East Greenwich, Gorriaran win RIIL XC State Championships

The weather was humid on the trails of Ponagansett. It was unusually warm, but this was not going to stop the 129 athletes on the women's side from competing. Although the weather was far from ideal, 6 athletes notched all-time bests on the day.  

The three pre-race favorites all came from different Classes. Their resumes speak for themselves. Reese Fahys is the PC-commit and 2-time defending champion of Class B from East Greenwich, Caroline Cummings is the Georgetown-commit who won Class A as well as the Manchester Invitational from La Salle Academy, and Sophia Gorriaran of Moses Brown who has not raced cross country other than her win at the Class C Championships.

The three quickly separated from the pack and Gorrairan was surprisingly the first to break away from the pack. The 800-meter specialist used the back hills to expand her lead over Fahys with Cummings trailing both after two miles. The final mile saw Gorriaran open it up to take the win in 18:18.20. Cummings secured second in 18:59.8. Rory Sullivan of Saint Raphael's took third to complete the podium. Rounding out the top 7 was freshman phenom from Mount Hope Jessica Deal, East Greenwich duo Reese Fahys and Rylee Shunney, and Madeleine O'Neill of Narragansett in 19:26.34.

In the team battle, Cumberland packed up very well with Kiley DeFusco leading teammates Susanna Henderson, Charli McCue, and Grace Carr all placing within the top 16. East Greenwich was able to put all 5 in the top 24 while Cumberland's 5th was back in 47th. The displacement helped East Greenwich secure the team title with 67 points to Cumberland's 89 points. Moses Brown was able to put together a great day to finish 3rd overall with 120 points.  

The top 25 individuals and 6 teams will not need to travel as New England's are back at Ponaganset next Saturday.