NORTH SCITUATE — Jessica Deal was once again the individual standout among the Mt. Hope High School contingent at the 2024 Rhode Island Interscholastic League State Championship Cross Country Meets held Saturday, Nov. 2, at Ponaganset's Covered Bridge Trail.

As she did a year ago when a sophomore, Deal ran among the top 10 female finishers, last weekend the now junior clocking a time of 19 minutes, 14.03 seconds to place 10th and as well earn another spot on the All-State team this fall.

Third last season, this time around Pilgrim senior Keaney Bayha was the girls' individual champion with a winning time of 18:19.23 over the 3.1-mile/5,000-meter Covered Bridge Trail course.

North Kingstown sophomore Abigail Tighe was the runner-up last weekend, running an 18:28.96. Cumberland freshman Cecelia Ludwig was third in 18:40.06. Portsmouth's Allie Kaull led the East Bay contingent in fourth as the senior clocked an 18:40.34.

NK sophomore Lucy Stowe was fifth in 18:48.44 followed by Cumberland senior Kiley DeFusco in sixth at 18:50.03, teammate and junior Charli McCue in seventh in 19:00.05, St. Ray's soph Mackenzie Lickert eighth in 19:02.42 and Cumberland senior Rose Tuomisto just ahead of Deal in ninth in 19:05.52.

"Jessica was very happy with her time," MHHS girls' head coach Sue Rancourt said of Deal, who finished fifth last fall. "Her goal was to qualify for states and to make All-State."

Cumberland's fifth scorer, sophomore Anna Bianchi, ran 11th overall in 19:14.85, but counted as 10th in the standings leading the Clippers to the state title with an impressive 34 points.

NK was second with 84 and LaSalle third with 88. Barrington was sixth as a team led by Evelyn Lefort in 20th overall with a 19:30.99. Kaull and Portsmouth finished eighth with 297.

Deal led the Huskies to 10th place out of 18 teams with 298.

Sophomore Kara Pisasale paced the rest of the Mt. Hope scorers in 52nd overall with a 21:19.11. Senior Lucy O'Brien ran 58th in 21:39.12, sophomore Evelyn Towers 77th in 22:05.78 and junior Lillian DaSilveira 129th in 24:26.94.

Senior Sarah Bissonnette, 139th in 25:37.63, and junior Alyson Gomes, 146th in 26:12.46, also competed but did not score for the Huskies.

"I'm super proud of the team. We had four out of seven hit new PRs (personal records) and our average time as a team dropped by nearly a minute," Rancourt added. "So this was likely one of the best performances in terms of time (in school history) ever at states. So I couldn’t have asked for anything more from them."

On the boys' side, just as with the girls, Jackson Cicchinelli paced the Huskies, running 62nd overall in 17:39.60 as Mt. Hope finished 18th out of 18 teams who qualified for states.

LaSalle junior Marshall Vernon won the boys' solo title in 15:00.75 with Portsmouth junior standout Sean Gray second in 15:11.82

Hendricken sophomore Colby Flynn was third in 15:43.50, leading the Hawks to the team crown with 64 points. Hendricken placed its five scoring runners in the top 25 finishers.

East Greenwich was second 103 followed by LaSalle in third with 104. Barrington topped the East Bay entries in fourth with 108. Portsmouth was sixth with 156. The Huskies were 18th with 456.

The rest of the Mt. Hope scorers included junior Tyler Scarborough in 108th in 18:55.65 94 and classmate Andy Charest right behind in 109th in 18:59.35. Freshman Jacob Lopes was 119th in 19:15.92 and junior Gavin Stegall in 122nd in 19:17.02.

Running but not scoring for Mt. Hope were were junior Dylan Shaw in 135th in 20:10.93 and freshman Alexander Deal in 136th in 20:25.99.

"Myself and (assistant) Coach (Margaret) McCaffrey couldn’t be prouder of the work our team put in this year," MHHS boys' head coach Neale Ross said of his Huskies. "We met our goal of making it to the state championship meet. Most of our guys are returning next year so we intend to build off of our success this year."

The top six teams in each gender as well as any individual runners not part of those side who finished in the top 25 at state qualified for the 89th Annual New England Interscholastic Cross Country Championships Saturday, Nov. 9, at Wickham Park, Manchester, Conn.

Deal was the lone Husky to earn a berth at regionals, but is not participating due to a conflict with previously scheduled college visits.