Full Results | Merge Report | Team by Team
The Class Champions have come and gone once again as schools from all over Rhode Island descended upon the covered bridge course at Ponaganset High School.
There were four races on the boy's and four on the girl's side consisting of Class A, Class B, Class C, and JV state championships respectively.
Class A - Full Results
In the Class A championship, it looks to be a battle between arguably the most informed runner in Rhode Island, La Salle's Marshall Vernon, and last year's state champion, Cumberland Sam Henderson. The two came in with decorated resumes.
Marshall has been on a tear this season as he is undefeated in out-of-state races winning the Varsity 1 race in 15:51.2 as well as the Varsity D race at the Manhattan Xc Invitational in 12:24.7.
Both times were the second fastest on the day to Joe Barrett of Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft, New Jersey, who himself has had an incredible season and is a national favorite at NXN.
Sam Henderson on the other hand is the defending champion from both Class A and states last fall. He has only raced out of state once where he took 7th at the Wickham Park Invite in 16:32. Colby Flynn of Bishop Hendricken finished ahead of him, and ran well with a 15:35.7 at Great American being his best effort.
The three broke off early along with Gavin Shipperley of North Kingstown and as the race came out of the woods Marshall coasted to victory in 15:29.38, #11 all-time on the course.
Colby Flynn finished second in 15:45.99 while Henderson and Shipperley ran 15:58.42 and 16:02.77 respectively.
In the team battle, Hendricken won-handedly thanks to 5 in the top 9 including BJ Kerachsky in 5th, and Jack Moretta in 6th.
La Salle took second with a huge personal best from senior Tristen McDonough in 16:29.86 for 7th.
| Place | Team | Points | Scorers | Times |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Bishop Hendricken High School | 30 | 2+5+6+8+9 (12+18) | 1:00 1-5 Split | 16:23 Avg |
| 2 |  La Salle Academy | 64 | 1+7+17+19+20 (32+41) | 1:44 1-5 Split | 16:41 Avg |
| 3 |  Cumberland | 80 | 3+10+14+26+27 | 1:43 1-5 Split | 17:00 Avg |
| 4 |  North Kingstown High School | 88 | 4+15+22+23+24 (28+29) | 1:21 1-5 Split | 17:00 Avg |
| 5 |  Pilgrim High School | 159 | 16+33+34+36+40 (56+62) | 1:43 1-5 Split | 18:08 Avg |
Class B - Full Results
In Class B, one boy stood out as the favorite, Sean Gray of Portsmouth High School.
He has been on fire this season and remains the only undefeated runner across all meets. His best performance came at the Maine Festival of Champions when he ran 14:55.56 to smash the meet record and be the first-ever boy under 15 minutes.
The time was also one of the fastest in Rhode Island history. He has won 9 straight races between invitationals and dual meets, and this weekend made it #10. He ran a 15:45.69 to win the race. His goal, as stated earlier this season, is to take down La Salle's DJ Principe's meet record of 14:56.09 on the trails of Ponagansett.
Next weekend when Vernon and Gray clash could make that a reality.
Barrington's Myles Napolitano ran 16:01.26 for second while East Greenwich took 3,4,6,7 to help them seal the team title. Luke Allen led the charge with a 16:14.76 as East Greenwich won with 32 points to Barrington's 46.
| Place | Team | Points | Scorers | Times |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  East Greenwich High School | 32 | 3+4+6+7+12 (13+22) | 1:11 1-5 Split | 16:42 Avg |
| 2 |  Barrington High School | 46 | 2+9+10+11+14 (17+19) | 1:29 1-5 Split | 17:02 Avg |
| 3 |  Portsmouth High School | 58 | 1+8+15+16+18 (35+36) | 1:56 1-5 Split | 17:07 Avg |
| 4 |  Classical High School | 136 | 5+21+30+38+42 (48+59) | 2:50 1-5 Split | 18:18 Avg |
| 5 |  Smithfield High School | 145 | 20+27+28+29+41 (50+62) | 1:26 1-5 Split | 18:32 Avg |
Class C - Full Results
In Class C, it was also a one-man show with Cole Francis of Narragansett going wire-to-wire. He ran 15:38.6 at Great American for his season's best and had no trouble cruising a 16:09.57 for the win.
Second was Westerly's Noah Roberts in 16:58.19 while Arthur Ferris of Burrillville ran 16:59.66 for third.
The team battle saw Noah Vanhorn and Alex Ramos of Saint Raphael's place 5-6, and help lead the way for a win over South Kingstown 46 to 78.
| Place | Team | Points | Scorers | Times |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  St. Raphael Academy | 46 | 4+5+10+11+16 (19+26) | 0:56 1-5 Split | 17:48 Avg |
| 2 |  South Kingstown High School | 78 | 12+14+15+17+20 (28+30) | 0:34 1-5 Split | 18:16 Avg |
| 3 |  Burrillville High School | 83 | 2+6+21+22+32 (34+35) | 2:16 1-5 Split | 18:18 Avg |
| 4 |  Moses Brown School | 140 | 7+18+25+40+50 (61+68) | 2:25 1-5 Split | 18:57 Avg |
| 5 |  The Prout School | 145 | 8+23+29+39+46 (49+58) | 2:13 1-5 Split | 19:04 Avg |
JV State's - Full Results
In the JV race, Bishop Hendricken went 1-2-3 with freshmen Shepherd Butler winning in a 16:55.47 while Aaron Stockford and Evan Presbrey ran 17:29.37 and 17:34.59.
This led Hendricken to win the team battle 31 to 51 over Barrington.
Look Ahead
Next week is the RIIL State Cross Country Championships where favorites Marshall Vernon and Sean Gray will match up once again, and Hendricken looks to continue their dominance with a 4th straight win at the RIIL Cross Country State Meet.