The Smithfield High version of the Fabulous Five was back in action on Oct. 20 at the annual Bronco Invitational in Burrillville, R.I. The Sentinels’ quintet of Stephanie Mattson, Madison Saliba, Rebecca Meinertz, Caitlin Paredes and Analise England, a core of ninth-graders that led the school to the Northern Division title earlier this month, added another impressive performance to their resume at the statewide meet, held at Burrillville Middle School.
Mattson claimed the individual title and her other four classmates finished among the top 14 as the Sentinels easily took the team crown, defeating second-place Westerly, 40-71.
The next assault is the Class C Championship on Oct. 30 on Ponaganset’s covered-bridge trail.
“I told the girls, today is the day to get the body into race mode for the class meet,” Smithfield coach John Marchand said. “I felt it was important for us to get out and get really aggressive. I wanted them to know that they had to race today. Whatever happened, happened. Fortunately they followed direction and ran outstanding.”
Mattson held of Westerly sophomore Jackie Burr to earn her title, clocking a time of 19 minutes, 20.04 seconds to Burr’s time of 19:21.29 on the fast, five-kilometer layout. The Sentinels had two other runners crack 20 minutes with Saliba placing fifth with a time of 19:46.08 and Meinertz crossing the line at 19:54.12 for seventh. Paredes placed 13th in 20:37.67 and England was 14th in 20:56.32 to complete the scoring.
“Obviously, Stephanie’s finish was outstanding,” Marchand said. “To have three freshmen among the top seven in a meet like this is outstanding. I was very happy with Caitlin Parades’ effort. It was her best overall race that she’s run. She certainly has a lot of ability. She was fourth last year at the middle school states as an eighth-grader. We need her to keep doing what she did today. If she does that, it’s going to really help our team’s chances.”
Burr led for most of the race. She held a scant three-second cushion over Mattson and the rest of the chase pack with about a half-mile remaining.
Mattson was confident she was right where she needed to be.
“I was just trying to keep my pace,” she said. “When we started to pick it up, I knew I could get them.”
That opportunity came on the last 150-meter straightaway. Pulling even with Burr on the final incline, about a quarter-mile from the finish line, Mattson and Prout School sophomore Jessica Elliot turned the closing stages of the race into an all-out battle. Mattson seized control for the individual prize with one final surge the last 50 meters. Elliot placed third overall among the 153 finishers with a time of 19:23.19. Ponaganset junior Casey McGrath placed fourth at 19:34.89.
In the boys’ race, junior Trevor Crawley and his Cumberland High teammates ran away with the team championship with a convincing 39-76 verdict over runner-up Prout. The Clippers bunched their five scoring runners among the top 15, separated by a mere 1:19.
“The motivation was I shave my beard off if we have four guys under 17 (minutes),” said CHS coach Tom Kenwood. “They missed.”
But not by much.
Crawley was never seriously challenged in a gun-to-wire victory, posting a personal-best time of 16:02.01. The Clippers had two other harriers dip under 17 minutes with senior Matt Sutcliffe placing fifth with a time of 16:42.27 and senior Tom Fownes taking seventh at 16:53.82. Sophomore Kevin Seaver was the fourth finisher for the Blue and White, placing 11th overall in 17:09.40. He was followed by sophomore teammate Alex Southiere, who was 15th with a 17:21.25 clocking.
“They looked good,” Kenwood said. “Their confidence is high (for the upcoming class meet and state meet on Nov. 6), and we still have some runners that are trying to make the top seven (varsity).”
The race was missing some of the state’s best, including Chariho Regional and its nationally-ranked senior Mike Marsella and three-time defending state champion Bishop Hendricken. Crawley took advantage of their absence, bolting from the start of the race and never looking back. He was 5:08 at the mile mark and passed through two miles at 10:41.
At that point, Crawley held a 70-meter lead on the chase pack.
“I just didn’t want to go out slow,” said Crawley, who was second overall in the Varsity One race at the Brown University Northeast Championship on Oct. 15. “I just took off from the start. I expected people to go with me, but they didn’t.”
Smithfield junior Ryan Pagliaro was second in 16:25.67 and St. Raphael Academy senior Robert Parker was third with a time of 16:27.47. A total of 195 runners finished the race.
