ALL SAINTS’ DAY
Kipyego, McCann-Carter headline Boys’ Class C title for St. Raphael
PROVIDENCE — From the distance events to the field events to the sprints, it was a team effort of the highest order for the St. Raphael boys’ indoor track & field program.
“We had it all across the board,” proclaimed junior Devan Kipyego, his words coming as part of a special performance on an individual level that translated into a Class C title that officially laid to rest the heartache of last season’s crushing disqualification ruling that resulted in Smithfield taking the class meet.
“I told them a lot of things [before arriving at the Providence Career & Technical Academy fieldhouse on Saturday], but I let them know that I wanted redemption from last year. It was a tough pill to swallow for a lot of the guys here, especially the juniors and seniors coming back,” said SRA head coach Chris Magill. “We talked about everyone needing to step up, but this feels twice as nice.”
The 104 points scored by the Saints was the result of winning in the circle, winning in the jumps and of course winning on the track. All told, Magill saw his unit win a whopping eight events. Kipeygo set the pace by ruling the 1,000 (2:39.24), the 1,500 (4:06.35) and the 3,000 (9:23.72). Additionally, he was part of the meet’s top 4x400 relay unit (3:40.87).
“Overall, our team just showed up,” said Kipyego. “It was a Saints’ victory. I won’t forget this day any time soon.”
Fellow SRA junior Pedro Mayol lays claim to the No. 1 Class C performer in the 600 (1:26.70). Both he and Kipyego teamed up with junior Robert Littlejohn and senior Josh Farrell to produce a victory in the aforementioned relay.
The contributions from a pair of St. Raphael football teammates who are also members of the school’s basketball team proved just as instrumental in capturing Class C gold.
Looking to repeat in the high jump, junior Ethan McCann-Carter achieved his primary objective on the day by clearing six feet. The true cherry on top of the sundae came when he qualified for next month’s New Balance Nationals Indoor meet after jumping a school-record 22 feet to cop top honors in the long jump.
“I was thinking about it the whole week. I had been working on six feet the whole indoor season and I finally got it [Saturday],” said McCann-Carter. “My main thing was to try to get to nationals.”
Kipyego took time out of his busy day to offer some words of encouragement as McCann-Carter awaited his next turn in the long jump.
Devan is my guy,” said McCann-Carter. Added Kipyego, “Our team supports
each other.”
Fellow St. Raphael junior Moses Meus admitted that he doesn’t practice throwing the shot put as much as he would like. On the surface, it’s perfectly understable given the demanding nature of playing varsity basketball this time of year.
“I make sure to get some reps,” said Meus while crediting St. Raphael assistant coach Kerri Ramos. “She’s been great as far as technique.”
With that serving as the backdrop, Meus went out Saturday and won the shot put with his top throw of 41 feet, 11 inches coming on his fifth attempt.
“Coach Kerri working in the gym with those kids and developing them … up and down the lineup it was fantastic,” said Magill. “The kids came through in the clutch.”
North Smithfield senior Matthew Stamatelatos and Blackstone Valley Prep senior Lucy Noris were two additional individual headliners from the Class C meet. Noris established a pair of personal bests en route to winning the girls’ 1,000 (3:13.23) as well as the 1,500 (5:00.52). Stamatelatos also departed the PCTA with a pair of gold medals after capturing the 55-meter hurdles (7.92 seconds) and the 300 (37.18).
The SRA girls racked up 68 points to place second in the Class C standings with North Smithfield producing two first-place finishers in the same meet. Junior Jackie DeRondo claimed the high jump (4-10) while sophomore Bethany Marsella was tops in the 55 hurdles (9.21).
Lincoln High produced a pair of winners from the Class B meet. Rebounding nicely from a knee injury that sidelined him early on in the indoor season, junior Nathan Evans outlasted talented Classical senior Cooper Michaud to win the 1,500-meter run. Evans broke the tape in 4:08.38 with Michaud right behind at 4:08.48.
“Once I got back, I was really motivated to get faster. I want to break a few school records and that’s one thing I did [Saturday],” said Evans. “It was surprising that I beat [Michaud] but now I’ll have a lot of confidence going into the state meet.”
In the girls’ Class B weight throw, Lincoln junior Jillian Leahy blitzed the rest of the field with a season-best throw of 47-10¼ that was nearly five feet better than the second-place finisher.
“Just getting more practice throws with the weight,” said Lincoln throwing coach Adam Grant.