BRINGING HOME THE GOLD
PROVIDENCE – Karlee Cournoyer is only a sophomore at Burrillville High, and she’s hardly ruggedly built, but she took her teammates and the R.I. Interscholastic League Outdoor Championships at Brown Stadium under Saturday afternoon’s cloudy, threatening skies by storm.
Her teammate and self-proclaimed “best friend,” senior Ethan Prario, had just watched Cournoyer capture the triple jump title with a spectacular leap of 36-6 ¼, then sprinted to the nearby makeshift tent to let the rest of the Broncos’ contingent know.
“Hey, Karlee won the triple! She actually won the triple!” he yelled, and the news quickly caught the attention of his friends. He then raced off to persuade Burrillville’s newest heroine to conduct an interview with the media.
She seemed almost embarrassed by the journalist’s request at first, but obliged.
“I don’t know how I did it, except all the girls over there (by the TJ runway) – the girls I was competing against – actually helped me out; they were so supportive,” Cournoyer explained. “One girl – I think her name was Sydni (Vesterholm), and she’s from South Kingstown – said to me, ‘We’re going to jump 36 (feet) right here,’ and that blew my mind, but she went out and jumped 36-2.
“I thought ‘Wow. OK,’ and followed her, and I went 36-1, but ended up winning it at 36-6 ½,” she continued. “That was my (lifetime-best) by two feet, two inches. I’m beyond stunned. I have no words to describe how this feels.”
When told she had just become the first Bronco ever to win a state outdoor track title, and that athletic director John Abbate and coach Samantha Stanton would honor her accomplishment with a banner to be hung in the school’s renowned domed gymnasium, her astonishment deepened.
“I don’t know what I’m feeling right now,” she chuckled.
All of that joy came after Cournoyer had laid down a solid leap of 17-0 ¾ to snag fourth in the long jump; it happened to be another best-ever distance by five-plus feet.
That meant, by her lonesome, she had racked up 14 of Burrillville’s 15 points, good enough to land in a 15thplace deadlock with East Providence.
When asked her response after the elated Bronco had claimed her first state crown, her mom simply stated, “Holy (cow).”
Offered kid sister and freshman Kara: “I’m so excited for her. She always seems to know what she wants, goes for it and gets it, but it also seems like she waits so long! She didn’t win it until her second jump of the finals.”
Unlike her teammate, BHS senior Sabrina Charron failed to win her specialty, the 1,500 meters, but her elation seemed just as deep as if she had won – she didn’t, placing sixth overall in 4:51.03.
“That was my PR by over five seconds, and I got a medal; I couldn’t be happier!” she said, grinning and laughing at the same time. “This is a dream come true. I woke up this morning thinking I would give it all I could, and – no matter what – I’d be happy. I thought if I gave it 110 percent, and I left it all on the track, how could I not be?
“This is my first-ever placement in the top six at states. I’m so excited.” she added. “I can’t believe I’m going to the New Englands next week (at the University of New Hampshire). I’ve never been before, so I’m really looking forward to it.”
She failed to duplicate her feat in the 3,000, finishing 16th overall in 11:26.48, but that didn’t matter to her.
It did, though, to Cumberland sophomore Adah Anderson, who seemed disappointed by her sixth-place finish at the longest event in high school track. She managed eighth overall in 10:56.69, but did outhustle Broncos’ junior Aliza Richard, who took 13th in 11:08.34.
Immediately after the grueling event, she trudged for a cup of water near the entrance and left the back gate to the track.
Sophomore teammate Victoria DeDonato had mixed emotions about her sixth in the javelin, which she sealed with a toss of 103-2, far off her best-ever distance of 108-2.
“I didn’t get near that here; I think it was nerves,” she explained. “I wanted desperately to go out and do a PR (Saturday), but I also wanted to place in the top six and get a medal. I did that, so that makes me very, very excited.
“Last year, I qualified for states and finished toward the bottom of the pack, so I’m pretty happy about this.”
For the Clippers, which finished 20th in the team standings with seven points, freshman Nicolette Ducharme mustered the highest finish with a third in the shot put (36-6 ¾). Central Falls placed just ahead of Cumberland with eight points, those courtesy of junior Dulcinea Burgo’s heave of 123-4.
That happened to be only 15 inches shy of junior champion Megan Albamonti of Westerly.
Lincoln High failed to land a single point, which was unusual given the talents of sophomore throwing standout Jackie Andrews and freshman harrier Riley Specht.
Andrews had a tough afternoon, as she took 13th in the hammer (140-10), eighth in the discus (96-11) and seventh in the shot (34-2), just eight-anda-half inches out of sixth.
Likewise, the Lions’ 4 x 800 relay quartet of sophomore Abby O’Hern, freshman Emily Ariza, snior Julia Heroux and Specht took ninth in 10:20.97.
Surprisingly, Woonsocket mustered only a pair of placements, as senior MaryAnnCarr tied for sixth in the high jump with Johnston frosh Brynn Roche (4-11) and classmate Katrina Kurowski did the same in the hammer (153-6).
“I was nine feet short of my previous best, and that bums me out a little because I wanted to break 165 (feet) for the first time,” she said. “Still, I also wanted to place top six, and I did it, so I’m excited now about going to the New Englands and nationals.”
Because Rhode Island is the only state in the region that sanctions the hammer toss as an official event, the “regular” New Englands slated for UNH on Saturday will not conduct it. Ergo, the hammer version of the regional will take place Tuesday afternoon at 4 at Mount Pleasant High.
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R.I. INTERSCHOLASTIC OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Brown University
Team standings – 1. Westerly 99; 2. Barrington 52; 3. (tie) La Salle, Classical 46; 5. North Kingstown 40.5; 6. Portsmouth 36; 7. South Kingston 34.5; 8. Bay View 28; 9. Moses Brown 26; 10. Pilgrim 20; 11. Smithfield 19; 12. Ponagnset 18; 13. West Warwick 17; 14. East Greenwich 16; 15. (tie) Burrillville, East Providence 15; 17. Prout 14; 18. Johnston 8.5; 19. Central Falls 8; 20. Cumberland 7; 21. Central 6; 22. Scituate, Narragansett, Toll Gate 4; 25. Woonsocket 1.5; 26. (tie) Mount Hope, Mount Pleasant, Rogers, Wheeler 1.
Area placements
Triple jump – 1. Karlee Cournoyer (BURR) 36-6 ½; 8. Paige Fitzpatrick (MSC) 34-3 ½.
Long jump – 4. Cournoyer (BURR) 17-0 ¾.
100m dash – 8. Julia Kamp (MSC) 13.15.
400m – 9. Riley Specht (L) 1:01.09.
1,500m – 6. Sabrina Charron (BURR) 4:51.03; 7. Olivia Belt (CUMB) 4:53.50.
3,000m – 8. Adah Anderson (CUMB) 10:56.69. 100m high hurdles – 8. Alissiana Folco (W) 17.34. 300m low hurdles – 9. Fitzpatrick (MSC) 49.32. High jump – 6. (tie) MaryAnn Carr (W), Brynn Roche (J) 4-11.
Hammer throw – 6. Katrina Kurowski (W) 153-6; 9. Marissa Henley (W) 147-8.
Javelin – 2. Dulcinea Burgo (CF) 123-4; 6. Victoria DeDonato (CUMB) 108-1; 7. Sam Prario (BURR) 101-1. Shot put – 3. Nicolette Ducharme (CUMB) 36-6 ¾; 7. Jackie Andrews (L) 34-2.
Discus throw – 8. Andrews (L) 96-11.