FABULOUS FOLCO
Woonsocket senior accrues pair of second-place finishes as Novans have banner day at PCTA
PROVIDENCE – Before the start of Saturday afternoon’s R.I. Interscholastic Indoor Track & Field Championships inside the Providence Career & Technical Academy fieldhouse, veteran Woonsocket High mentor George Briggs had hoped his boys’ squad would notch a sixth- or seventh-place overall finish.
Depending on one’s vantage point, his Villa Novans did him either one or two better, gleaning fifth with 30 points. They finished only three behind third-place Central, and trailed No. 4 North Kingstown (44) by an acceptable deficit of 14.
And, on the girls’ side, senior Alissiana Folco manufactured two stellar runner-up placements in the 55-meter hurdles (8.67) and long jump (17-0 ½) to help the WHS females knot South Kingstown for sixth with 20 points.
Why, then, did virtually every Novan but Briggs seem rather disenchanted – actually, just plain “bummed out” – with their performances?
Simple. Nearly all of them expected more from themselves.
“The quality of the boys’ and girls’ state meets has never been better in all the years I’ve coached,” noted the venerable chief.
“There are a lot of good teams out there, so I’m very pleased with how we did. A lot of the kids had personal bests, and we also had kids place very high in a lot of events.
“But Alissiana, I feel so bad for her (because) she had such high expectations,” he added of Folco. “She had the lead in the 55 hurdles until after the final hurdle, but a girl from Mount Hope (senior Meghan Oliver) out-leaned her at the line.
“Then, in the long jump, she tied for first with another girl (South Kingstown sophomore Chloe Greene) at 17-0 ½, but (Greene) won the tiebreaker because she had the better second jump. She had to settle for two very close runner-ups, so it’s understandable why she’s so upset.
“Still, she’s got the New Englands coming up (at Roxbury’s Reggie Lewis Center on March 2); I think that’s when she’ll avenge what happened here.”
Perhaps the happiest WHS representative on this day was sophomore Logan Coles, who captured second in the shot put with a PR heave of 54-4 ½, then took third in the 25-pound weight throw with a respectable toss of 67-9 ¾.
“The shot put was a PR by 3 ½ feet, so that’s awesome,” Coles explained after his final event. “I’m satisfied. As much as I don’t like to say it, or make excuses, I’m only a sophomore, so I think I surpassed what a lot of people thought I could do. I came in seeded third in both, so I improved by one spot in the shot and stayed the same in the weight. You have to be happy with that.
“There was also a lot of great competition.”
He referred to pal and Lincoln junior Kyle Moison, who nailed down both events with impressive distances, not to mention Cumberland senior Cole Hooper, who edged him for runner-up status in the 25-pound ball-andchain with a new school-record launch of 68-5.
(He broke Bobby Allen’s 1987 distance by three inches, according to CHS legendary mentor Tom Kenwood, who was right there to witness it).
“Obviously, we’re satisfied with Logan getting two All-State placements (all top-three finishers earn All-State laurels), especially in the shot with a 3 ½-foot PR,” WHS throws coach Marc Piette said. “It’s been a long road to get his rotation correct. He switched from the slide at the beginning of the season to the rotation because we felt it would increase his distances.
“Naturally, we tried to get PRs every week, but we went through some tough times, but he kept working at it. Slow but sure, he’d improve a couple of inches here and a couple more there. The theory, the goal, is to peak at the state meet, and he certainly did that in the shot.
“In the weight, we opened with a two-turn throw to play it conservative and make the finals; that’s when he threw his two-turn PR of 67-9 ¾,” he continued. “Once we knew he qualified for finals, we upped it to three turns, and he fouled on all five tosses. The good news is four of those would’ve been his best ones ever; one was at 74 and the other three at 71.
“That bodes well for the future.” Woonsocket senior Emmanuel Gomes, who helped lead his Novans to the Division II Super Bowl championship back in December, didn’t seem as thrilled Saturday after taking third in his 55 hurdles specialty (7.83, a PR by .08).
“I was trying to win, but it was a fast final,” the soft-spoken Gomes stated. “My goal coming in was to break 7.8, and that’s what won it, so I’m disappointed.”
Classmates Nick Iarussi and Hezekiah Adeyeye admitted the same after placing third and fourth in the high jump (6-0) and 300 dash (37.02), respectively.
“Not good,” Iarussi sighed of his leap. “I’ve been kind of stuck at six feet the last few meets, and I don’t know why. I jumped 6-4 at our last Northern Division (dual) meet, and haven’t come close since. I decided to jump less at practice to rest up my legs, but that didn’t work. It’s frustrating.”
Iarussi now hopes he can muster a jump of 6-4 ½ at the New England competition in two weeks; should he achieve that, he’d qualify for the National Interscholastic Indoor Championships at New York City’s The Armory two weeks after that.
Hooper registered the Clippers’ highest placement on the boys’ side, though the 4 x 800 relay quartet of senior captains Cole Cayer and Dan Collard and the sophomore tandem of Own Molis and Jorge Rocha grabbed fourth overall in 8:27.28.
In the 4 x 200 relay, the North Smithfield unit of senior L.J. Meriwether, juniors Dan Beauchemin and senior Xavier Croteau sneaked into the sixth spot with a superb clocking of 1:37.55, a season-best by a scant twotenths of a second.
When the foursome discovered that clocking would qualify that relay for the national meet, the kids naturally flipped.
“To be honest, we weren’t even going to run it because we didn’t think we’d place,” the captain Croteau said. “We were seeded 12th, so we weren’t going to try it, but we’re glad we did. It was my decision for us to compete because I wanted to give the younger guys the chance to experience competing in the state meet.
“That worked out really well.” While Folco seemed disgruntled with her two runner-ups, freshman Jahzarah Alexis expressed excitement about tying for fourth in the high jump (5-0) with Barrington junior Claire Grover.
“I’m extremely proud of myself because I’m at the Rhode Island State Championships (Saturday), and because I placed,” she said. “I initially didn’t want to come because I didn’t think I was going to be successful, but Coach Piette told me there wasn’t any reason I shouldn’t try, that I was the Freshman State champion, that I had already cleared 5-2 and I should be easily capable of clearing (the opening height of) 4-8.
“This really boosts my confidence,” she added. “I’ve always been very competitive, so – once I got here – my mindset was ‘I will not go home without a (top-six) medal, and I’m not going to. I was going to ignore anyone who said I couldn’t jump well and prove them wrong.”
Cumberland sophomore Nicolette Ducharme more or less felt the same way prior to her foray into the shot put, though she produced a solid hoist of 34-10 ½ to place fourth overall.
“It feels pretty good, considering I felt a lot of pressure beforehand. I think I was sixth before my last throw, then I passed two girls with that (distance of) 34-10 ½,” she offered. “I’m thrilled.”
Sophomore teammate Olivia Belt snagged sixth in the 1,000 (3:14.42), then combined with Elizabeth Pickering, Chloe Jacinto and Bailee Brown to earn fifth in the 4 x 800 relay (10:06.18).
Novans’ senior Marissa Henley managed sixth in the 20-pond weight toss (48-6 ½), while Mount St. Charles frosh Anna Giacobbe placed fifth in the 300 (43.47).
“That’s a PR by a half a second, so we’re very proud of Anna,” said coach Paul Jacques. “She did a great job of executing at the break line, and she was able to maintain her ground during the middle of the race. Her kick at the end propelled her to fifth, so she’s had an unbelievable freshman year, and she’s been a pleasant surprise all the way through with her consistency.
“She’s matured tremendously with her racing ability and technique since December.”
All top-six placements have the opportunity to attend the New England Championships.