With the championship season in full swing, the state divided up to compete in the Class Championships last Sunday. These teams aimed to score points, earn state qualifying marks, and come away as Class Champions. Most of our top individuals fought for individual and team glory as competitive battles took place in the sprints, jumps, and throws.
In Class A on the boy's side, Bishop Hendricken did what they do best, scoring a lot of points across every discipline. They won 10 of the 19 events and scored in 18 of the 19 events. The Hawks found success in the throws and sprints coming away with 23 points in the discus, 18 points in the shot put, 22 points in the 200, and 21 points in the 100. Add in their typical success of the distance events, and that creates a total of 254 points, doubling the score of La Salle Academy, their in-state rivals. La Salle found success in the relays scoring 26 of the possible 30 points to score 104.5. Cumberland finished third thanks to Cole McCue winning the 1500 title and recent Bryant commit Ryan Bourke finishing runner-up in the 400 while North Kingstown took fourth with a 3-6 finish in the Pole Vault and Jackson Borge winning the 3k.
On the girl's side of Class A, Cranston West stormed to victory thanks to success in the sprints and the field. They scored 19 points in the triple jump, 11 in the long jump, and a win in the javelin giving them 10 more. Falcon's Ailani Sutherland and Praise Mayson won the 100 and 200 for West while their teammates placed 3-6 in the 400 open, second in the 100 hurdles, and won the 4x100 meter relay. This helped them secure the Class A title with 163 points. Indoor state champions Classical placed runner-up with Columbia commit Caroline Jankowich's runner-up finishes in the 800, 1500, and 3000 to increase their total to 135.5 points. Cumberland finished with 79 points and the Clippers 800 meter outdoor champion last year, Grace Carr, won the 800 in 2:18.87.
At the Class B boy's meet, Barrington ran away with the win. The former Class A school dropped down to Class B, scored in all 19 events, and won with 183 points over Classical's 90. Barrington's Michael Fay, brother of Hendricken national champion and current UVA cavalier John Fay, scored 22 points across the discus, hammer, and javelin while the Eagles 110 hurdle squad scored 21 points with 5 athletes in the final. Other highlights include West Warwick's Jessie Principe winning the 1500 and 800 as well as Linoln's Christian Toro scoring 28 points across all four throwing disciplines.
The girl's side of Class B was equally exciting with the closest team battle of the day. South Kingstown, Barrington, West Warwick, and East Greenwich were the four main contenders. West Warwick's Raye sisters brought a new definition to the word domination; as freshmen Lisa Raye won the 100, 200, 100 hurdles, and 300 hurdles as well as setting 5 meet records along the way. A perfect 40 points as a freshman is a remarkable accomplishment, especially in the Class Championships. She also PR'd in every event and could be setting herself up for a quadruple crown at the state meet as she owns the top mark in all four events. Not to be outdone, her older sister and sophomore Xenia Raye placed behind Lisa in the 100 and 200, won the 400 and anchored the 4x100 to 4th overall. They contributed 71 points of their team's 86 total for third. In second, Barrington amassed 101.25, but could not beat South Kingstown and their 128 points. SK did not have a single event winner and only placed second in the 4x400. However, they scored in 17 of the 19 events at the meet and took advantage of the eight-person scoring system.
In Class C, Saint Raphael's dominated on the boy's side. Devan Kipyego scored 38 points across the 400, 800, 1500, and 3000 with a sweep of the distance events and an 8:35 3000 to finish the night. He led teammates to a 1-2-3 in the 800 as well as 23 points in the 1500. This, along with Ethan McCann-Carter scoring 18 more points in the long jump and high jump helped the Saints to complete their sweep of Class C titles this year with 150 points. Moses Brown scored 114.5 for second with Thomas Speltz winning the 400 in 50.55 to rank him 3rd in the state.
On the girl's side, the Class C championships became the Sophia Gorriaran show. She won the 800, 1500, 3000, and 4x400 for a perfect 40 points for her team. The success did not end there as Moses Brown also ran a new school record in the 4x800 and scored 58 points across all the sprinting events to give them the team title. Their 151.5 points beat Saint Raphael's 91 points to take the championship.
Next week we have freshmen states on Monday and Tuesday as well as the final state qualifiers of the year, Bishop Hendricken and Mariner Invites. This allows for one last chance to get into or improve your state ranking before the state meet in a few weeks.