Boys' State Meet Recap

Rhode Island State Indoor Championships
Stephen Mazzone

La Salle Academy won its second straight boys' team title this past Saturday with a dominating performance at the R.I. Indoor Track & Field Championships.

But while that feat should not be ignored, it was a fearless tenth-grader from Barrington High that may have stole the show inside the PCTA field house.

The Eagles' Mars Bishop ran a more than two-second PR to capture the 600-meter run over top-seed James Placco of La Salle with a time of 1 minute, 24.13 seconds. Less than an hour later, Bishop challenged the leaders in the 1,000m, falling just a stride from a surprising victory with a runner-up time of 2:39.61. If that wasn't enough, the sophomore also anchored the school's second-place 4x800m squad at the beginning of the meet with a quick 1:59 leg.

Behind an expected stellar performance by its distance runners, La Salle captured the team trophy with 104 points. Bishop's heroics, along with 32 points from their weight-throwers, enabled the Eagles to secure second place with 58 points.

Barrington's finish was its best since the last of three straight runner-up placements to La Salle in 1965, a span of 50 years!

“I knew that the (600) really helped us and my coach (Mike Katz) told me we could secure second if (I) could get way up there in the 1,000, so I had that motivation," said Bishop, about his crucial second-place finish in the 1K. “I knew what I had to do for the team and I was really happy I could do it. When I got that second place, those eight points, it secured it. It was really good."

Bolstered by its nationally-ranked distance core, La Salle had limited problems retaining its crown. The Rams set the tone from the start by taking the meet's opening event, the 4x800m relay. The quartet of Dan Paiva, James Placco, Chris Shakespeare and Jack Salisbury combined for a winning time of 8:11.4.

It just got better from there as head coach Vin McGinn's squad scored 75 points from the 600m to 3,000m. In the 1,500m, Salisbury led a 1-2-3-5 finish. The 3K was equally productive with a sweep of the top three positions.

“It's a huge accomplishment," stated McGinn. “Winning is never easy. One of the things I truly believe about this team is they embrace the tradition of excellence that La Salle Academy stands for and embracing that tradition and working hard for each other and their coaches. They ended up re-writing the tradition."

Salisbury, who at the beginning of the month nearly set a state record in the mile with a 4:08.75 at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, was not feeling 100 percent at the meet. That still didn't stop him from retaining his crown in the 1,500m. The Ram junior stayed with the lead pack for much of the race and then held off teammate Matt Bouthillette the final straightaway, crossing the line in 4:05.35 to Bouthillette's 4:05.36. Paiva came across in third at 4:06.67. Cumberland's Abdullah Kaba secured fourth with a PB of 4:06.95, while sophomore D.J. Principe brought the Rams' team total in the event to 26 points by taking fifth at 4:07.27.

Salisbury made it two in a row for the 1,000m by holding off Bishop the last few meters of the race. He finished at 2:39.27. Just .70 separated the top six finishers with Hendricken's Avery Ingegneri placing third (2:39.76), Paiva taking fourth (2:39.83), Cumberland's Sean Laverty finishing fifth (2:39.92) and Bouthillette in sixth (2:39.97).

“I didn't feel that great," Salisbury admitted. “I just held on for the wins. The 1K was too slow. I'm a little disappointed in myself. I wanted to get a faster seed time. But it's all about the team today."

“Jack's a heckuva athlete," added La Salle assistant/distance coach Bill Myers. “He stepped up to the plate and he delivered. The whole team delivered today. It was a great day."

In the 3K, the duo of Principe and Bouthillette set the pace from the gun and finished together by the finish with Principe awarded the victory at 8:50.83. Bouthillette was timed in 8:50.84. Completing the sweep of the first three placements was senior Jake Grundy with a time of 8:54.92. East Greenwich senior Tommy Somers cracked nine minutes for the first time in his career with a PB of 8:55.58, good for fourth overall.

Placco was a second-place finisher in the 600m with a best of 1:24.80. The Rams also collected points in the sprint events with Brody Santilli taking third (6.63) and teammate Sam Coleman finishing fifth (6.71) in the 55m dash, Cameron Morenzi placing fourth in the 300m (36.66) and its 4x200m relay finishing as a runner-up to Central with a time of 1:32.82. The Knights won with a 1:32.52 clocking.

Besides Bishop, credit for the Eagles' second-place finish should also be given to their weight-throwers. Senior Adam Kelly and junior Bobby Colantonio, the country's top two athletes in the 25-pound weight, secured a 1-2 finish with Kelly defending his title with a heave of 81-3 and Colantonio tossing a career-best of 79-9 for second. Moses Brown's Owen Russell (third) and Barrington senior Mike Alvernaz (fourth) also exceeded 70 feet with distances of 74-5.5 and 70-5.25, respectively. Kelly also won the shot put with a two-foot best of 54-5.25.

Central sophomore Donatien Djero was a double-winner in the sprints. He edged Pilgrim's Austin Asoroona in the 55m dash with a time of 6.57 to Asoroona's 6.61. Djero came back an hour later to break the tape in the 300m dash, crossing the line at 36.17.

In an expected tight race, Classical's Nathan Narcisse won the 55-meter hurdles over Cumberland's Jared Talbert with a state-meet record of 7.54. Talbert finished second at 7.76.

Narcisse, the defending outdoor state 110m HH titlist, was No. 2 behind Talbert during the season. He moved into the top spot after defeating his rival last week at the Sweeney Last-Chance Qualifier.

“I was definitely thinking about (him) throughout the week (but) I felt confident," said Narcisse.

Bishop Hendricken's Ben Murphy, the top-seeded high-jumper all season long, secured his status as the No. 1 leaper statewide with a winning height of 6-4. Lincoln's Dory Esenova was second at 6-2.

“I was looking for 6-6 but 6-4 won it," he said. “I was pretty happy with that."

In the long jump, East Providence claimed the first two spots with senior Trystan Casey taking first with a distance of 21-4.5 and junior Paulo Periera placing second at 21-3.75.

North Kingstown was a winner in the 4x400m relay with a time of 3:33.10.

Meet Results

Boys Highlights