Memorable month for Rhode Island tracksters

In a recap that he provides for the Rhode Island Track & Field Coaches Association, former Journal sports writer Bob Leddy reflects on the recent accomplishments of some current and former Rhode Island tracksters:

SPRINGER KEEPS A COOL HEAD IN HIS MOST HIGH-PROFILE RACE
By BOB LEDDY
Falk Fund/RIT&FF Correspondent
16 March - - Some quick thoughts on Andrew Springer's incredible performance at the Nike Indoor Championships mile run.
First off, given this runner's modus operandi, it may not have been so incredible.
All indoor season, Springer has displayed not only good running form (sheer precision), but the uncanny ability to gauge his competition and his own body. This is a distance runner with a game plan: set an early pace, let others work to maintain the lead, then put the pedal down when it's propitious to do so.
This was made clear in Springer's split times en route to his winning mile performance of 4 minutes 8.47 seconds. (He broke his own R.I. state record in the process). Springer went through the first 400 meters in 1:01.4 seconds. His two middle quarter splits were 1:02.6 and 1:04.6. Then, holding down second place going into the bell lap, Springer clocked a final 400 split of 59.9. (It also shows the caliber of the lead pack at this meet.
Eighteen one-hundredths of a second separated Springer from second-place (4:08.61) Pat Mc Gregor, of Hoover, Ala., and third-place (4:08.65) Mac Fleet, of San Diego, Calif. (Fleet earlier in the season nipped Springer by 10 one-hundredths of a second at the Boston Indoor Games mile).
This was not the R.I. State Championships (as important as that event is). This was a national race before thousands at the Reggie Lewis track, against the best milers in the country, and Springer remained blinkered by his own strategy.
Over the years, Westerly High has produced some great distance runners - Emily Selvidio, Jamey Vetelino and Samantha Gawrych immediately come to mind. Andrew Springer represents the apogee of that success.

AROUND THE OVAL: Once again, congratulations to Moses Brown's Jenna Poggi. [On March 14 and 15,] the Quaker senior broke two state records - at two different meets! At the Nike Indoor Nationals in Boston, Poggi finished 11th in her heat of the girls' 60-meter dash. Her time of 7.90 seconds bettered the state-record time of 8.01, clocked by Hope's Laurenmaria Smith in 2007. The day before in New York at the National Scholastic Championships, Poggi cleared the pole vault bar at 3.66 meters (12 feet), bettering her own R.I. mark of 3.51 meters (11-6.50) . . . And to East Greenwich's Nick Ross, for breaking a state record in the boys' 5,000 meters. Ross placed fifth at the Nike meet in 15:13.13. The previous state record of 15:46.75 was set in 2007 by Lincoln's Jim Sylvestre. Kudos, also to the Westerly boys' DMR, which finished eighth in Boston with a state-record time of 10:16.79.

Some recent collegiate performances: At the Division I NCAA Nationals, UConn's (via Classical High) Victoria Flowers (herself a national prep champ in the weight throw) placed seventh with a distance of 20.11 meters (65 feet, 11 ¾ inches) . . . At the Division III Nationals, former La Salle - and Wheaton College - Erin Neville was third in the women's high jump: 1.67 meters (5-5 ¾) . . . Also at the NCAA Division III meet, Wheaton's (former Classical) Mickey Jusme was third in the women's triple jump. She traversed 11.98 meters (39-3 ¾).

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