Hawks soar to 29th-straight Class A crown
Journal file photoAndrew Palumbo
The Hendricken boys outdoor track team turned what their coach predicted would be a close meet into a runaway at the R.I. Interscholastic Class A Championship, on Saturday at North Kingstown High School.
The Hawks rolled to their 29th consecutive Class A title with 216 points, while second-place North Kingstown managed just 93 points and East Providence collected 77 for third.
Hendricken coach Jim Doyle, who thought the class meet would more closely resemble the tightly contested indoor state meet, attributes the lopsided outcome to some unforeseen performances further down the Hawks’ ranks.
Although he might have anticipated that All-Stater Andrew Palumbo would win the 800, which he did in 2:01.9; and that Tom Webb, another All-Stater, would capture the 3,000, which he did in 9:01; Doyle said he had not predicted some of the depth he received in a number of other events.
Click here to read about other key performances by the Hawks.
Journal file photoJoe Mazzulla
Hendricken went 1-2-3 in the javelin, beginning with John Carlone’s winning toss of 156 feet, 6 inches. Will Oberg followed at 153-1 and Justin Skory took third at 152-4.
In the pole vault, the Hawks’ Mike Lovely grabbed the gold with a vault of 12 feet. Hendricken received additional points from Nicholas Casbarro and Andrew Brosco, who finished third and fourth, respectively, both at 11 feet.
``When you think about it, we came out with 20 points in the pole vault and 24 in the javelin,’’ Doyle said. ``So you’re talking 44 points right there. That’s an awful lot of points.’’
Scott Capista also came through with a somewhat unexpected win in the high jump, clearing 5-10.
``Scott is a freshman and that was a (personal best), so that was kind of a big surprise for him,’’ Doyle said.
Joe Mazzulla also had a big day for Hendricken, winning the 400 in 51.2 seconds and anchoring two of the Hawks’ three winning relays _ the 4x100 (44.7) and the 4x400 (3:38.7).
North Kingstown secured second place with three gold medals: Joe Tiernan in the hammer (187-7), Alex Sherry in the 200 meters (23.0 seconds) and Brian Alexander in the 110-meter high hurdles (15.3).
Third-place East Providence also had three individual winners, with Simba Chidzero taking first in both the long jump (20-1) and the triple jump (39-10) and Elton Duarte taking the 300-meter intermediate hurdles in 41.1 seconds.