State Meet: Top Male Athletes to Watch

Jack Salisbury, La Salle Academy (1,500m, 1,000m)

Salisbury is the defending state champion in the 1,500-meter run and the 1,000m, two events he owns the top seed this season. Our guess is the Ram junior will do it again. It's common knowledge that Salisbury doesn't like to lose and has one of the most devastating kicks in the state. Translation: If the race is close, he'll win. The La Salle runner is also coming off a near state record for the mile at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix where he placed second in the high school race with a 4:08.75. That's a time that computes to low 3:50 for 1,500m. Salisbury's seed time, based on qualifying races in R.I., is 4:05.57. With the 1,000m still remaining, he more than likely will run fast enough to win the 1,500m, so former Westerly great Andrew Springer's 3:53.32 state record should not be in jeopardy. Look for Salisbury to work with his teammates (Dan Paiva, D.J. Principe) in the longer race with the goal of scoring the most points possible in the event. La Salle is a heavy favorite to win its second straight title, and the distance events are where it will be scoring most of that total.