Framingham’s Mike McDonald was first in the Varsity 2 boys’ race in 16:48.12. Brooklyn Tech beat Fairfield Warde, 104-120, for the team title. In the girls’ Varsity 2 race, it was Newton South’s Rebecca Grusby breaking the tape in 18:40.66. Hopkinton downed Mercy, 121-126, for the team crown.
