RI Class Championships saw 6 meets occur on Saturday.
On Saturday the Class Championships commenced at the PCTA. There, the best in Rhode Island met over the course of three meets spread throughout the day. This was broken up further into Boy Class A, B, and C Championships as well as Girls Large, Medium, and Small School Championships. On the men's side La Salle Academy, Barrington, and Smithfield were the defending champions while on the women's side La Salle Academy, East Greenwich, and Moses Brown were the three to beat. The day produced several multi-event champions and saw the return of some of the best in RI.
In the men's Class A Championship, La Salle looked to continue their streak and win the second Class A Championship in a row. They began strong with wins in the 4x800 and 4x200 and quickly opened a lead. This continued with Adam Thibodeau making his triumphant return to the 3k running 8:52.22 with a 2:53 final k. After a tough end to the cross season; he has steadily built up, and looks to be peaking at the right time. He led 5 sub 9 in the race. La Salle had 7 of the 15 winners with Jacob Gibbons winning the 55, Lachlan Bishop in the 600, Brady Fisher in the 55mh, and Jack Johnson in the high jump. Hendricken battled hard with Evan McGreggor winning the 1500 and 1000. Overall, the depth of La Salle was too much with athletes like Jack Casey, David Parenteau, and Brady Fisher scoring 10+ points in multiple events. La Salle finished with the win 137-116, but only when the divisions merge will we see which of the favorites will take home the state title.
In the women's Large School Championship, La Salle looked to repeat on the women's side but lost their perennial all-star Kaylie Armitage. In her place is Caroline Cummings who was a double winner in the 1500 and 1k. La Salle also won the 4x200 and 4x800 while Classical took wins in the 4x400, 55mh, and took 2-5 in the weight throw. In the end, the difference came with La Salle's Teresa Andruzzi throwing a PR over 36 feet beating 2 Classical throwers in second and third as La Salle wins 97-90. Teresa has also had a presence on a football field for the Rams as they made it to the state championship for football as their kicker. Also racing was Grace Carr in the 600 as she took the W before traveling to the New Balance Grand Prix to race in the high school mile. Her teammate Henry Denen ran the 800 leg of the 4x800 and skipped his main event, the 3k, to race at the mile and did not disappoint. His 4:15 mile was #2 in Rhode Island this year behind only Devan Kipyego.
In the men's Class B Championship, a three-way battle commenced on the boy's side with Barrington High School, Portsmouth High School, and Classical High School. Portsmouth was carried by their distance and sprint duo of Kaden Kluth and Colby Fahrney. Kluth won the 3k and 600 and placed 3rd in the 1000. Fahrney quadrupled taking the win in the 55 and long jump and placed 2nd in the 300 and was a part of the 3rd place 4x200. The 2 combined for 60 of the teams 81 points but settled for third. Classical's distance duo of Michaud and Mott took on the 3k, 1500, 1k triple. A feat rarely attempted in championship meets, especially at Class. However, the two scored in every race with Cooper taking second in the 3k and 1500. Mott, however, had arguably the most impressive race for Classical as he held two of the best mid-distance runners in the state, Kluth and Antonio Capalbo of South Kingstown, in the last 100 meters of the 1k, winning in 2:41. After scoring a combined 38 points and running 11,000 meters, their team fell just short of winning with just 86 points. Barrington took the win with 91 points thanks to depth in the sprints and throwing with wins in the weight, 55mh, and 300 to name a few. Ascher Robbins continued to show his dominance in the throws, winning by nearly 7 feet and 6 feet better than his win last year.
In the women's Medium Schools Championship, South Kingstown and East Greenwich went head to head. Missing from East Greenwich was cross country state champion Reese Fahys. Her absence left a hole in the dynamic duo that Rylee Shunney. Shunney took the 1500 and helped the 4x400 take the win as the Avengers also took the 1000. These wins, along with many top 6 finishes, totaled 77 points. South Kingstown started strong, taking wins in the 4x800 and 4x200. From there they did not relinquish their lead, winning 2 more events and scoring 88 points to take the win. Their sprinter, Tayshia Cary, contributed 36 points including relays to help carry her team to the win.
In the men's Class C Championships, Saint Raphael's looked for revenge after a heartbreaking loss in 2020 to Smithfield. With Smithfield moving to Class B, Saint Ray's looked to capitalize and did not hold back. They did not, with Devan Kipyego pulling off the sweep of the 3k, 1500, 1k, and anchoring the 4x400 scoring 40 of the teams 104 points. Pedro also won the 600 in the Saints distance sweep, and Ethan McCann-Carter scored a further 24 points in the sprints and jumps. They beat Moses Brown by 34 although Salter Arms scored 28 of those points winning 2 sprint events and scoring in 2 more sprint and field events. Jacob Connolly of East Greenwich nearly stole the 1500 finishing runner up in his fastest time of the year after becoming injured mid-race at cross country states. He will surely be in the mix come states as he was in 2020 when he had a breakout race and nearly broke 9:00 in the 3k.
In the women's Small School Championships, Moses Brown all-star Sophia Gorriaran was not at the race due to racing at BU that same weekend. Even without their top runner, many stepped up showing Moses Brown's depth. They scored in all but three events as they won the 4x800, 4x400, 600, 300 scoring a total of 84 points. Saint Raphael's took runner-up honors with 68 points. This occurred without a single individual champion showing the depth for Saint Raphael's.
Heading into Last Chance and the State Meet, The boy and girls team races have never been closer. La Salle looks to hold off Hendricken thanks to their field event strength that has held them back in previous years while Hendricken looks to continue their 3-year streak. On the girl's side, La Salle looks to prove they are still the top team in the state while Classical looks to unseat them and end their indoor streak of 16 years. This year looks to be another exciting state meet, and is a must-see event!