on 02-08-2010 02:23

By STEVE MAZZONE

Sports writer

PROVIDENCE – Central Falls sophomore Steven Vasquez is used to double-duty in the winter months, competing for the school’s basketball team and as a high jumper for the track squad.
During the course of a day, it’s not uncommon for Vasquez to participate in both sports.
Prior to Saturday’s Class C Championship at the Providence Career and Technical Academy (PCTA) field house, the Warriors’ standout leaper was just a few hours removed from a grueling conditioning practice for the C.F. cagers. His legs were pretty shot, according to head coach Matt Kelly.
But that still didn’t stop Vasquez from snaring the overall prize and solidifying his status as the No. 1 seed for next weekend’s state championship.
Although he came an inch short from matching his personal-best height set last week in winning the Northern Division Championship, Vasquez still earned the individual title with a strong effort of 6 feet, 4 inches. Classical’s Frank Santos was second at 6-2.
Once the victory was assured, Vasquez had the bar raised to 6-6. In all three of his attempts, he cleared the height with his body, but couldn’t quite get his legs to follow.
“His legs were just shot,” Kelly said. “He was clearing it with his form, he just couldn’t get his legs over. We are going to try and see if he can have less basketball the next couple of days (so he can prepare for the state meet).”
Vasquez, a fourth-place finisher in last spring’s outdoor championship, has several worthy contenders when he attempts to claim his first state title. Kadeem Kushimo, the Class A titlist, has cleared 6-4 this season. Central’s Craig Amado has also done 6-4 and North Kingstown’s Mike Sphar and Santos have a best of 6-2.
Classical copped the team title in Saturday’s meet with 128 points. East Greenwich was second at 80 1/2. Central Falls was the top local school, taking fourth overall with 32 points. Shea was fifth at 29 1/2.
Along with Vasquez’s win, the Warriors also had an outstanding afternoon from sophomore Nico Danielson. Danielson had a pair of personal bests in placing second in the 25-pound weight throw (59-2 ¼) and third in the shot put (45-6 ½).
In the weight, Danielson fouled twice during the preliminaries and then uncorked his top throw in the finals. Kelly feels his thrower could finish among the elite in the event at the states. A handful of athletes have cracked the 60-foot mark.
“I talked to (weight) coach Nick Palazzo and he says Nico has been consistently throwing 60 feet in practice,” Kelly said. “Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to do that in any meets yet.”
Shea junior Fred Gobewole took home the only other individual triumph among area athletes in the two-hour meet. Just a week after winning the Northern Division meet, Gobewole broke the tape at the class championship with an identical time of 6.4. East Greenwich’s Mike Monti also finished at 6.4 to take second.
Gobewole ranks in the top 10 statewide and has only run the dash a few times this season. He's been training about three weeks since recovering from an injury suffered during the football season.
“We expect him to do very well in the states,” said Shea coach Mo Jackson.
The Raiders’ Benevido Santos placed in two events. He was fourth in the shot (44-4) and sixth in the weight (53-1 ¾).”
Gobewole and Santos have both qualified for the championship meet for Shea as well as the 4x800 relay squad of Jerry Murillo, Oliver Marroquin, Nilton Tavares and Porfiro Baez.
St. Raphael (seventh, 19 points) had a pair of second-place showings from Rich Casiello in the shot (49-8) and Robert Parker in the 3,000 (9:35.6).
Mount St. Charles (eighth, 18 points) had a busy day from Dan Appenfeller. The Mount senior placed third in the 1,500 (4:18.2), was fifth in the 1,000 (2:48.6) and ran a leg on the second-place 4x800 relay squad (9:08.0).
This Saturday’s state championships will begin at 10 a.m. at the PCTA field house.
***
Team standings - 1, Classical 128; 2, E. Greenwich 80.5; 3, Portsmouth 55; 4, Central Falls 32; 5, Shea 29.5; 6, Rogers 22; 7, St. Raphael 19; 8, Mt. St. Charles 18; 9, Wheeler 8; 10, Prov. Country Day 6.
Complete results
WT - 1, Tim Phok, Class., 61-11.75 (18.89 meters); 2, Nico Danielson, CF,
59-2.25 (18.04); 3, Gabe Winters, Class, 58-11.50 (17.97); 4, Mike Mulligan,
Rog, 58-7.25 (17.86); 5, Gustavo Reynoso, Class., 55-7.25 (16.94); 6,
Benvinido Santos, Shea, 53-1.75 (16.19).
SP - 1, Reynoso, Class., 51-4 (15.64); 2, Rich Casiello, SRA, 49-8 (15.13);
3, Danielson, CF, 45-6.50 (13.88); 4, Santos, Shea, 44-4 (13.51); 5, Andrew
Desousa, Ports. 43-5.50 (13.24); 6, Winters, Class., 41-8 (13.00).
HJ - 1, Steve Vasquez, CF, 6-4 (1.93); 2, Frank Santos, Class., 6-2 (1.87);
3, Monzel Coley, Rog., 5-10 (1.77); 4,  Christian Savage, Rog., 5-8 (1.72);
5, Nate Hurd, Rog., 5-6 (1.67); 6, Marcus  Sandoval, Ports. 5-4(1.62).
3000 - 1, Nick Ross, EG, 9:21.5; 2, Robert Parker, SRA, 9:35.6; 3, Matt
Cloherty, PCD, 9:44.2; 4,  Harry Feigen, EG, 9:50.2; 5, Scott Kulm, EG, 10:06.7; 6, Dave Molina, Class., 10:33.8.
1500 - 1, Ross, EG, 4:07.9; 2, John Corbett, Ports., 4:16.5; 3, Dan
Appenfeller, MSC, 4:18.2; 4, Mike Cooney, Class., 4:23.0; 5,  Zach Burkett, SRA, 4:27.3; 6, Ted Palumbo, EG, 4:28.5.
1000 - 1, Martin Gallogly, Class., 2:43.0; 2, Austin Schaefer, EG, 2:43.3; 
3, Nick Tyler, Ports., 2:44.4; 4, Chris Corbett, Ports., 2:47.4; 5,
Appenfeller,  MSC, 2:48.6; 6, Caleb Gladstone, EG, 2:52.0.
600 - 1, Jerrel Forbes, Class., 1:27.1; 2, Nick Codola, Wheeler, 1:27.3; 3,
Andy  Keene, EG, 1:28.7; 4, Luis Melendez, CF, 1:30.7; 5, RJ Wilkie, Ports.,
1:31.6; 6, Taylor Fagan, SRA 1:31.8.
300 - 1, Santos, Class., 37.5 (MR. OR: 37.9(h), 2000); 2, Allen Moise,
Class., 37.8; 3, Dylan Manning, EG, 39.1; 4, Spencer Gaye, Class., 39.1; 5, Dillon Danforth, EG, 39.2; 6, Emmanuel  Garcia, Shea, 39.2.
55m - 1, Fred Gobewole, Shea, 6.4; 2, Mike Monti, EG, 6.4; 3, Tyler
Oliveira, Ports., 6.6; 4, Santos, Class., 6.6; 5,  Garcia, Shea, 6.7; 6, Mack Murphey, Class., 6.8.
55mH - 1, Forbes, Class., 7.7; 2, Murphy, Class., 7.8; 3, Luke Chaves, Rog.,
8.6; 4, Gdunue Grimes, class., 8.7; 5, Eddy Millcette, Class., 9.0; 6,
Porfiro Baez, Shea, 9.0.
4x200 - 1, Portsmouth (Mello, Sandoval, Torres, Oliveira) 1:35.7; 2,
Classical, 1:36.0; 3, E. Greenwich, 1:36.8; 4, Shea, 1:38.0; 5, Mt. St. Charles, 1:45.8.
4x400 - 1, Portsmouth (Sandoval, Oliveira, Torres, Mello) 3:41.0; 2, E.
Greenwich, 3:47.9; 3, Classical, 3:53.0; 4, Central Falls 4:04.8; 5, Shea, 4:05.9.
4x800 - 1, E. Greenwich (Schaefer, Palumbo, Keene, Millman) 8:31.7 (MR. O:
8:34.6, 2000); 2, Mt. St. Charles 9:08.0; 3, Portsmouth 9:08.6; 4, Shea, 10:35.4.


BOSTON -- Seekonk High’s sprint medley relay team set a new school record on Sunday while winning its specialty at the Elite Relays meet.
“All of the top relay teams in the state were at the meet today,” Seekonk coach Matt McCartin said. “Our time was also the eighth fastest in the country this year.”
John Gregorek, Joe and Jacob Texeira and Casey O’Brien formed the winning relay team for Seekonk, which also won the distance medley event in this meet.
***
Mass. Elite Relays
at Reggie Lewis Center
Seekonk placements
Sprint medley -- 1. (John Gregorek, Joe Teixeira, Jacob Teixeira, Casey O’Brien) 3:35.46 (new school record, 8th fastest time in country)
4x200 relay -- 7. (Kevin Pomerleau, Joe Texeira, Jake Texeira, Casey O’Brien) 1:34.9
Distance medely -- 1. (John Gregorek, Ryan Brown, Mark Hafley, Cody Archambault) 11:09.7

pretty good showing, top relay teams, d-m old rochester in new rochester. matt mccartin.
 

on 02-08-2010 02:22

By TERRY NAU

Sports editor

Some things I think I think:
This is the week when we find out what kind of high school basketball towns Woonsocket and Pawtucket really are.  Woonsocket High’s girls team will host South Kingstown on Tuesday night in a battle of two unbeaten Division I powers.  On Friday night, Tolman will host Shea in a meeting of two Division II-North boys basketball leaders.
We already have seen how Woonsocket can stand behind a high school team. The 2007-08 boys team drew healthy crowds at home and took a good following on the road as the Villa Novans fell one basket short of winning the Division I state title.
At the same time, Woonsocket’s girls team was emerging as a Division II power. The Villa Novans, led by Brooke Coderre, Ashley DuBois and a deep squad of complementary teammates, won the Division II title in 2009 and then moved up to Division I without missing a beat.
“I’m expecting a good crowd,” Woonsocket coach George Coderre said. “There is a lot of interest in this game throughout the state. “
Tolman athletic director John Scanlon has already advised fans to “come early” for Friday’s matchup. With the fire limit of 602 fans, there could be a turnaway crowd for this meeting of two city teams having great seasons.
***
Cumberland’s wrestling team hosted its own “Meet of the Year” last Thursday night when unbeaten Warwick Veterans came to town. The crowd that night was estimated at 500 fans. Pretty good for a “niche” sport. One of the highlights of that competition came in the 119-pound bout when Cumberland coach Steve Gordon leaped out of his chair to give some advice to veteran wrestler Shoneil Lariviere.
The returning state champion smiled and made a motion with his hands, telling Gordon, in essence, “to calm down ... I’ve got this match is under control.” The Cumberland fans got a kick out of Shoneil’s relaxed attitude.
Gordon quickly realized what was going on and looked into the bleachers where the Cumberland fans were sitting. He smiled and waved his hands in the air, making fun of himself.
It’s good to have a few coaches around who can see the humor in a competitive sporting event, even with the outcome still in doubt. Gordon’s not the only one. But the club of self-deprecating coaches is pretty small.
***
The Penguins and the Capitals are to today’s NHL what the Celtics and Lakers were to the NBA in the 1980s. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson served as centerpieces as the NBA reshaped its image three decades ago. The same thing could be happening today with the NHL as Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin  revitalize a league that is battling to find an identity in  today’s crowded sports market.
***
Bill Belichick created a stir last week when he revealed the name of the Patriots’ new defensive coordinator – himself. Naturally, the radio sports talk shows focused on the wrong aspect of this development. The talking heads and their callers don’t think Belichick can make defensive calls during the game while also fulfilling all of his other duties as head coach – overseeing the offense and special teams, talking to the coaches upstairs, etc.
The problem for a head coach who also runs the defense comes in practice, not in games. The defensive coordinator should be fully focused on his unit during preseason and each week of the regular season. Belichick won’t be able to do that. He has other duties, too, like dealing with the media three of four times a week.
And that leads to the real problem with the Patriots. Very few players are getting better during the season. The team is not getting better during the season. That’s the fault of the coaching staff. Remember when Belichick got all weepy when Tedy Bruschi retired? Called him the “perfect player” and mentioned how “coachable” Bruschi was. The Pats don’t develop those kind of players anymore.
Tedy was the ultimate overachiever who personified those early New England Super Bowl teams. Somewhere along the way, the Patriots ‘ coaching staff lost its touch in finding and developing players who performed over the heads. The 2009 team was filled with classic underachievers, or players who found ways not to get their jobs done on each play. You can blame the players if you want. I figure some of the blame belongs to a coaching staff that has only gotten weaker since 2004.
Bill Belichick makes his own staff smaller and more desperate by naming himself defensive coordinator. He is already overworked after taking over some of the personnel duties done in the past by the departed Scott Pioli.
Belichick’s coaching tree is empty, ravaged by the success of the franchise over the past decade. And since Belichick is apparently reluctant to give up certain layers of control to his coaching staff, the situation will only get worse over the next few years.
How can Belichick stop the decaying process in his franchise? Says here he has to get lucky in the 2010 draft. Because luck is what it ultimately comes down to when you’re choosing college players. He might also try laughing at himself once in awhile.
***
Here it is, early February and Johnny Damon still hasn’t signed a contract to play baseball in 2010. Don’t be surprised if the 2009 World Series hero looks at the lack of interest in his services and decides to retire. The man has some pride. He is 36 years old and has played on World Series winners in baseball’s two largest markets. He has a young family to raise. Why not just walk away?
You could ask the same thing of Woonsocket native Rocco Baldelli, who made enough money off his last Tampa Bay contract to live comfortably the rest of his life. Rocco has a lot of pride. Why should he go begging for a minor league contract? Why not just walk away?