Surpassing the three individual state titles (3,000-, 1,500- and 1,000-meter runs) he earned during the indoor season would be a feat in itself.
Westerly senior Andrew Springer did just that at Saturday’s Rhode Island Outdoor Track and Field Championships and also received an added bonus.
Putting an appropriate close to one of the state’s greatest high school track careers in history, Springer captured three events and ran on his team’s victorious 4x800-meter relay squad to almost single-handedly lift the Bulldogs to their first-ever state title (indoor or outdoor) with a 69-50 victory over second-place finisher Mount Pleasant.
In the girls’ competition, South Kingstown was a 104-81.5 winner over defending titlist La Salle Academy. For the Rebels, it was their seven team championship in the 37-year history of girls’ outdoor track.
Springer, owner of nine state records and a relay mark, began his afternoon by anchoring the Bulldogs’ 4x800 squad to a state and meet record of 7:55.05, uncorking his 800 split in 1:58.
That was just a warmup.
After battling with East Greenwich junior Nick Ross for the first half of the 1,500, Springer pulled away from his rival, coasting to a state mark of 3:54.02 (U.S. #3). Ross was second at 3:57.59. Leading from gun-to-wire, the Westerly standout copped the 800 title with a 1:56.26 clocking and shortly after earned individual title No. 3 with a victory in the 3,000 where he posted a sensational time of 8:29.35, another state mark.
“Going into the meet, I was really nervous,” said the Georgetown-bound Springer. “I just had to take it one race at a time -- keep confident and try to run my best race.”
The most impressive of Springer’s trifecta was his win in the 3,000. That race came about a half hour after beating a strong field in the 800. In the longer distance, Springer again had to contend with Ross, who stuck with him until just about a half-mile remaining when he was finally able to pull away. Springer covered the final 400-meters in 64 seconds. Ross again was a runner-up with his time of 8:43.23.
“It was a tough race with (Ross) right behind me, but that kind of motivated me to keep going,” Springer said. “That, and trying to get more points for the team championship.”
Westerly collected an important 14 points in the event as Bulldog senior Tim O’Loughlin finished third with a time of 8:49.01. O‘Loughlin was also fourth in the 1,500 with his time of 4:01.24.
There were several other noteworthy performances in the nearly seven-hour meet, held at the Brown University track.
Classical senior Josh Faboyede won both the hammer in the discus. Already ranked third nationally in the hammer based on his 214-2 effort at the Hartford Public Invitational on May 9, Faboyede uncorked another 200-plus throw at the state meet with his winning distance of 204-8.
La Salle Academy’s victorious 4x800 team of senior Jean Christensen and the freshmen trio of Molly Keating, Madison Meehan and Emily Papazian began the running portion of the meet with a sizzling 9:15.67 clocking (U.S. #20).
Emily Wheeler, a senior from Coventry High, was a double-winner, taking the 800 in 2:15.37 and the 1,500 in 4:36.74 (U.S. #16). In the 1,500, Wheeler hung back until the final straightaway where she was able to power past Barrington’s Sarah Barry the final few meters. Barry took the runner-up spot in 4:36.79.
In the boys’ javelin, junior Nick Keeling lived up to his top seeding, winning with a distance of 192-9. Already securing a distance good enough for the win on his first throw, Keeling twice broke the 190-foot barrier in the finals, including his personal-best winning effort.
Mount Pleasant’s Xavier Rodrigues, who finished second in the javelin with a toss of 182-9, demonstrated his versatility by taking second to West Warwick’s Ken Olivieri in the 400 with a time of 50.11 and later capturing the 200 in 22.27.
Olivieri blazed to a convincing win in the 400 with a fast 48.83 clocking and was second in the 200 at 22.32.