Westerly freshman Jackie Burr was seventh in the seeded race.
Several local harriers make the trek to Connecticut on Saturday for the annual Wickham Park Invitational.
In the Championship Girls' race, East Greenwich senior Margaret McCaffrey turned in the fastest time for Rhode Islanders, finishing 20th overall in 20 minutes, 2 seconds.Cumberland junior May Laverty was 19th overall in 20:13.
"She did really well last week at Thetford so she is not quite feeling 100 percent at this point," said E.G. coach Erin Newman, about her runner's third-place finish (19:54) at the Woods Trail Run in Vt. "It wasn't her best race (based) on time or energy level, but she was solid. She kind of came on the second part of the race. Her finish was good. She didn't have it all there in her legs today, I think. It was a decent performance, but not anything wonderful."
McCaffrey is one of the most consistent performers when it comes to the state championship, which this year is on Nov. 2 at Ponaganset. She was a third-team, all-stater as a freshman and placed sixth the last two years.
"We are definitely gearing up for states," Newman said. "That's the one that she will be on her game for and ready to go. The goals are clear and today was just another race. We are going to move forward and get ready for the states."
In the boys' Championship Race, East Greenwich finished fourth overall with 132 points. The Avengers' Tommy Somers led his teammates by placing 13th overall in 17:02. He was followed across the line by senior classmate Noah Narreto, who was 17th in 17:10.
Lst week, E.G place second at Woods Trail.
"Not a great day, but not a bad day either," said Avs' coach Pete Dion. "We are alright. It was a decent performance coming off Thetford.
Wickham Park, site of this year's New England Championships, is a challenging course that features a long incline about midway into the race.
"We went out way too hard the first 1K and they got dusted on the hill," Dion said. "It took them until 3.5K to get back into it again. It's a good thing to try; go out hard and see what happens, see where you are at. There was some lessons learned there and I think we'll be okay."
Dion is preparing his team for a strong finish at the states, a meet he figures his squad has a good chance at placing high.
"I think we should finish third," he said. "If we don't, it's not a very good year. Hendricken is a lot better than people think. We faced them earlier and they are good, they are real good. La Salle, obviously, unless they don't show up. They coould have a bad day (and still win). Their JV team could place in the state meet. Their next seven could be a top five team at the state meet. I think we have to run very well. The expectations are they we should finish third.
With just five of its runners in the race, Cumberland was ninth as a team. Junior Sean Laverty was the top Clipper harrier, placing 11th overall in 16:57.
'The main reason I came here was to expose them to the course (for the New England's)," said CHS coach Tom Kenwood. "They did okay. A couple fo them are really tired from doing the SAT's all day."
Westerly freshmen Randi Burr, a two-time middle school state champion and sister of muiiple Bulldog all-stater and current URI freshman Jackie Burr, was seventh in the seeded race. She was timed in 20:20.
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