The Bishop Hendricken Invitational is the final opportunity for boys 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, Edmond Lok of Bishop Hendricken set a new PR of 11.17 as he won the 100 in a PR and RI #14 mark. He will be one of four Hawks qualified for the 100 meters at the state meet. In the 200, Xavier Williams of Hendricken won in a new PR and RI #1 of 21.93. This PR put him .4 ahead of the next closest competitor, Alonso Parker-Sharpe of Cranston West at the meet, and .3 ahead of Parker-Sharpe on the performance list. The 400 saw an athlete break 50; Elias Sposato of Chariho in 49.97. Robbie Wade of Westerly took second in 50.52 while Ryan Borke of Cumberland ran 50.73 to break the Cumberland school record for the second time this season. With 10 athletes 51 flat or better, this may be the most competitive year for the 400 meters ever.
In the 800, Blake Santos finally ran a domestic 800 after competing at the Glenn Loucks Games and Track Night NYC races. He sat back for most of the race in second or third and over the final 100 meters kicked by Jessie Principe of West Warwick as both athletes dipped under 2 minutes. Santos clocked a 1:58.31 and 1:58.65 for Principe. Santos said he wanted to "go for the win and get into the seeded heat at states" and did exactly that. Jeremiah Rocha of Saint Raphael's continues his stellar season with his first time sub-2 minutes outdoors in 1:59.84. The 1500 saw Brayton Gazerro of Bishop Hendricken go head to head with Thomas Speltz of Moses Brown. Gazaerro made a decisive move in the final 200 to break the race wide open and celebrated across the line as he won his home invite in 4:02.03, a 4-second personal best. Speltz ran 4:03.58 while Cumberland's Connor Magill, son of Saint Raphael's coach Chris Magill, ran a huge personal best of 4:03.82. These three marks are RI #4, RI #5, and RI #6 respectively. The freshmen 1500 was won by Jacob Silva of Bishop Hendricken in 4:27.36 while Michael Chun of Barrington won the sophomore 1500 in 4:28.71. In the 3000, Alex Sjoblom of Hendricken ran wire-to-wire with teammate Keegan Tierney as both athletes broke 8:50 to run 8:47.43 and 8:48.58. Sjoblom stated he "worked together with Keegan Tierney and Marshall Vernon and after dropping Vernon late in the race, kept pushing to come away with the win." He also talked about how he and his teammates Troy Silvestri, Brayton Gazerro, and Keegan Tierney have all run between 8:47 and 8:48 and how they continue to push each other in every practice, workout, and race since cross country season last fall. Vernon, a freshman from La Salle Academy, finally broke the elusive 9:00 barrier on the track with an 8:59.35 and hopes to continue this moment into the postseason at states, New England's, and the nationals 2 mile at Franklin Field.
In the relays, La Salle won the 4x100 in a season-best 43.02 for RI #2. The 4x400 was won by Portsmouth in 3:30.87 over Westerly and La Salle in second and third. The 4x800 saw Bishop Hendricken win in 8:29.21 for RI #3.
In the jumps, Aidan Chen of Portsmouth beat Dylan Slavick of East Providence on a tie-breaker after both jumped 6-0. Landon Rodriguez of Portsmouth jumped 20-1.75 to win the meet and move up to RI #18. State leader David Rodriquez won the triple jump in 43-0 to continue his undefeated season in the discipline. In the pole vault, Will Schiller of Smithfield tied with Quinn O'Connell of North Kingstown to both win the event. O'Connell moved to RI #3 with this performance while Schiller remained the state leader at 12-6.
In the throws, the javelin leaderboard was rewritten as Jeremy Knobel of Smithfield, Damon Buchanon of Bishop Hendricken, and Scott Sloan of the Wheeler School placed 1-3 and now occupy the RI #1, RI #2, and RI #3 in the event. Each PR'd by multiple feet with Knobel throwing 167-10, Buchanon launching a 161-6, and Sloan tossing a PR of 159-10. In the hammer, Christian Toro of Lincoln suffered his first domestic loss of the year as Ethan Wordell of North Kingstown threw 228-8 to Toro's 227-1. The next best throw was 26 feet back to Keith Daigneau of Hendricken at 201-2. The discus saw Joseph Chesney of Cumberland win with a throw of 138-9 while state leader in the shot put and discus Jason Hayes of Middletown won the shot put. His throw of 50-8 beat Alex Morin by just 3 inches at 50-05.
Final heat sheets will come later this week as everyone prepares for the Rhode Island State Championship at Conley Stadium this Saturday, June 3rd.
