With the level of talented athletes that compete along with the electrifying atmosphere that they create inside the famed Armory, there's nothing that beats the New Balance Nationals Indoor Championships. No surprise, this past weekend's meet produced a multitude of nation No. 1s and six national records!
It goes without saying that the 2015 version of NBNI was also a memorable one for Rhode Island, which had 13 All-American athletes! Among the highlights: Barrington High senior Adam Kelly defended his crown in the 25-pound weight throw and led a 1-2-3 sweep by the Ocean State. And we certainly can't forget what La Salle Academy did in the 4x1 Mile relay. The Rams made history by becoming the first school to win the boys' and girls' races at the nationals. That's pretty impressive stuff.
RI MileSplit had the opportunity to make the trek to New York City to witness all the great performances by our local athletes. The last decade, R.I. has really brought their talent to another level and placed itself firmly on the national map. For three days in the Big Apple, we certainly proved it.
Here's a glimpse back at NBNI and our Rhode Islanders.
La Salle distance coach Kelly Martin knew that task would be difficult for her girls' squad in the always-competitive 4x1 Mile relay. To add to the difficult, the Rams were labeled as the favorite to earn the crown.
What did the Rams do? They simply dominated with a time of 20 minutes, 26.13 seconds, 14 ticks ahead of runner-up Corning (NY).
“All we had to do was go in there and stay positive and run the way we've already run," Martin stated. “The girls did a great job. They executed exactly the way they were supposed to do. They were mentally tough. They never gave up and they did it for each other."
With nationally-ranked runners Sheridan Wilbur and Eliza Rego running the final two legs, juniors Karina Tavares and Audrey O'Neill put the Rams in a good position for their gifted teammates to finish the job.
“Karina did an excellent job. Her main focus was to go out hard and try and get a little lead and handoff the baton in first," Martin said. “She executed today. I couldn't be happier for her. She's a very tough kid. She was determined and she wanted to do the best that she could possibly do for her team. Audrey ran 5:18. That's a PR for Audrey. All she had to do was keep everybody close and Sheridan could reel people in."
And reel them in she did. Wilbur, the only senior on that squad, did what leaders often do; she demonstrated patience and grit, a combination that brought the Rams from fifth to first place by the time the baton was handed to Rego.
Wilbur's split, a crisp 5:02.
“It's not about the time she hit, but how tough she was," Martin said. “She saw first place. She saw where she was and she slowly, slowly reeled them in. She handed off the baton and went from fifth place to first place. Not matter what the time says, it's the gutsiest race I have ever seen."
Rego never lost focus on the prize, building a sizable lead with a 2:26 split at the 800m mark. With arms raised high in the air, she crossed the line for the victory after a 4:57 anchor.
“After Sheridan did what she did I knew Eliza was going to finish it for us," said Martin, about her star junior, who a few weeks earlier set a meet mark at the New England Championships with a PR of 4:52. “I just have so much faith in Eliza. She might be small, she might be young but she is tough as nails. Right now we are on cloud nine. It's nice to put in a lot of work and have a goal in mind and in the end to actually execute their goal. This is a good feeling. We are really excited."
The victory by the girls proved to be a fitting opening act for what would transpire next on the banked oval. The La Salle quartet of senior Dan Paiva (4:21), junior Matt Bouthillette (4:18), sophomore D.J. Principe (4:19) and junior Jack Salisbury (4:13) came a mere four seconds from a national record in the boys' 4x1 mile event with the third fastest U.S. time ever of 17:11.07.
The pre-meet favorites had their hands full with a determined foursome from Utah named Davis challenging the Rams to the very end. Paiva, Bouthillette and Principe all ran solid legs to set up an exciting finish that saw Salisbury take the lead with a lap left and then hold off Davis's Josh Ward the final few meters.
“The one thing I always have trouble with is running alone," Salisbury said. “I have never run a PR alone. My times alone compared to other races are not even close. I was thinking this kid is taking it pretty fast so if I can just stick with him I'll be there."
“We kind of learned our lesson at nationals in cross country," Principe said. “We probably put a little too much on ourselves than we should have. We got a little caught up in the event and we didn't run the way we wanted to. This week we stayed focused but we treated it like any other race. I am really happy with how we executed."
Rhody showed its dominance in the weight throw. In the boys' event, the Eagles' Kelly earned back-to-back titles with a winning heave of 81 feet, 5.25 inches. The Barrington standout had familiar company on the podium, sharing it with second-place finisher and junior teammate Bobby Colantonio and Moses Brown senior Owen Russell, who placed third.
“It's always hard coming into these meets. It's a lot of pressure," he said. “The first throw helped a lot, just getting that 80-0.75. I have been having a lot of trouble fouling lately. It was good to get that in mentally and I just went from there. I just kept on improving."
Colantonio tossed the weight a distance of 78-0.25 and Russell had a best of 76-3.5.
“It's actually nice going in and knowing the competition, actually," Kelly said. “I competed with them last week and competed with them the week before so every meet is like a mini nationals."
Colantonio was competing in the meet a year after he fouled on all three attempts and never made it to the finals, despite being one of the top seeds.
“I still wanted more (today)," he said. “I had a little flaws in my technique, but I am just glad to place second and go home with a medal."
Russell was eighth at last year's NBNI meet.
“I had a few hiccups in my season and I came here and just wanted to PR. I just wanted to beat my record of 75 (feet) and change," he said. “I did that my first throw and think I broke it like three more times after that. I was just so happy to do that."
In the girls' weight throw, Classical's Alva Hicks and Lysah Russell made it to the podium by taking fourth and fifth respectively. Hicks had a toss of 55-1.5 and Russell unleashed her apparatus a PR distance of 54-9.25.
'It was good, considering I missed it last year because I fouled," Hicks said. “I am disappointed because I did want to throw further, I wanted to PR before the season ended. But I'm content and focus for outdoor."
“I woke up this morning and had a goal to at least make the finals to make All American," Russell said. “At the beginning I had a hard time with my technique, but at the end I pulled through and got fifth and I'm pretty proud of myself."
Although she fell a placement short of earning All American in the finals, Hope senior Quashira McIntosh still established yet another state record, breaking her own mark in the 200m with a time of 24.07 to win her prelim heat. She was seventh in the finals where she ran a still impressive time of 24.37.
Elite Performances
| Girls (26) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 200m | F 2 7th | 24.37 | Quashira Mcintosh | Hope High School | |
| 200m | p 3 4th | 24.07 | Quashira Mcintosh | Hope High School | |
| 1500m | F 1 10th | 4:36.90 | Eliza Rego | La Salle Academy | |
| Mile | F 2 4th | 5:10.70 | Randi Burr | Westerly High School | |
| Mile | F 3 10th | 4:56.04 | Eliza Rego | La Salle Academy | |
| Mile | F 2 13th | 5:09.64 | Lily Foulkes | The Wheeler School | |
| 3000m | F 1 12th | 10:04.10 | Sheridan Wilbur | La Salle Academy | |
| 2Mile | F 2 12th | 10:44.89 | Sheridan Wilbur | La Salle Academy | |
| 2Mile | F 2 20th | 11:18.41 | Bethany Nunnery | North Kingstown High School | |
| 4x200m | F 6 6th | 1:42.76 | Hope High School | ||
| DMR | F 1 23rd | 12:33.75 | Cumberland | ||
| LJ | F 1 7th | 17-8.75 | Meaghan Scullin | Cumberland | |
| WT | F 1 4th | 47-9 | Carly Timpson | Narragansett High School | |
| WT | F 1 4th | 55-1.5 | Alva Hicks | Classical High School | |
| WT | F 1 5th | 54-9.25 | Lysah Russell | Classical High School | |
| WT | F 1 12th | 43-7 | Rebecca Dickinson | North Kingstown High School | |
| WT | F 1 16th | 49-4.5 | Makena Thomas | Narragansett High School | |
| WT | F 1 18th | 49-2.5 | Courtney Jacobsen | Toll Gate High School | |
| WT | F 1 23rd | 40-3.25 | Ashley Martinez | Woonsocket High School | |
| WT | F 1 24th | 46-0.5 | Oluwafun Yusuff | Classical High School | |
| WT | F 1 26th | 45-10.75 | Meagan Malloy | Smithfield Senior High School | |
| WT | F 1 31st | 44-4.75 | Lauren Swanson | East Greenwich High School | |
| WT | F 1 34th | 43-8.5 | Faye Gauthier | West Warwick High School | |
| WT | F 1 35th | 43-3 | Abby Cousens | Portsmouth High School | |
| WT | F 1 36th | 42-11 | Joangely Mata | Mount Pleasant High School | |
| WT | F 1 42nd | 39-3.25 | Tara Rochefort | Woonsocket High School | |
| Boys (22) | |||||
| 1500m | F 1 11th | 4:00.22 | Jack Salisbury | La Salle Academy | |
| 1500m | F 1 16th | 4:05.46 | Dan Paiva | La Salle Academy | |
| Mile | F 2 11th | 4:19.39 | Jack Salisbury | La Salle Academy | |
| Mile | F 1 16th | 4:23.90 | Dan Paiva | La Salle Academy | |
| 3000m | F 1 10th | 8:40.44 | Matthew Bouthillette | La Salle Academy | |
| 3000m | F 1 13th | 8:41.36 | David Principe | La Salle Academy | |
| 2Mile | F 2 10th | 9:13.90 | Matthew Bouthillette | La Salle Academy | |
| 2Mile | F 1 13th | 9:15.84 | David Principe | La Salle Academy | |
| 4x200m | F 7 29th | 1:32.74 | Central High School | ||
| 4x400m | F 1 5th | 3:25.01 | Central High School | ||
| SMR | F 1 21st | 3:37.48 | La Salle Academy | ||
| WT | F 1 1st | 81-5.25 | Adam Kelly | Barrington High School | |
| WT | F 1 2nd | 78-0.25 | Bobby Colantonio | Barrington High School | |
| WT | F 1 3rd | 61-2 | Jared Briere | Woonsocket High School | |
| WT | F 1 3rd | 76-3.5 | Owen Russell | Moses Brown School | |
| WT | F 1 6th | 56-1 | Dylan Cote | Woonsocket High School | |
| WT | F 1 8th | 54-10.75 | Jacob Greenless | Woonsocket High School | |
| WT | F 1 8th | 71-0.5 | Francy Mata | Mount Pleasant High School | |
| WT | F 1 13th | 68-2.25 | Mike Alvernaz | Barrington High School | |
| WT | F 1 14th | 53-0.75 | Joseph Taylor | Lincoln High School | |
| WT | F 1 16th | 65-2 | Jacob Yang | Pilgrim High School | |
| WT | F 1 29th | 57-0.75 | Thanadron Phenglee | Classical High School | |