It was a record-setting day for some Mt. Hope High School indoor track and field athletes who participated in the World Trophies Invitational held Saturday, Jan. 11, at the Providence Career and Tech …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
Please log in to continue |
Register to post eventsIf you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here. Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content. |
Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.
It was a record-setting few days for some Mt. Hope High School indoor track and field athletes as three existing standards were broken by two individuals and a relay quartet.
The noteworthy performances began in the World Trophies Invitational held Saturday, Jan. 11, at the Providence Career and Tech Academy Fieldhouse. The competition is sponsored by the Providence-based trophy, plaque and banner company.
Both Lola Silva and Thea Jackson easily bettered the previous program mark in the girls' long jump event while finishing first and second, respectively.
Silva, a senior, now holds the new standard after winning the competition with a best leap of 18 feet, 2.75 inches. Jackson, a junior, was right behind her teammate as the runner-up with a distance of 18'1.25." Autumn Allen of The Wheeler School was a distant third at 17'10.25."
Silva and Jackson were also part of another, though a bit more obscure school record, as they were joined by Emma Goglia and Riley Hoffman in clocking a 38.63 in the 55 meter hurdles shuttle relay. The event is not regularly run during Rhode Island Interscholastic League regular season or championship level meets. Rather it's often run at invitationals or non-counting meets. Regardless, the quartet took three seconds off the previous best mark by a Mt. Hope entry.
Said Mt. Hope head coach Renae Cicchinelli, "Both Lola and Thea are great athletes to coach. You can give them direction and corrections and they are able to make the adjustments.
Of their efforts in the long jump, she continued, "They have been stuck for a bit in the 17’s. We were able to get a hold of our high jump mats and bring them inside and they worked on some new drills before the last meet and I think it really made a difference."
Jackson continued her momentous efforts Monday night, Jan. 13, when the Huskies returned to regular season dual meet action back at the PCTA Fieldhouse.
The multi-talented, junior two-sport star broke two more Mt. Hope marks. She bettered her own record in the 55 meter dash and bettered the previous record in the 300 meters set over a decade ago.
Jackson's time in the 55 Monday, 7.22, was three 100ths of second faster than she in the event just last winter in 2024. She clocked a 43.2 seconds in the 300 earlier in the week. That time was nearly a full second faster than Nicole Rusin ran in 2011, 44.1.
Cicchinelli said of Jackson's recent performance on the track, "She just continues to chip away at the times, little by little, but consistent. It’s great to see. She has included weight training in her season and it’s definitely made an improvement."
Of significance as well from the World Trophies Invite, junior Jessica Deal finished first and second in a pair of distance events.
Deal won the girls' 1,000 meters in a time of 3:21.47, nearly three seconds better than the runner-up, Lilliana Prendergast of Cranston West (3:24.11). Deal was the second-place finisher (5:08.29) in the 1,500 to the winner, North Smithfield's Julia Dowling (4:56.74).
As well, Deal, Silva, Kendra Ascioli and Jasmine Kenney placed fifth in the 4x400 relay with a time of 4:50.23. Cranston West won the event with a 4:21.72.
In the boys' portion of the meet, Mt. Hope also picked up a victory as junior Jackson Cicchinelli clocked a new personal record time of 4:28.46 to take the top spot in the 1,500 meters. Juelz Harris of The Prout School was second at 4:28.7.
Cicchinelli also placed fourth in the 1,000 with a 2:55.15. Conor Fairbanks of Ponaganset won the event in 2:49.26.
In addition, the team of Tyler Scarborough, Gavin Stegall, Andy Charest and Jackson Lopes placed fifth in the boys' 4x4 relay with a time of 4:01.18. Hope High posted the winning time of 3:45.23.
Dylan Shaw chipped in a sixth-place result for the Huskies in the 3,000 meters with a time of 11:07.62. Cohen Brinker of Cranston East won the event in 9:45.11.