Magill proud of Saints
SRA produces first All-Americans in 3 decades
PAWTUCKET – When first-year St. Raphael Academy head coach Chris Magill attended the R.I. All-State Indoor Track & Field banquet at Warwick’s Crowne Plaza Hotel on Monday night, he had an ulterior motive.
Naturally, he was there to see some of his standouts be recognized for achieving AllState and All-Division laurels, but also to conduct a little investigation.
Two days before, he and his fastest, most heralded Saints trekked to New York City’s The Armory to compete in the New Balance National Championships, and the contingent returned with five individuals earning All-American status.
On Saturday, the SRA 1,600-meter Sprint Medley Relay quartet of juniors Braxton Fontaine, Jake Lamothe and Nasavell Medeiros and sophomore Darius Kipyego had hustled to a premier time of 3:31.62 to not only shatter the school record but also place fifth among the country’s best schoolboys.
Then, on Sunday, Kipyego – the 600-meter state champion – doubled his pleasure with a fourth at the 800 distance, courtesy of a stellar clocking of 1:53.43. With that time and placement, he claimed a second All-American laurel, not to mention the No. 1 ranking of any sophomore in that event in the U.S.
Athletic Director Ray Tanguay and other SRA sports officials believe this is the only time a Saint has collected multiple All-America honors in one meet.
“That’s one of the things I wanted to find out – when was the last time a Saints had made All-American?” Magill laughed after the fete. “I sat down with Coach Jim Doyle (former legendary Saints’ track mastermind now with Bishop Hendricken) at the banquet, and he told me that these kids were the first ones since 1989 to get (the) All-American (label).
“It’s been 30 years exactly, and that year, Neal and Andrew Butler both were All-American in the mile,” he added. “When Coach told me that, it didn’t surprise me because I ran with them. I was just a year younger, and I knew how good they were, but it’s really surprising it’s been that long.
“With both Darius and the relay, the scene was surreal. I fought back tears. When you’re at a huge meet like that and the scoreboard flashes one of your kids finished fourth or fifth, it’s amazing. Let’s put it this way: There were a lot of hugs going around. Everyone was so elated.”
You’d have thought that Magill would have known that history of the indoor track program, considering he was one of the program’s standouts prior to his 1990 graduation. In his career, he achieved six All-State accolades, including three in cross-country, two in the indoor 1,500 and one in the outdoor 1,500.
“Yeah, I should have known, but I don’t care about that,” he chuckled. “These kids worked so hard for this. We’d actually rent some practice time at Brown (the Margolies Athletic Center) a couple of times a week so they could get the necessary work in.”
It all started Saturday, when Fontaine and Lamothe (the state runner-up in the 55 dash) each ran 200-meter legs and combined for a split of 47.204. Medeiros followed with a PR 400 split of 52.375 before Kipyego brought it home with his specialty 800.
His time blew even Magill’s mind.
“He ended up running the second fastest 800 split of all five heats in a sizzling 1:52.033, which was unreal,” Magill gushed. “They were in the third heat, so after it, the boys were in first place but had to wait and watch to see what they would finish. After the fourth heat, we were in second, and it was at that point my assistants and I thought we had a chance.
“After the fifth and final heat was run and the results were posted on the scoreboard, we knew – All-American,” he added. “It was a huge record for the team, as the last time it ran that relay, they went 3:39.28 at the R.I. Classic in January at PCTA.
“The first three guys kept it close enough for Darius to do his job, and he went from last to first in his heat. That came in the Championship Section of the SMR.”
As for Kipyego in Sunday’s 800, he competed in the second of three heats, and Magill had informed him that, if he wanted to place in the top six and snag All-American laurels, he’d have to win his particular race.
Magill explained he was hardly thrilled with Kipyego’s opening “slow” 200 (28.240), but scorched his second lap in 27.862.
“We had talked previously about his third lap – that he needed to take the lead and push for home if he wanted any chance to achieve a good time and win his heat – and he did just that,” the coach stated. “He ran it in 28.611 … and fought off a ferocious kick by rival Conor Murphy (of Classical) to take the win on a lean at the tape.
“Darius ran a 28.712 last lap and beat Conor by only .03, but he had to wait over four hours if it would hold up (because the last heat was slated for 2:40 p.m.). After the final heat was completed, we saw that he finished b fourth, and that put the cap on an unbelievable sophomore (indoor season) for him. N
“The neat story was we actually broke the state record with that 3:31.62, which was a season best by almost eight seconds,” he mentioned. “The previous record belonged to Hendricken from back in 2017 (3:33.52), so we smoked it.