Plenty of Blackstone Valley athletes have chance to win state titles

PAWTUCKET – The boys who make up the St. Raphael Academy indoor squad have accomplished a great deal already this winter, having captured the Northern Division regular-season dual-meet championship with an unblemished record as well as the Northern Division meet title.

The Saints may have placed second behind deep and talented Rogers at the Class C Championships a couple of weeks ago, but – according to head coach Chris Magill – his kids will be more than ready to compete when the R.I. Championships begin at noon Saturday at the Providence Career & Technical Academy fieldhouse.

“We finished seventh in the state last year, so we’d really like to place higher than that this time around,” Magill stated. “If we could climb into the top five, that would be icing on the cake, considering we’re such a small school. But it’s going to be close. We’re going to need some mild surprises, I think, for that to happen.

“The big thing at a state meet is to have kids who are seeded, say, seventh, eighth or eighth to have best times, heights or distances and sneak into the top six; that is, if you have a kid seeded fifth but he jumps up to third, that’s huge,” he added. “That’s how you rack up points.

“Obviously, the top three teams – like Hendricken and La Salle – they’re going to have a lot of top-three placements, but after those three (teams), the points really get spread out.”

Coaches from Woonsocket, Cumberland, Lincoln, Mount St. Charles and North Smithfield are looking for the same kind of thing from their boys and girls on Saturday – moving from unseeded status into fifth or sixth, or better.

The Blackstone Valley clubs won’t have many No. 1 seeds entering the meet, but there are a couple. Sophomore sensation Darius Kipyego will carry SRA’s hopes for individual victories, as he’s the favorite in both the 600 meters (1:22.16) and 1,000 (2:32.70), though he’s also ranked fifth in the 300 (36.79), just ahead of Villa Novan senior Hezekiah Adeyeye (36.89).

The only other one is Lincoln High junior Kyle Moison, the top- ranked boy in the shot put (59-11) and 25-pound weight throw (71-9 ½). In the put, Moison’s next closest competitors happen to be Rogers sophomore Ian Hall (51-7 ½) and Villa Novan sophomore and friendly rival Logan Coles (51-0).

In the weight toss, however, Moison’s lead over the No. 2 seed – Classical senior Jake Furland – is a mere 5 ½ inches.

Moison’s throwing coach, Brian Grant, explained his standout broke 71 feet for the first time ever last Thursday, Feb. 7, at the Melrose Games at The Armory in New York City.

“Two days later, we went to the ‘Last Chance Performance meet’ at PCTA, and he threw 71-9 ½; that’s how he got the top seed over Jacob,” Grant said. “That distance also pushed Kyle into third place nationwide in the weight.

“He’s never won a state title of any kind, and I know he’d love to; I’d like to see him do it, but I know his only focus is to improve those marks in both disciplines,” he continued. “We’re also not solely focusing on the state meet, as we’re also looking for this to be a stepping stone to the New Englands and nationals.”

Coles will carry No. 3 rankings into both the shot and weight throw (69-0 ¾), but an older teammate has Woonsocket’s lone No. 1 seed; that happens to be senior Emmanuel Gomes in the 55 hurdles (7.91).

His clocking is just .04 faster than second-seeded Barrington junior Walter Joaquim-Delpoio and .07 better than No. 3 Cam Allen, a senior from North Kingstown.

Gomes indicated on Wednesday night he’d love to help his 4x400 relay team (also consisting of Adeyeye, junior Gabe Guernon and sophomore Nasin Nash or senior Nick Iarussi) claw its way into the top six. The Novans are currently ranked eighth in 3:38.41.

Iarussi, by the way, holds the second seed in the high jump (6-4), two inches behind East Providence senior Exondus Barnes (6-6).

In other events where localites have a chance to score, SRA junior Jake Lamothe is seeded fifth in the 55 dash (6.65) and Shea junior Jaylen Smith eighth (6.67); SRA junior Nasavell Medeiros 10th in the 3,000 and 13th in the 1,000; Cumberland junior Noah Kell eighth in the 55 hurdles; Saints’ 11th-grader Braxton Fontaine ninth in the long jump (20-10 ½); Clippers’ senior Cole Hooper fifth in the weight (67-3); and CF senior Jonathan Acosta fifth in the shot (47-5 ¾).

The big news on the girls side: Lincoln junior Jackie Andrews, who has been sideline with a nagging knee injury, will compete in the put and 20-pound weight throw, Grant stated. She’s seeded sixth in the latter (49-9 ½), behind Woonsocket classmate Marissa Henley (fifth, 50-8 ½), and fourth in the former (37-0).

“In the shot, Jackie’s only one-quarter inch off of her sister Sam’s school mark, so I know she’s gunning for that,” Grant laughed. “She’s also really close in the weight. She had a little knee issue, so we gave her some time to rest up, but she’s been throwing for over a week now. She’s looking good.

“I’ll also have three more throwers competing at states; they are junior Allie Plante in the weight, senior Audrey Ogni in the shot and senior Jared Hemond in the weight.”

Not one Valley girl managed a No. 1 seed, though a pair of Novans came close. Senior Alissiana Folco is second in the 55 hurdles (8.81), just a tenth of a second behind West Warwick junior Virsavia Goretoy, and third in the long jump (17-3 ½). In that event, Folco is less than three inches behind top-seeded Goretoy, and – get this – ¾ behind second-ranked South Kingstown sophomore Chloe Greene.

Then there’s WHS frosh Jahzarah Alexis, who owns the second ranking in the high jump (5-2).

Among other girls with good chances to score: Mount St. Charles freshman Anna Giacobbe in the 55 dash (sixth seed, 7.54) and 300 (ninth); sophomore teammate Edie Tomka in the high jump (sixth); SRA sisters Faith and Christine Kizekai in the dash (eighth and 12th, respectively); Lincoln sophomore Riley Specht in the 600 (eighth); Cumberland sophomore Olivia Belt in the 1,000 and 1,500 (seventh in both); and SRA 10th-grader Rachael Mongeau in the 3,000 (seventh).

“On the girls side, I don’t think we scored any points last year, but we’ve had a lot of girls qualify for states this time around, and I think some of them are on the cusp of getting into the top six,” Magill said.