While some of Rhode Island's best competed at UPenn's Franklin Field, others traveled to Conley Stadium for the Classical Classic.
On the boys' side, Portsmouth senior Kaden Kluth had a fantastic day. He took home the win in both the 800 and 1500. In the 1500, he won by 6 seconds, running a 3:56.95 over Evan McGregor of Bishop Hendricken in 4:02.51 and Jake Serra in 4:05.07. In the 800, his marquee event, he faced Lachlan Bishop of La Salle, the runner up in the 600 indoors. He barely took the win in 1:56.3 over Bishop in 1:57.75, and McGregor had another top three placement with a 1:58.93. The 3000 saw the top four finishers from the Connecticut Distance Festival 5000 take the top four spots. Cooper Michaud, the senior from Classical, won in 8:50.86 while Troy Silvestri, Wilson Jablonski, and Josh Breard all ran 8:56.59, 8:57.68, and 8:58.99. Most impressive was Jack Moretta, a freshman from Bishop Hendricken who ran a 9:04.30.
In the sprints, Jared Gibbons of La Salle took a commanding win in the 100 over Gabriel Dosunmu of Central. The Juniors 11.17 was the fastest time of the day by a quarter of a second. The 200 saw Nick Morrison of East Providence win over Darian Griffin of Rogers. The two ran 23.23 and 23.32 respectively. Seven runners broke 24 across 13 heats. In the 400, North Kingstown senior John Schultz took the win in 50.89. This beat Jeff Brady of Portsmouth who ran 51.38, as well as 600 indoor state champion Pedro Mayol. The hurdles saw Matthew Stamatelatos of North Smithfield continue to dominate with a 15.40 in the 110 and a 40.1 in the 300. Damon Wilson was runner up in the 110 hurdles in 15.67 while Luis Bentancourt was runner up in the 300 hurdles with a 42.55.
In the relays, La Salle Academy beat Barrington 43.59 to 44.26 in the 4x100 while Portsmouth edged out South Kingstown in the 4x400 3:35.65 to 3:35.83. The 4x800 saw Barrington best Smithfield 8:28.49 to 8:38.51. North Smithfield won the 4x110 shuttle hurdle relay in 1:05.75.
In the jumps, Ethan McCann-Carter of Saint Raphael's Academy beat Jaden Saunders in the long jump with a 21-11 jump. Saunders of Smithfield and Colby Fahrney of Portsmouth also broke 21 feet with 21-06 and 21-01 respectively. The triple had many familiar faces with McCann-Carter taking second in 41-06.5 and Jaden Saunders of Smithfield in 41-06. The winner was senior Matt Steele of Bishop Hendricken in 42-06. The pole vault saw Alex DeStefano of Cumberland take the win and set a new top jump this year at 11 feet.
In the throws, Woonsocket's Tarik Robinson-O'Hagan set the bar high with wins in the discus, hammer, and shot put finals. All of his throws were between 9 and 25 feet further than his nearest competition. Ryan Hazard of South Kingstown took second in both the shot put and discus final while Asher Robbins took second in the hammer throw with a 210-05. Robinson-O'Hagan led four throwers over 200 feet. The javelin was won by Cameron Chinn of Bishop Hendricken with La Salle's Maxwell Cute and Parker Rush placing second and third. All three throwers exceeded 167 feet, and the top five above 150 feet.
On the girls' side, Ailani Sutherland took the win in 12.57 over Xenia Raye of West Warwick who ran a 12.77. Sutherland also took the win in the 200 with a 26.15, nearly a second faster than Eden Gutierrez of Cumberland in 27.11. Xenia Raye would, however, take home victory in the 400. Her minute breaking run of 59.44 was the sole time to break the barrier and produced a 2.5-second margin of victory against Kitty Damon of Portsmouth who ran 61.91. The hurdles saw Jacqueline Edoro of Classical win in 16.09 over indoor 55 hurdle state champion Emma Prestage in 16.99. The 300 hurdles saw Joyce London obliterate the competition with a 48.47 300 hurdles. This time beat second place by nearly three seconds.
In the distance races, Cumberland's Grace Carr continues her fantastic indoor campaign with a 2:18.61 800. This was a six-second margin of victory over Francine Miller of Bay View. The 1500 was more competitive with Kaya West of Westerly taking first in 5:00.81. The junior beat freshmen Maddison Dutra of Cranston East who clocked a 5:02.23. A total of eight girls broke 5:20 in the 1500. The 3000 saw a 1-2 punch from La Salle with Caroline Cummings running 10:19.89 and Maeve Casey running a 10:41.96. The freshmen put a gap between herself and the pack behind her which included Lucy Norris of BVP and Mia Barrus of Lincoln school.
The relays saw Cranston West take the 4x100 in 48.67 with a large margin of victory over Classical in 50.65. The 4x400 saw Classical take the victory in style with a 4:11.86 while Westerly took the runner-up spot with a 4:22.31. Central was another 14 seconds back running 4:36.1. The 4x800 saw Portsmouth take the title in 10:24.89 while Coventry was runner-up in 10:49.53.
In the jumps, Morgan Casey of Portsmouth won the high jump by a large margin with a 6-inch victory over Elizabeth Murphy of Saint Raphaels. The 5-06 and 5-00 jumps were the only marks above 5 feet. The long jump saw Lauren Boyd win over Madison Alves of Cranston West. The Smithfield Sentinel beat the Falcon by just 2 inches 16-05 to 16-03. Jacqueline Edoro of Classical took another victory in the triple jump with a 34-10 over Dasani Stewart of Pilgrim in 34-07.5. A total of 6 people broke 32 feet. The pole vault saw Allyson Humphries of Classical have the highest jump of the day with an 11-06. Morgan Correia of La Salle was the only other athlete above 10 feet.
In the throws, Weeko Thompson of Chario won the discus with a toss of 113-02 over Emma Brunelle of Lincoln who threw for 105-07. A total of 6 throwers eclipsed the 100-foot mark. Thompson also took the shot title over Alyssa Yankee of Cumberland by exactly one foot, 37-04 to 36-04. Yankee also took fourth in the discus. In the hammer, Liangie Calderon of Coventry threw for 156 feet and beat Kylee Bennett of Narragansett whose best throw was just 149-09. The javelin saw Bethanie Jean-Philippe of Cranston East win with a throw of 116-10 over Janelle Mixner of Pilgrims 107-05.
