Nikki Merrill clocked one of the nation's fastest times for the 1,500-meter run at Saturday's Mount Pleasant Invitational.
The Portsmouth High sophomore established a meet record and nearly nine-second PR with her winning time of 4 minutes, 30.40 seconds. That time puts Merrill at No. 8 in the country.
The Patriot all-stater and La Salle junior Emily Kane broke from the pack early, hitting their opening 400m at 74 seconds and sub 2:30 at 800m. Merrill was able to break away from Kane with a little more than 200m remaining. The Ram runner secured second with a PR of 4:33.10 (US #15).
Westerly's Randi Burr achieved a milestone in the 3,000m by dipping under 10 minutes for the first time with a 9:59.50 clocking (US #29).
Casey Gannon of Toll Gate captured both hurdle events, winning the 100m HH at 15.5 and the 300m IH in 45.80.
Woonsocket's Quinn Harlan also was a double-winner, taking the 100m (12.2) and the 200m (25.9) dashes.
Molly Botts of Cranston East became the third girl from RI to exceed 170 feet in the hammer with a first-place heave of 174-5, second best in the state.
Girls Highlights
- 100 Meter Dash - Quinn Harlan (Woonsocket High School) 12.20;
- 1,500 Meter Run - Nikki Merrill (Portsmouth High School) 4:30.40; Emily Kane (La Salle Academy) 4:33.10; Elizabeth Sullivan (Portsmouth High School) 4:40.20; Olive Allen (Portsmouth High School) 4:50.40; Grace Henson (Cumberland) 4:51.80; Julia Dempsey (Cumberland) 4:53.20; Alyson Walsh (La Salle Academy) 4:54.20; Adah Anderson (Cumberland) 4:59.80;
- 3,000 Meter Run - Randi Burr (Westerly High School) 9:59.50; Eleanor Lawler (South Kingstown High School) 10:19.80;
- 300 Meter Hurdles - Casey Gannon (Toll Gate High School) 45.80;
- 800 Meter Run - Kate Zitzmann (Barrington High School) 2:18.10; Sophia Maynard (Toll Gate High School) 2:19.80;
- Discus - Samantha Andrews (Lincoln High School) 126-11; Brianna Shablom (Portsmouth High School) 125-3;
- Hammer Throw - Molly Botts (Cranston East High School) 174-3; Ani Armenakyan (Toll Gate High School) 172-4; Annika Kelly (Barrington High School) 169-4; Faith Polando (Barrington High School) 161-10; Samantha Andrews (Lincoln High School) 161-0; Chelsea Yang (Pilgrim High School) 150-11; Sydney Polando (Barrington High School) 150-5; Maggie Tarmey (Lincoln High School) 150-2; Joangely Mata (Mount Pleasant High School) 146-3; Katrin Kurowski (Woonsocket High School) 142-8; Keyarsa Harris (Central High School) 141-8; Cheyenne Figueroa (Classical High School) 138-11; Ashley O'loughlin (Coventry High School) 138-4; Nicole Valdez (Hope High School) 136-6; Megan Cook (Ponaganset High School) 136-0; Elysia Fusco (Coventry High School) 135-5; Morgan Cruz (West Warwick High School) 134-0; Gabriela Ribeiro (Woonsocket High School) 131-0; Marissa Henley (Woonsocket High School) 128-5; Anna Orticerio (Smithfield Senior High School) 127-3; Megan Sieben (Portsmouth High School) 123-4; Jackie Andrews (Lincoln High School) 122-9; Amber Nunez (Classical High School) 121-11; Ariel Hall (Hope High School) 119-5; Melissa Mejia (Classical High School) 119-3; Jianna Peno (Rogers) 117-0; Brianna Shablom (Portsmouth High School) 115-6; Erynn Field (North Kingstown High School) 114-0; Noelya Delacruz (St Mary Academy-Bay View High School) 112-9;
- Shot Put - Jianna Peno (Rogers) 37-5.5;