Ducharme rose to the top
Cumberland native is shot put state champion
The recently-completed indoor season bore witness to Nicolette Ducharme’s rise as queen of the R.I. high school girls’ shot put community.
Her ascension to the top spot is proof of what can transpire if you truly devote yourself to the desired craft. On the strength of capturing her first state championship in the shot put, Ducharme made it the easy of easiest calls for MVP of the Call/Times Girls’ Indoor Track & Field team. A senior at Cumberland High, Ducharme will add to her throwing legacy when she heads to Brown University in the fall.
“I’ve always been invested in track, but between last year and this year, it’s been more than ever. I want to know everything,” said Ducharme, whose state-meet throw of 39 feet, 6.75 inches proved to be the winning ticket. “It’s super meaningful after getting into the sport this heavily to come through and actually be successful.”
In addition to winning the shot put – an event she placed third in during the 2020 indoor state meet – Ducharme placed second in the 20-pound weight throw with a school-record distance of 50 feet, 8.25 inches. She wound up scoring 18 of Cumberland’s state-meet point total (26).
There was pressure on Ducharme to perform at a high level. She entered the state meet as the top-seeded thrower in the shot put, a claim backed by the near six-foot average she owned when comparing her output to the rest of the field.
The gap between first and second was even greater on Feb. 14 when Ducharme won the Girls’ Large Division shot put with a toss of 39 feet, 2 inches. The next highest mark was 31 feet, 1.5 inches.
Given her dominance, the only lingering question that Ducharme needed to tie up revolved around how much distance she would place between herself and the runner-up.
To her credit, Ducharme never armed herself with an attitude that she was head and shoulders above everyone else. During meets, she routinely cheered for her fellow competitors, knowing full well that their success would provide the fuel to keep striving and achieving.
“Depending on the person, being at the top can be a great thing or a horrible thing. If you’re cocky, being at the top is virtually useless,” said Ducharme, “but if you’re at the top and motivate other people to be better … I hope it’s motivation because I root for them, too. I want them to be able to do it when I’m not physically around anymore.”
Growing up, Ducharme participated in dance. Looking back at the road she traveled on her way to becoming a state champ, she’s sure glad the freshman version of herself picked up a shot put.
“Everyone talks about being a state champion in something. People say, ‘Oh, wow. You must be really good.’ It’s the result of a huge amount of hard work and shows that it does pay off,” said Ducharme. “Things came naturally to me during the first few practices [of her ninth-grade season], but seeing
I had potential, it drove me even more to want to be at the top.”
A member of Cumberland’s girls’ volleyball team that opens up Friday night at Mount St. Charles, Ducharme knows there’s no rest when it comes to making sure her throwing technique remains in fine working order. Once or twice a week, she’ll head outside with an eye towards building off what has already been accomplished when the spring outdoor track season begins in early May.
By accomplished, we’re talking about her newfound status as the queen of the state’s indoor shot put circuit.
“I knew I could be a state champion. That was always the goal.
That is what I was aiming for during my senior year,” she said.
Ducharme experienced massive success as a shot put thrower this season, so much so she that was selected the Most Valuable Athlete of the 2021 Call/Times All-Area Girls Indoor Track team.
That isn’t to say several other girls around northern Rhode Island didn’t do the same in their respective specialties. They did, and that’s why the remaining members of this squad will be highlighted here.
These honors are well-deserved. Read on for thumbnail sketches on each of the honorees that are arranged alphabetically.
Earned Second-Team All-State honors after finishing runner-up to Ducharme in the shot put at last month’s state meet. Chartier’s toss of 35 feet, 6 inches shattered her previous best mark by over six feet. Also at states, Chartier took third in the weight throw (50-1.75).
Abby Gill, senior Lincoln
Gill went from placing second in the 55-meter hurdles in the Medium Division meet (9.55 seconds) to earning a sixth-place in the 55-meter hurdles at states (9.36 seconds).
Rachael Mongeau, senior St. Raphael
Mongeau’s status as one of the top long-distance performers in Saints’ history was further cemented when she placed third in the state meet’s highly-competitive 3,000-meter race. Her time of 10:38.53 is evidence that the Monmouth University-bound runner left it all out there, as she established a school record. At the Small Division meet, Mongeau netted 26 points as she defended her title in the 3,000 meters with a time of 10:48.01 and picked up second places in the 1,000 in 3:21.44 and 1,500 in 5:15.31.
Lucy Noris, junior Blackstone Valley Prep
How’s this for year-to-year improvement? Compared to the 2020 state meet, Noris as a 2021 participant in the 3,000 wound up shaving exactly 10 seconds off her time. She clocked in at 10:40.11, good for fourth place. Additionally, Noris registered a second-place finish in the 3,000 at the Small Division meet (10:52.92).
Riley Specht, senior Lincoln
The Central Connecticut-bound Specht earned points for the Lions at the state meet with her fifthplace finish in the 600 (1:43.15). The time she registered at states marked a six-second improvement from the 1:49.80 that earned her fifth place at the Medium Division meet.
4x800 – Cumberland
(Olivia Belt, Grace Carr, Bailee Brown, Liz Pickering) Three seniors – Belt, Brown, Pickering – teamed up with the sophomore Carr to help the Clippers earn Second-Team All-State honors in said relay event at the state meet. They picked up eight points after posting a time of 9:58.13 – good for second place.