Lima leads Clippers
Cumberland is among stand-outs at track meet
PROVIDENCE – Josh Lima appeared to be right at home at the Providence Career & Technical Academy Fieldhouse on Monday night, despite the fact he was replacing a legend in recently-retired Cumberland High head coach Tom Kenwood.
Kenwood had yielded his post after 40-plus years of mentoring Cumberland’s cross-country, indoor track and outdoor track programs, and Lima seemed a tad uneasy but mostly confident in the new post.
“The transition’s been pretty easy for me because TK has done such a great job with this program over the decades,” he said before his Clippers’ Northern Division debut against Shea and Ponaganset. “Plus, with me being a teacher in the school, and the head football coach, and one of his assistants the last few years, that makes it easier.
“The kids know me, I know the kids and I know what to expect,” he added. “That familiarity only helps.”
You could tell the usual standouts were just as comfortable (though it didn’t hurt Kenwood was on hand officiating the high jumping competition), as senior Chris Choquette easily captured three individual events during Cumberland’s two triumphs over the Raiders (95-13) and the Chieftains (97-11) to move to 2-0.
Choquette controlled the 55-meter hurdles (7.90), the high jump (5-6) and long jump (20-1), while junior Cole Cayer took the 3,000 (9:44.59); senior Mark Coppolino the shot put (43-5); and junior Cole Hooper the 25-pound weight throw (51-3). Actually, Copppolino led a 1-3-3 sweep in the shot, with Tye Skeldon second and Hooper third; while Hooped did the same with the weight, courtesy of big throws by Jon Weigand and Coppolino.
CHS sophomore Camron Rivera thrilled new mentor Lima with a win in the 300 (40.88), exactly .01 faster than Clippers’ junior Nate Mello.
For the Raiders, who crushed Ponaganset, 42-25, junior Jaylen Smith flew to the win in the 55 dash (6.87), while senior Helton Delgado rolled to first in the 600 (1:34.83).
“We did pretty well,” stated SHS head coach Mike Goodson. “We’ve improved over the past two non-league meets, and we’re looking for more. Improvement should come; except for Smith and Delgado, everyone is new.”
Woonsocket utilized its quality and depth to notch three blowout victories over Tolman (94-10), Exeter/ West Greenwich (83.5-16.5) and Central Falls (77-32) on Monday evening.
The Villa Novans did so on the strength of the final five events. The 4x400 relay foursome of juniors Hezekiah Adeyeye and Nick Iarussi, not to mention seniors Josh Correia and Johnathan Upshur, coasted to first in 3:48.13, and Upshur nailed down the high jump (6-2) and long jump (20-2) while Iarussi finished second in the former and Correia the same in the latter.
It gets better. Frreshman Logan Coles (41-0 ½), junior Derin Paskanik (39-10 ¼) and classdmate Logan Burda (39-9 ¾) led a 1-2-3 sweep of the shot put, while Paskanik did the same in the 25-pound weight toss (51-1 ¾).
It should be noted Adeyeye chipped in a win in the 300 (38.17) and third in the 55 dash (7.10), while sophomore Eric Bedoya mustered first in the 1,000 (3:06.08) and runner-up in the 1,500 (4:45.86).
Actually, in that same race, Tolman senior Jose Viscaino assembled a superb outing and won in 4:44.70.
“He’s never run it before, so – yeah! – I’m pleased,” veteran mentor John Toth stated. “I have one kid on my team from last year, so the good news is, everyone’s doing a PR.”
Highlights for Central Falls, who went 2-1 in its inaugural competitions, came from sophomore Leo DaVeiga, who reigned in the 55 dash (6.72) and took third in the 300 (40.78); junior Adilson Gomes S. DaSilva, who took the 600 (1:33.15); and freshmen German Torres and Abdiel Soto, who earned second and third, respectively, in the 1,000.
“Our team isn’t built around anybody; it’s built around everybody because we need everyone to contribute,” noted CF head coach Ernest Fennell. “Leo went 6.72 in the 55, which isn’t bad, but it’s still so early in the season. We haven’t had a ton of practices; we’ve only had workouts in our corridors at school, running on tiled floors, so this is our first time on a track.
“Overall, though, I’m pleased, but there’s a lot more work to come.”
St. Raphael may be rather young with very few seniors, but it packed a wallop in a pair of Northern Division blowouts over Lincoln (7927) and Mount St. Charles (73-36).
The Saints started fast, with sophomores Jake Lamothe and Braxton Fontaine and junior James Coleman sweeping the 55 dash. As is in its history, SRA also controlled the middle distance and distance events.
Sophomore Nasavell Medeiros captured the 600 (1:32.38) and 1,500 (4:37.29), while junior Reilly Johnston achieved similar double-winner status in the 1,000 (2:53.03) and 3,000 (9:34.13).
Senior Bryce Gillis added a second in the 1,000 and third in the 3,000, and sophomore Adam Gomes the same in the 1,500.
“This was my first meet, and I felt perfect, which surprised me,” Medeiros said. “I’m happy with the 600 because that’s a good time this early, but I’ve gone a little faster in the 1,500. All I know is I have to work harder. I’m not worried about the future, only about the present. This was a good start, but I’m not satisfied, not even close.”
Saints’ senior Manee Castillo contributed triumphs in the 55 hurdles (9.19), high jump (5-4) and long jump (20-3) to help bolster the scoring.
It came of no surprise that senior captain Chris Ciullo paced the Mounties, who did post a 61-43 victory over the Lions. Ciullo snared the 300 in 40.02, just 1.33 ahead of runner-up Lamothe, then served on both of MSC’s winning relays.
In the 4 x 200, he teamed with Brad Plamondon, Josh Slaney and fellow captain Jake Lawrence to record a time of 1:41.32, then joined Pay Kumar, Jaden Lopes daSilva and Lawrence on the victorious 4 x 400 (4:04.27).
As is typical, Lincoln’s strengths continue to be in the throwing events. Junior Evan Grivers (the state outdoor javelin champion) took the top spot in the shot put (44-1 ¾), followed by sophomore Kyle Moison and senior Garrett Doyle, while Doyle reigned in the weight throw (65-5 ¾) ahead of Grivers and senior Matt Thibaudeau.
“Garrett had a two-foot PR and Evan had a PR by a foot in the weight, so that was a real good start for them,” offered throwers’ coach Brian Grant afterward. “We were hoping they’d be close to their personal-best distances from last year, but most of them surpassed it. It’s just what we were hoping for.
“It’s nice because I have so many kids this year, if one or two guys are sick, I can plug another one in and there’s little to no drop off. I just call on the next one up.”