After a storm postponed the Sgt. Brian St. Germain Invitational on Saturday, it was rescheduled to Monday afternoon. Although this may have been thrown off at first, Devan Kipyego was locked in. His PR coming into the meet was a 9:13 outdoors at a dual meet this year and 8:37 indoors as a part of his triple crown indoors. He solo'd 8:20.52, and was within reach of the state record of 8:16.6 set by DJ Principe exactly 5 years ago in 2017 at the Rick Schomp Invitational. Kipyego was on pace before falling off the final 800, but alone with a lot of wind this early in the year shows come June in a loaded field he could smash the mark. Jacob Connolly of East Greenwich finished about 19 seconds behind netting a PR of 8:39.84. Behind him was Henry Dennen of Cumberland in 8:40, Evan McGregor of Bishop Hendricken in 8:41, and Brandon Piedade in 8:43. These four athletes look to be favorites for all state contention, but with several top runners missing from this star studded 3k, the state meet could have as many as 10 runners sub 8:40 come June.
In the 1500, Jake Serra of Westerly ran away with the win, running 4:06.9. Jesse Principe of West Warwick took second in 4:10.14. Antontio Capalbo of South Kingstown won the 800 in 1:57.74, just missing the meet record. Elijah Saddlemire of Smithfield also dipped under 2 running 1:59.14. John Schultz of North Kingstown won the 400 in 51.05 with Kaden Kluth of Portsmouth taking 2nd. Kluth now bolsters PR's of 8:50 for the 3k to 51 in the 400. Talk about range!
For the sprints, Kamalie Pemberton of Bishop Hendricken took the 100 in 11.17 with indoor 55 state champion Jared Gibbons of La Salle close behind in 11.2. Jubril Bamgbala won the 200 in 22.4 and also took 5th in the 100.
North Smithfield dominated the 110 hurdles taking 1st, 2nd, and 7th. Matthew Stamatelatos took the win in 15.43 while teammate Ray Marsella was second in 15.57. Stamatelatos doubled back to win the 300 hurdles in a new meet record of 39.99. A second back was Jacob Naiefah of Bishop Hendricken, and Brady Fisher of La Salle in 3rd. Fisher also took 4th in the 110 hurdles earlier in the day.
For the relays La Salle took the win in the 4x100 in 43.32 barely edging out Bishop Hendricken in 43.55, Portsmouth took the 4x400 in 3:36.26 with a 3 second margin of victory over Cranston West. Westerly opened the meet with the 4x800 win in 8:53.74, a 8 second win over Bishop Hendricken's squad.
In the field, Woonsocket's Tarik Robinson O'Hagan took down Kyle Moison of Lincoln's shot put meet record by several with a throw of 61-10.50. Ryan Hazard of South Kingstown was second in 54-1.75 and Hendricken's Blessjoey Nyannah 3rd with a throw of 51-6.75. Those three were the only athletes to break 50. O'Hagan also took the discus title over Ryan Mcpeak of Lincoln by almost 30 feet. Nathaniel Ambrad of South Kingstown took 3rd in 154 and Nyannah took 4th in 149-6. O'Hagan's third win of the day came in the Hammer where he obliterated his former teammate's record by almost 9 feet. Andrew Harmon took second with a 207-8, and Christian Toro of Lincoln was third in 199-9. Michael Fay of Barrington barely won the javelin over Toro of Lincoln with a 140-3 to 140-1. Jeremy Knobel placed 3rd with a throw of 137-7 to be the last athlete to hit the provisional mark.
In the jumps, Jaden Saunders won the long jump by less than an inch with a jump of 20-10. The Sentinel beat Colby Fahrney who jumped 20-9.25. Knobel also took 3rd in the long jump with a 20-3.5. Saunders also took the triple jump in 42-5.25 over Nate Kelling of Coventry high school who jumped 40-8. Patrick Torres of Hendircken also broke 40 feet with a 39-2.50. Saunders completed the triple crown with a jump of 6-2 in the high jump. Knobel, Torres, and Izaiah Karweh of Central all hit 5-8 to take the 2-5 spots based off of makes and misses. Alex DeStefano of Cumberland set the state's top mark in the pole vault, hitting 12 feet. He beat Nate Kelling of Coventry and Ben Hill of Barrington who vaulted 11 feet.
Rhode Island will be back in action in a few days with the 2022 Glenn Loucks Games. Watch for Devan Kipyego who looks to break the 3000m state record of 9:38.99 in the steeplechase.
Mariner Invitational Recap
At Narragansett High School, the former site of the Rick Schomp Invitational hosted the Mariner Invitational. Delayed due to weather conditions to Tuesday, the girls running, jumping, and throwing delivered in a big way.
In the sprints, Sophomore Ailani Sutherland ran 12.85 to take the win by .3 seconds over Sierra Thompson of South Kingstown. West Warwick freshmen Xenia Raye took third with a 13.28. Later in the 200, Raye took revenge by winning the 200 with a 26.88. She beat Thompson who ran 27.17, and hometown favorite Sarah Tereault of Narragansett took third. The 400 saw Isabelle Mcdonald of Westerly winning over Christian Cormier by the slimmest of margins. Just a .02 second difference separated the two with a 1:01.04 to 1:01.06. The next 4 fastest times were all also separated by less than a second. The 100 hurdles saw Arsenia Brown of South Kingstown win in 16.86 over Emma Prestage of La Salle in 17.22. St Mary's Amy Papa took third in 17.39. The 300 hurdles saw perennial sprint champion Sadie Souls win in 47.2. Nora Kylie of Wheeler took second place in 48.83 and Emily Brown also went sub 50 running 49.57.
In the distance events, it was two time indoor state champion Caroline Cummings taking the 800. Her clocking of 2:13.82 is the 13th best mark in state history. Teammate Lily Borin took second in 2:17.24, and her time ranks 39th in state history. The two rams dominated with the next closest runner being Francine Miller of St Mary's Academy in 2:21.08. The 1500 was won by Rylee Shunney of East Greenwich. Her 4:46.69 marks her second straight year winning the event. Behind her was North Kingstown's Tori Chace in 4:56.22, and Maddison Dutra in 4:57.96. A total of 8 runners broke 5:10 on the windy day. Chariho's Erin vonHousen took the win in the 3000 over Maeve Casey. VonHousen's 10:30.62 was a 10 second PR from her win at the Mariner Invite last year where she also took the win. A total of 7 runners broke 11 on the day.
The Relays saw North Kingstown take the 4x100 in 51.34. East Providence followed closely in 51.60, and La Salle took third in 51.81. Cumberland and East Greenwich both ran 52.62, but Cumberland won by the thousandth of a second to take 4th. La Salle won the 4x400 in 4:16.3 over South Kingstown and Westerly who ran 4:18.37 and 4:20.91 respectively. The 4x800 was won by South Kingstown in 10:14.5, and beat La Salle by almost 12 seconds.
In the jumps, Morgan Casey of Portsmouth won the high jump with a 5-1 clearance. Brooke Thompson of North Kingstown placed 2nd and Nora Kylie who took second in the 300mh also took third both clearing 4-11. Thompson won due to misses overall. Logan Baxter won the pole vault in 9 feet beating Merra Menon due to misses, and Paula Salazar of La Salle took 3rd with an 8-6. Alila Nigri of Cumberland won the long jump with a jump of 16-06. A total of 4 girls jumped 16 feet or further. Alyssa Yankee of Cumberland won the discus with a throw of 114-02. Weeko Thompson of Chariho placed second with a throw of 110 feet. A total of 5 throwers broke 100 feet. Maddison Lupino won the hammer in 139-10 by just 3 feet against hometown favorite Kylee Bennett in 139-7. Isabella Pette took 3rd in 120-4. Javelin was won by Bethanie Jean-Philippe with a throw of 118-02. Carolyn Lafferty of North Kingstown took second place in 109-11, and a total of 4 throwers threw between 109-11 and 109-04.
