Little State, Big Results at the New England Championships

The La Salle Academy girls kicked off the 25^th annual New England Indoor Track & Field Championships by smashing a state record in the 4x800-meter relay.

That was just the opening act for the Rhode Island contingent that made its way to the March 2 meet.

Four-plus hours after the Rams made their mark with the country’s third fastest time - a sizzling 9 minutes, 7.28 seconds - Little Rhody took home six more gold medals from the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center. La Salle also earned individual triumphs from senior standouts Dakota Dailey-Harris in the high jump and Molly Keating with an eye-popping performance in the mile.

Chariho Regional claimed two crowns with senior Mike Marsella taking the two mile and also anchoring the Chargers’ first-place 4x800 team. A surprising win by sophomore Maddy Berkson in the 1,000 and another dominating victory by the Hope girls’ 4x200 squad added to R.I.’s productive night on the banked oval of the Robert McIntyre Track.

The La Salle foursome of senior Madison Meehan, junior Caitlin Marino, senior McKenzie Meehan and Keating crushed the state 4x800 record of 9:16.52, set by Westerly in 2006. It was a mark the Rams barely broke at the Yale Invitational back in January with their winning 9:16.7 clocking.

Rest appeared to do the trick.

“I think the two weeks off after the states kind of helped,” said La Salle coach Kelly Martin, whose talented squad also copped the team crown at the R.I. meet, held on Feb. 18. “It gave them plenty of time to rest and relax. They just stayed focused the last two weeks. We knew coming in we had to go for the win and for the record. They just went for it.”

Madison Meehan gave the Rams the lead from the start with a 2:16 opening leg. Marino was timed in 2:20 and McKenzie Meehan matched her twin sister’s effort with another 2:16. Keating provided the perfect ending, uncorking a 2:12 that began with her first 400 in 63 seconds.

“They are fierce competitors. They don’t like to lose,” Martin said. “That’s something you don’t find in too many athletes. They go out there and run their hardest every single time.”

“I was praying for a 9:12 and they exceeded my expectations,” she continued. “Never in a million years did I think they were going to crush it by nine seconds; to see that, it was really exciting and amazing to watch.”

Exciting and amazing were certainly two adjectives that would apply to Keating’s win in the mile where the Providence College-bound runner outkicked Maine’s Bethanie Brown with a nearly eight-second PB of 4:54.57. Brown became the first from the Pine Tree state to crack five minutes with a runner-up time of 4:56.35.  The Rams’ Madison Meehan was third at 4:59.78.

“To break five, it was just a matter of time before she got it,” said Martin, about Keating.  “To run 4:54, is absolutely amazing. It was just pure guts.”

Keating was in second for most of the race, just a stride behind Brown, a triple-winner at her state meet in the 1,000, mile and two mile. The duo, along with Meehan, hit the halfway point at 2:26 and was 3:43 at 1,200.

Keating made her decisive surge with 250 meters remaining, one that Brown could not respond. The slender distance ace was a bit surprised by her finishing time.

“I did not imagine that time,” she said. “My goal was to break five (minutes). I thought I would be pushing it with that. As soon as I saw my time, I was very excited.”

Keating admitted she felt comfortable trailing Brown for most of the race. Once she made her move for the title, one thing was on her mind.

“I really wanted to win,” she said. “I thought once I got in front of (Brown), I could keep the kick up.”

The Rams’ Dailey-Harris withstood some stiff competition in the vertical leap by clearing 5 feet, 9 inches. She beat a field that had the next three finishers all reach a height of 5-7.

Dailey-Harris, who established a state record of 5-10 at the R.I. championships two weeks ago, made all her attempts leading up to 5-9 on her first try.

“There was a great group of girls, some tough competition to win this,” she said. “I came in here knowing that I couldn’t take it lightly today.”

Dailey-Harris, who is tied for No. 2 in the country, is looking forward to competing in New York City at the New Balance Indoor Nationals next Saturday at the Armory.

“I am going to try and go for six feet there,” she said. “The girl in front of me (Georgia’s Kendell Williams) has already done 5-11. She’s going to be a great competitor. It’s going to be a great experience.”

Berkson, Classical’s versatile tenth-grader, copped the 1,000 by winning the unseeded heat going away. She improved on her best by seven seconds and was more than 2.5 ticks under the meet mark.

Berkson was motivated to excel after finishing a disappointing fifth a couple of weeks ago at the states, a race she was the defending titlist.

“I didn’t run a very good 1,000 at the state meet,” said Berkson, who was timed in 3:05.41 at the R.I. championships. “For the last two weeks, I have been kind of mentally preparing for more of a mental race since I was not in the best (heat). I was kind of ready for this and prepared mentally to run against the clock.”

The Chariho boys broke the meet record by more than two seconds in the 4x800 with the team of senior Dan Kilcoyne (1:59.91), junior Jake Kilcoyne (2:02.31), junior Bryce Kelley (1:56.01) and Marsella (1:52.75) combining for a time of 7:51.22.

“We have nicknamed them the four horsemen of Chariho,” said longtime coach Bill Habarek.” It’s a coach’s dream to have one of these kids. To have four at the same time is really something special. To have all four is unbelievable. It’s been a great ride for me as a coach. The best thing about it is they just feed off each other and they get energy from each other whether it’s training or in a meet.”

Marsella, who captured the New England title in cross country this past fall, added the two mile to his individual regional accolades. The tall senior was in third place after the first mile (4:44) and took his first and last lead with 600 meters remaining. He ran his final 200 in 30 seconds.

The Hope 4x200 team of Royal Cheatham, Shyniece Sanders, Jarnae Roytster and Quashira McIntosh improved on their R.I. record set at the state meet by 2.32 seconds with a winning time of 1:41.88.