McClure, Broncos win
Burrillville claims three of the top four spots
BURRILLVILLE — For the first time in the 11-year history of the Skee Carter Bronco Invitational, the boys individual and team titles are staying home.
Competing against a field which included Northern Division powerhouses Cumberland, Lincoln and Smithfield, along with Southern Division talent South Kingstown, the Broncos simply overwhelmed the deep field with talented top-end runners and strong back-end depth.
Bronco junior A.J. McClure claimed the individual title in a time of 16 minutes, 27 seconds and he was followed six seconds later by classmate Tommy Ames. Senior Cam Charron, who was in third place for most of the race, finished fourth in 16:42 and Mitchell Dailey was ninth to lead the Broncos to an impressive 48-71 victory over Smithfield at Burrillville Middle School.
“It’s pretty fun, it’s awesome,” McClure said about going wire-to-wire to win the race. “It feels awesome for us to win this as a team, especially to have Cam and Tom up there with me. We ran awesome as a team. We’ve run against these teams a couple of times this year, so we wanted to push out early and break away.”
“It feels amazing,” Ames said. “I wanted to make states as a team. Going into states as junior and running sub 16:40 is amazing.”
“This is really good,” Burrillville boys and girls coach Sam Stanton said. “The boys program has really been built up over the last few years going from 12 guys to 33 guys and being about to compete at this level makes it worth it for them. We told them this was there chance to show everyone what they have going into next week, so we wanted them to go for it.”
The Broncos finished in a three-way tie with the Sentinels and Clippers for second place in the Northern Division, but neither team could match the Broncos’ speed Thursday. Lincoln, led by Evan Thompson’s fifthplace finish, claimed third place with 81 points. Thompson, a senior, completed the course in 16:48.
“My goal today was to beat Smithfield and pass as many Smithfield kids as I could today,” said Thompson, who finished 10 seconds behind Smithfield’s Alec Devine. “Lincoln and Smithfield are pretty close rivals and we have similar skill levels, so beating them was a success.”
Cumberland ended up in fifth with 114 points, but the Clippers were without the services of their top two runners. Dan Collard, who would’ve been competing for a top-3 position, suffered a leg injury during the race and ended up as the seventh Clipper to cross the finish line.
As it was, talented freshman Owen Molis was the top Clipper in 13th place in a time of 17:35. Fellow freshman Brendan Johnson finished 15th and junior Mike Swerdlow was 19th in 17:48.
“More than half the kids had personal-best times,” said veteran Cumberland coach Tom Kenwood. “We’ve already qualified for the state meet and our next goal is to qualify for New Englands, that’s going to be tough.”
North Smithfield, which is coached by Stanton’s sister, Arianna, finished eighth with 214 points, while fellow Blackstone Valley school Woonsocket was 11th with 367 points.
The day, however, belonged to the Broncos, who should contend for next week’s Class B title McClure, Ames and Charron set the pace in the first mile before the two juniors pulled away, leaving Charron to battle with Devine for third place.
Devine passed the senior inside the final 800 yards, but the change in positions did little to keep the Broncos from claiming the title. Burrillville’s fifth scorer was Cam Doherty (32nd) in 18:14. Teammate Chris Charron was a spot behind in 18:15.
“This is feels pretty good,” Cam Charron said. “We just wanted to stick together early, but A.J. went out hard really early. Me and [Ames] stuck together and worked hard all the way to the finish. Running this course every day is an advantage, but we put just as much work into this as the other teams do.”
Sam Stanton, a 2006 Burrillville graduate who ran for Skee Carter, was proud of the way her squad competed on senior day.
“We wanted the kids to enjoy it and run for coach Carter,” Stanton said. “They looked relaxed and they ran hard. We really didn’t have a game plan. I wanted them to enjoy their last home meet and run for PRs because they are fighting to be in the top seven for next weekend.”
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While the boys race was dominated by the Northern Division, the girls race belonged to South Kingstown and their Syracuse-bound star Elle Lawler. The reigning state champion was simply too good for the rest of the field, crossing the finish line in an impressive 17:33. Smithfield’s Una Treanor was second in 18:49.
Lawler and the Rebels defeated Southern Division rival Prout, 31-82, for the team title. North Smithfield was the top Blackstone Valley team with 177 points, while Mount St. Charles was sixth with 180. The hosts were eighth with 217 points.
The top local finisher was Victoria Thurley, a Prout sophomore who transferred from North Smithfield this year. Thurley finished seventh in 20:20.
“I was just trying to run the best I could,” Thurley said. “This meet was like a throw back because I ran this course a couple of times last year. I was just trying to run with the people I ran with here last year. It’s been a different year for me because I had to sit out the first two meets [per Interscholastic League transfer rules], so that set me back a little.”
Three seconds behind Thurley was Burrillville senior Sabrina Charron, who was running her final race at her home course. Charron set a new personal best in 20:23 to lead the way for an improving Broncos squad.
“This was really emotional for me because I’ve run this course hundreds of times,” Charron said. “I was a little emotional before the race because I realized this was my last race and I knew I needed to give it all I got. Once the race started, I just realized I had to go.”
Sam Stanton, who also coaches Charron in basketball and outdoor track, will miss her talented captain.
“She’s a great kid,” Stanton said. “I’m going to be really sad to see her go. She’s the glue of the team and the girls really look up to her. She’s all about the team and motivating the team to run well.”