It was another pair of titles for Bishop Hendricken and La Salle Academy in the respective boys’ and girls’ competition at the Rhode Island Interscholastic League Indoor Track and Field Championships, but it was Andrew Springer that stole the show.
The nationally-ranked Westerly High senior capped off his final season on the indoor surface Sunday afternoon with three individual crowns, including record-breaking performances in the 3,000- and 1,500-meter runs and a near mark in the 1,000. For good measure, Springer also uncorked a sub-two minute effort for the Bulldogs’ second-place 4x800 squad.
“It doesn’t surprise me what he did,” Westerly coach Ryan Palmer said. “We train all of our runners to run three or four races a meet.”
In Springer’s case, his day’s work was not only superhuman-like, but it could go down as one of the finest performances ever by a R.I. athlete at the state level. He almost single-handedly led the Bulldogs to the indoor crown. The Warwick-based Hendricken squad earned its 15th straight championship, narrowly defeating Westerly, 83-75.
Springer, who is ranked No. 1 in the nation at 3,000 (8:27.21) and is No. 2 for the mile (4:09.16), demonstrated his outstanding kick in bringing home his “triple crown” on the 200-meter oval at the University of Rhode Island’s Mackal Field House.
Running a few strides behind East Greenwich junior Nick Ross for much of the 3,000, Springer took control with three laps remaining and won in a state-record time of 8:33.96. Ross finished second in 8:39.86 He was just under his best of 8:40.01, which was ranked No. 7 nationwide.
In the 1,500, Springer held of East Greenwich senior Mark Feigen en route to another state mark of 3:58.5. Feigen, another nationally-ranked runner, claimed the runner-up slot with an equally-strong 3:59.21 clocking. Springer put the appropriate close to the meet with an impressive victory over Ross in the 1,000, coming 1.3 seconds short of a meet record with his time of 2:32.0. Ross was timed in 2:34.0.
“It was kind of the first time I had four tough races on the same day,” said Springer, who ran 1:59 flat for his 800 split on the Bulldogs’ relay. “I just decided to keep confident the whole time and have my best race every time. I was just trying to get the win because we were kind of going for the state championship.”
In a tight battle with Westerly throughout the five-plus hour meet, Hendricken was able to take the lead for good with a 1-2 finish in the 600, the ninth of 13 events. Junior Ross Riordan claimed the prize with a time of 1:24.21, while senior teammate Alex Sakovits was second at 1:25.18. The Hawks solidified the crown when their quartet of Andy Bean, Mike Guadagno, Matt Racca and Riordan combined for a new state-record time of 3:30.14 in the 4x400 relay.
Hendricken’s Mike Gama improved on his best by nearly two inches in the 25-pound weight with a winning toss of 71 feet, 1 inch, a distance that ranks No. 4 in the country.
Other highlights among the boys included a record-setting performance by South Kingstown in the 4x800. The foursome of Kevin Carey, Conor McCloskey, Daniel McCloskey and Shawn Stadnick smashed the existing state mark by more than four seconds with their time of 8:05.58. Westerly was also under the old record (8:09.9) with its times of 8:09.67.
West Warwick’s Ken Olivieri was an impressive winner in the 300 with a fast time of 35.96 and Woonsocket’s Chris Penso leaped 6-6 to capture the high jump.
It was déjà vu for the La Salle girls, who won their third straight championship with a too-close-for-comfort 59-53 decision over runner-up Hope High. Depth prevailed for La Salle, which didn’t have an individual or relay victory in the entire meet.
The girls’ competition featured a pair of meet and state records. Hope claimed two of those marks from its relay squads. In the opening event of the meet, the Blue Waves’ quartet of Angie Quiah, Royal Cheatham, Lakeisha DaCruz and Jasmine Marrow copped the 4x200 with a state-record mark of 1:44.83. DaCruz, Quiah, Marrow and Mariah Sherritt concluded the day’s events by combining their efforts to win the 4x400 with a meet-record time of 4:03.71.
Barrington’s foursome of Sarah Barry, Emily Caesar, Bianca Jones-Peterson and Jen Wardyga set a meet record in taking the 4x800 with a 9:42.46 clocking. Coventry’s sensational senior Eryn Wheeler claimed her second straight title in the 600, dipping below her own meet record with a 1:34.08 effort, a time that ranks among the top 10 in the U.S.
Toll Gate sophomore Samantha Chace and Moses Brown senior Jenna Poggi were multiple victors in the meet. Chace took gold in the 1,000 (2:58.76) and the 1,500 (4:46.02). Poggi was the first to break the tape in the 55 high hurdles (8.44) and the 55 dash (7.35). She was also third in the 300 (42.34).
In an exciting race, East Providence senior Erin Carmone held off freshman Emily Papazian to win the 3,000 with a time of 10:31.3. Papazian was second at 10:32.78.
Rhode Island State Indoor Championships Results: Boys - Girls
Below are the performances entered for the meet that met the national silver standard.
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