Local notes from both boys' and girls' Class A and B Meets
NORTH SCITUATE — Their times not quite up to the lofty standards they’ve set so far this fall, the results put forth by the members of the Barrington High School girls’ cross country team were still more than enough to overwhelm the rest of the field as the Eagles defended their Class B Championship Halloween Saturday, Oct. 31, over the 3.1-mile Covered Bridge Trail on the grounds of Ponaganset High School.
(Updated, 7:48 p.m.) Officially, Barrington tallied an extremely low total of 24 points to far outdistance contenders Westerly (77 points), South Kingstown (90), Toll Gate (95) and Bay View (102) for the title.
Junior Abigail Jones was the individual winner of the race, contested in blustery conditions though benign temperature-wise for the time of the year. She paced the Eagles with a winning time of 19 minutes, 16 seconds. Barrington has actually won the last three Class B titles, stretching back to 2007.
Molly Malinowski led the rest of the Barrington contingent in fourth with a time of 19:59. Sarah Barry was next in, running fifth with a 20:43 followed right behind in sixth by Emily Siskind with a 20:56 and Emily Caesar in eighth with a 21:04. For good measure, the Eagles’ Alex August ran ninth in 21:11, though her time wasn’t needed in the overall team score.
“I thought collectively as a team we did very well. The weather didn’t affect us at all. This is awesome. You want this. You’ll take this in a heartbeat,” said BHS head coach Annmarie Marino. “Next week, we’re just going for it. The kids did what they needed to do today. The times may not have been ones to win a top state title, but I’m hoping they will next week.”
Next week, the Eagles return to the Covered Bridge Trail in search of their “Holy Grail” when they along with the rest of the qualifiers compete for the 2009 state title. It’s been about a decade and a half since Barrington hoisted the coveted trophy.
The Eagles have been seen all year as next in line to win the state championship. They’ll have to best rival LaSalle, however, to do so.
The Rams enter next week as the two-time defending champs and as winners of the Class A Championship Saturday. LaSalle tallied a likewise impressive 28 points in fending back the pack to claim its class crown. Molly Keating (first-place, 18:46) and Emily Papazian (second place, 19:34) went one-two for the Rams, who’s other scorers ran eighth, ninth and 12th overall and all under 21 minutes.
Barrington, to its credit, has been open all season about its intentions of making a serious run at LaSalle for the state title. To that end, the Eagles have participated in noted events the likes of the Great American Cross Country Festival in North Carolina as well as the Brown University Invitational in preparation.
Saturday’s class meet was third in the series of five races on which Barrington has focused. Next Sunday’s states and New Englands to follow conclude their aim.
“We talked today and we’ve already talked about it before, we’ve talked about our ‘Fab Five.’ The five races we pointed to to do well,” said Marino. “This was No. 3, but it wasn’t one of our best. Next week is another one of them, so we’re hoping we can run as well as we have in the others leading up to states.”
The 2009 Rhode Island Cross Country State Championship Meet takes place Sunday, Nov. 8, at Ponaganset High beginning with the girls’ race at 1:15 p.m. followed by the boys’ event at 2:15 p.m.
Also of note locally, East Providence resident Daria Braboy was the first Bay View runner to finish, placing 15th overall in 21:34. Meghan McMullen led the Mt. Hope contingent, placing 24th overall in 22:30. Jocelyn Kearns was Portsmouth's top finisher, running 30th overall in 23:36.
MORE NOTES
With a 10th-place finish, Brian McLaughlin paced the Barrington High School boys’ squad to a fourth-place team result as the Eagles participated in the Class A Championship Meet for the first time in recent memory Saturday.
McLaughlin clocked a 17:02 to led the locals. Tim Kazanjian was next in for Barrington, running 15th in 17:17. Cyrus Cousins ran 20th in 17:34 followed by Dylan Verner-Crist in 23rd in 17:42 and Chris Robertson in 45th in 18:49.
Of note as well from the boys’ event, East Providence High School’s Drew Barao qualified to compete at state individually with his 37th-place finish Saturday in 18:19.
A local product running for the LaSalle squad, Matt Mercurio helped the Rams finish as runners-up to perennial power Bishop Hendricken in the team race. Mercurio was the second LaSalle runner and ninth overall in 16:55.
Hendricken won the boys' Class A title with 25 points, including the overall first-place finisher Jake Sienko (16:08). LaSalle was second with 110 followed by North Kingstown and Barrington.
In the girls’ Class A Meet, Dehvan Hurley also qualified to compete individually to represent East Providence High School as the senior ran 21st overall 21:50.
In the boys' Class B Meet, North Providence's Alex Gallo was the individual winner in 17:14 and Lincoln High was the team champ with 80 points.
Of local interest, Portsmouth placed fourth with 106 points behind runner-up South Kingstown (83) and third-place North Providence (95). Nick Tyler paced the Patriots, running seventh overall in 18:17. Joey Maito was 19th overall in 18:52.
Andrew Reis led the Mt. Hope contingent in the race, finishing 21st overall in 19-flat.
Visit the Photo Gallery at eastbayri.com shortly for pictures from all three of Saturday’s Class Championship Meets.
For complete results from the Class Meet click the following link to the R.I. Coaches' website...
