East Providence’s Ogunronbi wins boys’ long jump state title

Teodoro paces EPHS girls; locals aid LaSalle’s boys’ team win

Post Staff
Posted 2/18/18

PROVIDENCE — The East Providence High School contingent produced an individual winner Saturday afternoon, Feb. 17, in the annual state championship meet at the Providence Career and Tech …

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East Providence’s Ogunronbi wins boys’ long jump state title

Teodoro paces EPHS girls; locals aid LaSalle’s boys’ team win

Posted

PROVIDENCE — The East Providence High School contingent produced an individual winner Saturday afternoon, Feb. 17, in the annual state championship indoor track and field meet at the Providence Career and Tech Academy Fieldhouse as Clinton Ogunronbi took home first place in the boys’ long jump.
The junior two-sport athlete, he also plays a significant role in the winter on the EPHS boys’ basketball team, edged out North Kingstown senior Andrew Whitney for the individual victory. Ogunronbi covered 21 feet, 9.5 inches with his best effort of the day. Whitney’s longest leap was 21’7.”
“Clinton did everything I asked him to do juggling two sports. He responded well to the coaching he was given,” said EPHS boys’ head coach Bob Lyons. “In the limited time we had together during the season due to his basketball commitment, I worked on getting him to run taller on his approach, hitting the board firm while not reaching, and having full speed on his approach without rushing his approach. He was very confident the day of the meet and five of his eight jumps the day of the state meet were in excess of 21 feet.”
The top four jumpers were actually very close. Woonsocket senior Joshua Correia was third with a 21’4.5 while East Greenwich senior Connor Sheridan was fourth at 21’2.5.” Two more seniors rounded out the scorers in the competition as Manee Castillo of St. Raphael was fifth with a 20’10.5” and Cumberland’s Chris Choquette was sixth with a 20’9.25.”
The 10 points Ogunronbi earned for finishing first accounted for all of the Townies’ scoring Saturday, leaving the locals in a share of 14th place in the final team standings with Toll Gate and Mt. Pleasant.
“He is an athletic ‘freak’ and I mean that in the best sense of the word. He is starting to mature, realizing how special he can be if he works hard every day. His jumps still need a great deal of work from a technical standpoint so it is scary to imagine how good he can be,” Lyons added of Ogunronbi, whom he also instructed as a teacher at Riverside Middle School. “I was very happy for Clinton, he was my student in sixth grade and we have always gotten along well. Hopefully he works hard in the spring (for the outdoor track season) moving forward and reaches his full potential. He has a chance to be special and a multiple state champion.”
LaSalle Academy claimed both of the team state titles Saturday.
Team notes
The Rams won their fourth boys’ championship in the last five years by scoring 70 points to Hendricken’s 56. The Hawks were the defending champs. Classical placed third with 40 points.
City resident Sam Medeiros, a senior at LaSalle, aided the Rams’ cause, running a leg of their 4x400-meter relay team that placed second in 3 minutes, 31.96 seconds. Hope won the race in 3:29.77. Of note as well locally, sophomore Max Dimuccio of Seekonk won the boys’ 3,000 for LaSalle in 8:53.68 and was also fourth in both the 1,500 and 1,000 races with times of 4:11.10 and 2:40.71, respectively.
On the girls’ side, LaSalle claimed at least a share of its 12th consecutive title and 11th in a row outright in compiling 74 points. Only a share of the championship with Classical in 2013 has interrupted the Rams’ streak.
Westerly was second with 60 and Barrington third with 56. Among the locals, Bay View finished sixth with 22 points and East Providence 15th with nine.
Girls’ results
Townies’ sophomore Haley Teodoro entered the meet among the favorites to win the girls’ high jump and she nearly came away with the top prize in a very competitive event. West Warwick junior Deanna Maynard claimed the high jump title on attempts, clearing the same 5-foot height earlier in the competition than either Teodoro or Barrington sophomore Adeline Quas. Maynard collected the title and the 10 first-place points. Teodoro and Quas settled for a share of second and earned seven points apiece for their teams. Classical senior Bolu Taiwo, likewise, earned fourth on attempts, jumping 4’10.” Prout junior Pilar Beccar-Varela and Classical senior Margaret Walker shared fifth, clearing the same height.
Junior Hasna Badji accounted for the other EPHS points, finishing fifth in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 9.13. Tereza Bolibruch of North Kingstown won the event in 8.42. West Warwick’s Virsavia Goretoy was second in 8.81. Abigail Creamer of LaSalle followed in third at 8.87 and Woonsocket’s Alissiana Folco was fourth in 9.13. Bay View junior Olivia Granatiero rounded out the scorers in sixth at 9.2.
Junior Aliya Barrows, second in the 600 meters with a 1:38.56, and senior Noelya Delacruz, runner-up in the shotput with a throw of 37’11.25,” were the top solo performers for Bay View as each earned eight points. Prout junior Sarah Mitchell won the shot with a best toss of 39’4.5” and Portsmouth junior Nikki Merrill won the 600 in 1:37.37.
Barrows, Caitlyn Murphy, Olivia Granatiero and Hanna O'Connor added four points for Bay View with their fourth-place finish in the 4x400 relay with a time of 4:13.59. Westerly won the event in 4:06.96. The Bengals’ other point came from the team of Barrows, O’Connor, Granatiero and Isabella Kopech that ran sixth in the 4x200 relay with a 1:49.9. LaSalle won the event in 1:47.42.
The top six finishers in their events at states qualify to participate in the 31st annual New England Indoor Track and Field Championships scheduled for Saturday, March 3, at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Boston.

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