The Mount Pleasant Invitational is the final opportunity for girls from around the state of Rhode Island to achieve or improve upon their spot in the Rhode Island State Meet this upcoming Saturday. Sunny and warm weather was the perfect formula for fast times, big PRs, and an overall great day that did not disappoint.
In the sprints, Nazarae Phillip won the 100 in 12.75, placed 4th overall in the 200, and helped her team secure a place at states with an anchor leg clocking a 49.95 for the East Providence townie squad which is good for third in the state. In the 200, Ailani Sutherland of Cranston West broke 26 to win with a 25.87. Also, fresh off helping her team win the freshmen state title earlier last week, Lillian Racine of Ponaganset placed 7th overall as the top freshmen in the event. The 400 saw Olympic Trials qualifier Sophia Gorriaran of Moses Brown drop the competition with a blistering 55.42. One could only guess which events she will focus on as she is qualified in every event from 3000 to 200 for the state meet. Calla Bruno of Westerly, another freshman, also had a great day placing 4th overall with a PR of 1:00.87.
In the hurdles, Bethany Marsella of North Smithfield won the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.16 and is an example of North Smithfield's continued success in hurdling. In the 300-meter hurdles, freshman Emily Deconto of Portsmouth won in a PR and new RI #3 of 48.16.
In the distance events, Erin vonHousen of Chariho went down to the wire to edge out Classical's Caroline Jankowich 2:16.21 to 2:16.36 in the 800. These are now RI #1 and RI #2 heading into the state meet this weekend. Emmy Belvin of Mount Saint Charles also finished under 2:20 in 3rd. In the 1500, Caroline Cummings of La Salle ran an RI #9 and season's best 4:49.73 while Rory Sullivan ran 4:50.09 for second and RI #11. The 3000 meters saw another Portsmouth freshmen win, this time Eleni Drosinos in 11:00.49 for a PR and RI #14. Madeleine O'Neil finished runner-up in a PR of 11:09.67 and RI #16. The freshman 1500 was won by Keira Harnois of North Smithfield while the sophomore 1500 was won by Jennie Mosca of Mount Pleasant.
In the relays, as previously mentioned, East Providence broke 50 to be RI #3. In the 4x400, South Kingstown similarly moved into RI #3 after running 4:04.02. However, the race of the day has to go to Cumberland's 4x800 meter relay. They won by 45 seconds over second place Prout, and their 9:31.42 is a school record and RI #1. With a 37-second margin over Moses Brown's 10:08.38, the team of Grace Carr, Kiley DeFusco, Rose Tuomisto, and Charli McCue could look to bring home a state title next week before Grace Carr tries to defend her title that afternoon.
In the jumps, Lauren Boyd of Smithfield took the win in the triple jump with 36-0.75, a new PR and RI #2 while also taking second in the long jump. The winner of the long jump was freshman Nini Olawuyi of Exeter-West Greenwich in 17-06. Morgan Casey of Portsmouth continues her undefeated season with another high jump win at the Mount Pleasant Invitational while Olivia Priest of North Kingstown won the pole vault in a new PR and RI #1 of 10-08.
The throws saw Suraily Sam of Bay View win both the discus and shot put. Both marks were PRs with her 37-00.25 shot put throw being tied for RI #3 while her 128-01 discus throw became the new RI #1. The javelin saw Maia Riccio of Cranston West win with a throw of 117-08 while another member of the freshmen state championship team from Ponaganset, Alyssa Lupo, improved her PR by almost 6 feet to break the 100-foot barrier with a toss of 100-04. This was good for 7th in the meet and RI #8. Finally, the hammer saw Jillian Leahy of Lincoln throw 164-04 for the win.
Final heat sheets will come later this week as everyone prepares for the Rhode Island State Championship at Conley Stadium this Saturday, June 3rd.