Runners in last year's girls' championship race fight for position during the first mile.
One of the northeast's premier cross-country meets is just a month away.
On the weekend of Sept. 23-24, meet directors Bob and Anne Rothenberg and Charlie Breagy will be hosting their 10th annual Ocean State Invitational at Goddard State Park in Warwick, RI.
The two-day meet begins on a Friday afternoon with six middle-school races and concludes on a Saturday with 14 high school races, including freshmen, junior varsity and varsity events. The meet is highlighted by a pair of championship races. There will also be an Open 5K Trail Run. Of note, middle school races will be 2,000 meters, freshmen events are 4K and all other HS races are 5K.
In its nine-year history, the competition has always been top-notch on a lightning-fast course. Last year a total of 65 boys broke 17 minutes and 56 girls were under 20 minutes for five-kilometers. Prizes are plentiful with medals and team plaques awarded in EVERY race. Attractive Tech T-shirts will also be on sale.
Eventual winner Grace MacDonald of Cole (East Greenwich, RI) and runner-up Alison Gillooly of Hale (Stowe, MA) give it their all the final 100 meters of the seventh-grade middle school race in 2015.
The Ocean State Invite is open to schools throughout the country and is currently sanctioned for Connecticut, Maine Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Vermont. Schools from additional states should contact Bob Rothenberg at 401-294-9946 as soon as possible to get sanctioned.
As always, MileSplit RI will be in full force at the two-day meet, providing complete coverage with race videos and interviews, photos and stories of the day's happenings.