During the cross-country season, Molly Keating was rarely tested. The La Salle Academy senior won her third straight individual title last month by nearly 35 seconds.
When it comes to track, however, that’s when Keating has her toughest challenges.
Case in point: The annual R.I. Track Coaches Association Invitational, held inside the Providence Career and Technical Academy field house on Dec. 17.
In the featured race of the afternoon, the girls’ 1,500-meter run, Keating came up short in earning individual honors as senior teammate Madison Meehan captured the crown with a nation-leading time of 4 minutes, 46.2 seconds. Keating was a stride behind at 4:46.5. Third-place finisher, sophomore Maddy Berkson of Classical, also dipped under 4:50, running a time of 4:49.1.
Keating, who took just a week off from a grueling few months on the dirt trails, didn’t mind that she wasn’t wearing the gold medal at the finish, especially considering that it was her training partner that won the race.
I think it’s a lot of fun,” she said. “It’s cool because it’s not as much pressure having your teammate with you because you know you are both scoring for the team and we both want each other to do really well. It’s fun. It’s cool.”
For the early stages of the race the Boston University-bound Meehan, a star soccer player along with her twin sister MacKenzie, hung behind Keating in a tight pack of four runners that also included Berkson and North Kingstown’s Aisha McAdams (fourth, 4:56.0). With the slender Keating taking charge, the quartet hit the half-mile mark in 2:34.
Keating and Meehan soon broke from the pack. Meehan made her final surge with 100-meters remaining.
I just wanted to go the fastest that I possibly could,” said Meehan, a runner-up finisher in the 1,500 and the 1,000 at last year’s indoor state meet. ” I knew Molly would be pushing it. I just wanted to try and get out there.”
Keating, who owns a 4:37 best for the metric mile, was surprised by the finishing time. She certainly wasn’t complaining, though.
I was thinking 4:50, maybe a little bit slower than that,” she said. “I am very surprised that it went that well.”
The versatile Berkson’s work wasn’t finished at the six-plus hour meet that attracted teams from all over the state. The gifted tenth-grader, the reigning 1,500 indoor titlist, placed second in the 1,000 (3:06.6) and copped the long jump with a near R.I. record of 19 feet, ¼ inch. Berkson fell three inches short of eclipsing that state mark of 19-3 ¼ set by former Rogers’ star Pam Hughes at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships 26 years ago.
La Salle, the five-time defending state champions, took care of all the distance events. MacKenzie Meehan, who led the nation in scoring this year on the soccer field with 80 goals, won the 1,000 with a time of 3:06.2.
The Rams’ Caroline Falvey outdistanced Barrington’s Fiona Paine to break the tape in the 3,000. She crossed the line in 10:54.5, about 25 meters ahead of Paine, who was timed in 10:58.6.
In the boys’ competition, Classical senior Joe Velez highlighted the events by winning the 25-pound weight throw with a distance of 69-9¼. Bishop Hendricken’s Reuben Horace was second at 69-3¾. Velez came less than two feet shy of his all-time best of 71-5½, a meet record he set in winning last year’s indoor states.
Westerly senior Jeremy Octeau won the shot put with a heave of 56-2. He was a second-place finisher at the 2010-11 state championships. Coventry junior Larry Walker was the only double-winner in the boys’ events with victories in the high jump (6-2) and the long jump (21-11).
La Salle junior Tyneil Cooper claimed the 300 title in a hotly-contested race, winning with a time of 36.2. Four runners cracked 37 seconds. Hendricken junior Alex Perrault was second at 36.5.
After a year off from the indoor and outdoor surfaces due to an ankle injury, Lincoln junior Aaron Roseman set a school record by capturing the 55 dash in 6.4.
I am working twice as hard to make up for that lost time,” Roseman said. “I am hoping to set some records.”
Cumberland junior Trevor Crawley, a third-place finisher at the cross-country states, beat a talented field of Hendricken runners to take the 3,000 with a time of 9:04.1. Hawk sophomore Colin Tierney was second at 9:05.6. He was followed by freshman teammate Mike Potter in third with a time of 9:05.9. Hendricken also had the next two placements with Tyler Henesler finishing fourth (9:07.4) and Connor Doyle taking fifth (9:20.0).
They [Hendricken runners] helped me a lot,” Crawley said. “I knew they wanted to beat me and I didn’t want them to beat me.”