A New England showdown in North Carolina at the Great American XC Festival

CARY, N.C. _ The top boys and girls teams from Rhode Island performed well on the big stage last weekend in the Great American XC Festival that returned to North Carolina for the first time in four years.

The Bishop Hendricken High School boys, the number #1 ranked team in the state, had an impressive third place finish in the festival’s Race of Champions, while the Barrington girls (Photo by Mary Murphy) grabbed an 11th place finish. Hendricken, of Warwick, finished behind Brookwood (Ga.) High and Bishop Guertin High School of New Hampshire.

Guertin beat Hendricken by a mere point _ 149-150.

Just last week, Hendricken defeated Guertin by 3 points at the Manchester Invitiational at Derryfield Park in Manchester, NH.  Hendricken and Guertin are the two best teams in New England and both Catholic schools are nationally-ranked _ Hendricken, 26th and Guertin, 31st.

In North Carolina, Hendricken was led by Jake Sienko (Photo by Mary Murphy), the senior standout, who has become one of the nation’s top distance runners. He finished 3rd with a PR of 15:20 and beat Guertin’s top runner, Francis Hernandez, a Foot Locker finalist last year, who was 4th in 15:23.

In Manchester, Hernandez won the championship race on the difficult 5k course in 15:25; while Sienko was right behind him in 15:29. The next four scorers for Hendricken in North Carolina were Brian Doyle, 33rd, in 16:12; Ryan Meehan, 38th, in 16:20; Mike Mackenzie, 53rd, in 16:35; and Drew Manning, 55th, in 16:34.

The boys are expected to return to action this weekend at the Manhattan XC Invitational in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.

            On the girls’ side, the Barrington girls proved that they are among the elite teams on the East Coast. The girls’ field was the strongest in the history of the Great American with seven teams ranked among the Top 25 in the nation.

            Of the 127 girls who finished the race, 54 of them ran sub-19:45, the mark that https://www.milesplit.com uses to recognize a national elite runner.

            Barrington, which, like Hendricken has been ranked #1 in Rhode Island all season, was led by juniors Abigail Jones and Molly Malinowski. Both girls set PRs _ Jones, 19th overall, in 18:45; and Malinowski, 47th, in 19:24. Rounding out the scoring was Sarah Barry, 66th, in 19:59; Emily Siskind, 74th, in 20:16; and Emily Caesar, 87th, in 20:40.

            It was a very good week for the Lady Eagles. On Tuesday, they defeated rival LaSalle Academy of Providence, 23-33 to capture the Metropolitan Division crown for the second straight year. Barrington is 35-1 in dual meets over the past three years. The top three finishers for Barrington were Abigail Jones, 1st, in 19:30; Sarah Barry, 2nd, in 19:31; and Molly Malinowski, 4rd, in 19:47.

            The girls return to action on Saturday, Oct. 17 when they compete against a strong field in the Brown XC Invitiational in Goddard Memorial State Park in Warwick.