PROVIDENCE — Two individual wins by city resident Jack Salisbury helped the LaSalle Academy boys capture the 2014 state indoor track and field team championship Saturday, Feb. 15, at the Providence Career & Tech Academy Field House.
Jack Salisbury closes in on his win in the 1,500 meter race Saturday for LaSalle in the state meet.
Salisbury won the 1,000 in a time of 2 minutes, 36.32 seconds, edging out North Kingstown’s Joseph Craven in second with a time of 2:36.63. Salisbury likewise dueled with teammate Dan Paiva in the 1,500, winning in 4:04.51. Paiva was the runner-up in 4:05.28.
Salisbury’s two victories mirrored those of LaSalle together on the afternoon. Not only did the boys win with 81 points, 12 better than second-place Classical, but the Rams were also the girls’ team titleists with 83 points, five better than Classical as well.
The championship was the first for the LaSalle boys in 43 years, but the 21st all time for the Rams. The girls’ title was the eighth in a row and all time for the Lady Rams. It was their seventh outright, having shared the championship a year ago with Classical.
Another note of city interest, LaSalle boys’ head coach Vin McGinn is also an East Providence native, having grown up in Rumford and attended St. Maragaret School and Church.
Locally, the East Providence boys mustered four points and the girls one to share 16th and 20th place, respectively, in the team standings.
Trystan Casey accounted for two of the Townies’ points on the boys’ side with his fifth-place effort in the long jump, covering 21 feet, 1.5 inches. Lee Moses of Hendricken won the event with a distance of 22’7.75.”
The E.P. quartet of Chris Santos, Alex Gorman, Ryan Vieira and Mike Monagle earned a point for their sixth-place run in the 4×800 meter relay, 8:33.65. LaSalle won the race in 8:11.7. The Townies’ other point also came in a relay, a sixth-place time of 1:36.13 by Jayden Chase, Ryan Williams, Casey and Al Duarte in the 4×200. Classical won the event in 1:33.82.
The relay is where the EPHS girls’ team picked up its point as the group including Sierra Cunningham, Rachael Finn, Tayla Carnevale and Kaitlyn Bellamy ran sixth in 1:51.48. Hope won the race in 1:46 flat.
One last girls’ note, former Gordon School student in city and Classical superstar Maddy Berkson ended her career in state meets with a few more wins, the senior running a leg of the Purple’s victorious 4×400 relay (4:04.55) while sweeping the distance races with victories in the 1,000 (2:56.85), the 1,500 (4:43.17) and the 3,000 (10:17.36).
The four point performance was slightly disappointing for the EPHS boys, that returned several key performers from last summer’s state outdoor title team.
“Trystan Casey jumped well and placed fifth in long jump. The 4×800 ran well, shaved six seconds off our best time this season and placed sixth. It was a bad day today but effort was great. I’m still proud of my team,” said E.P. boys’ head coach Bob Lyons, noting injuries to star sprinter Williams hindered his performance Saturday.
To view the complete results from the 2014 state indoor track and field meet click here…
— Photos by Richard W. Dionne Jr.
