PROVIDENCE — A small East Providence High School boys’ outdoor track and field contingent managed to score a single point at the 2021 Rhode Island Interscholastic League State Championship Meet held at the refurbished Conley Stadium on the Mt. Pleasant High grounds Saturday, June 26.

The Townies picked up the point by finishing sixth in the 4x100 meter relay as the quartet of Adam Marschat, Yusef Abdullah, Justin Fiore and Elijah Owens clocked a time of 45.07 seconds. Bishop Hendricken won the event in 42.97, earning 10 points towards its eventual state championship team total of 119. LaSalle was a distant second in the team rankings with 64 points and North Smithfield third with 42.

Individually, a couple of EPHS seniors had close calls in their final varsity appearances, failing to either point of qualify for the finals in their events by narrow margins.

Efren Garcia placed eighth in the long jump, covering 19 feet, 1-1.5 inches. However, the day could have been a bit better for him had he not been called for a foul on one of his attempts, which wound up being over 20 feet and would have placed him inside the top four finishers.

Portsmouth’s Colby Fahrney won the state title with a distance of 20’11.” Salter Arms of Moses Brown was second at 20’9,” with Matt Steele of Hendricken third at 20’7.5.” Another Portsmouth athlete Sam Bielawa was fourth at 20’2.” Hendricken’s Andres Andujar was fifth at 19’11.75” and East Greenwich’s Andrew Mega in the sixth and final scoring position at 19’9.”

Owens, similarly, was tantalizingly near a point placement. He ran an 11.48 in the 100 meter qualifiers, but missed the final heat by .01 of a second. Franz Eliasson, of Rogers and who posted the top qualifying time as well, won the state title in 10.93. LaSalle’s Corey Monteiro, who earned the final qualifier spot ahead of Owens at 11.47, ran an 11.29 to also finish eighth in the final. LaSalle’s Jubril Bamgbala finished in the sixth and last scoring position in the final with a time of 11.12.

“My heart breaks for Elijah and Efren,” said EPHS coach Bob Lyons. “They came so close to placing and they put in so much extra work at night after school. I was really hoping they’d surprise and score. I feel real bad, I’ll miss those guys and was really hoping they’d go out on high note.”

Of note as well from the weekend, LaSalle won the girls’ team title with 105 followed by North Kingstown in second with 85 and Classical third with 66. No EPHS females qualified for the state meet.

Bay View sophomore Suraily Sam finished sixth in the shot put (34 feet, 2 inches) to earn the lone point of the competition for the Bengals. Cumberland’s Nicolette Ducharme tookd the title with a throw of 42’3.” Fellow soph Francine Miller just missed pointing in the 400 meters, running eighth for the Bengals in 1:01.89. Prout’s Helene Cummings won the event in 58.40.

— East Providence Post and eastbayri.com staff photographer Rich Dionne shot the accompanying gallery of photos.