KINGSTON -- Brittany Lawson wasn’t supposed to win the 20-pound weight throw in Sunday’s R.I. Interscholastic League Indoor Track and Field Championships. Ranked No. 3 in the event, that wasn’t necessarily the plan for the Woonsocket High senior.
Lawson’s goal was to capture the shot put where she had the best toss in the state by more than a foot.
But even though things didn’t quite turn out like she anticipated in her specialty, the determined Villa Novan made sure the long ride to the University of Rhode Island’s Mackal Field House was worth the trip.
Getting added motivation after falling just two inches from the crown in the shot, Lawson bounced back and earned individual gold in the weight throw with a career-best toss of 46 feet, 7 inches. She beat second-place finisher Kathyrn Stower of La Salle (44-9) by nearly two feet.
“It feels good,” Lawson said. “When I lost by two inches (in the shot) it kind of got me motivated.”
What deterred Lawson from a possible double-victory afternoon was another local athlete as Central Falls’ sophomore Aliede Fernandes unleashed a personal best of 36-6 ¾ inches to take the shot put crown. Lawson was the runner-up at 36-4 ¾.
Joining Fernandes and Lawson at the victory stand among area girls was East Providence’s Erin Carmone with a surprising win in the 3,000-meter run. The EP senior finished in a personal best time of 10:31.30.
As for Lawson, she went into Sunday’s meet with not a whole lot of confidence in the weight throw. Just over a week earlier, she didn’t even make it to the finals after fouling on all three of her attempts in the preliminaries of the Class A Championship.
“When I didn’t make it to the finals it kind of hurt my feelings,” she said. “I felt when I came to this meet, I wasn’t going to do well.”
“The whole week of practice was tense - to say the least,” said WHS weight coach Marc Piette. “It was not good. She started doubting herself a little bit.”
Lawson achieved her medal on her first attempt inside the circle. After she fell short in the shot, Piettte gave her some simple advice.
“I just told her to go out there and be aggressive,” he said. “I told her, ‘Do what you know you can do.’ On her first one, she let it rip. She kept it going the whole time. She had a foul that went at least 50 feet.”
Carmone, a fifth-place finisher this past fall in the cross-country state meet, her first time competing on the trails, was ranked third before toeing the starting line in the 3,000.  She ran a consistent pace and maintained a spot among the leaders the entire 15 laps of the 200-meter oval.
“I just thought top three,” Carmone said. “I didn’t think I could win it.”
Carmone, who also finished sixth in the 1,000 (3:09.95), felt she benefited from a conservative pace by the field. She went through the first mile in 5:31.
“I went out well, but towards the middle I realized the pace was kind of slow,” she said. “I just stayed with the lead people.”
“I thought she would have to run faster than 10:30 to win the race,” EP coach Bob Duarte admitted. “As the race developed, it was slow, which was good for her. She ran a good race. It’s a PR and a school record.”
With about a quarter-mile remaining, Carmone and La Salle’s Emily Papazian broke from the pack. The gifted Townie took the lead out-right with about 100 meters left in the race. Papazian was second in 10:32.78.Two-time defending titlist Jean Christiansen, the top seed, finished fourth at 10:43.98.
“It didn’t surprise me that she won, but who she had to beat at the end,” Duarte said. “I thought if she was going to have to beat anybody it would have been Christiansen.”
In terms of the team championship, La Salle won its third straight crown, defeating second-place finisher Hope, 59-53. Smithfield was the top local squad, placing seventh among 21 schools with 22 points.
The Sentinels finished just four points behind sixth-place Moses Brown, which was led by  a double-winning effort from Jenna Poggi. The Quaker senior copped the 55 dash and 55 high hurdles and was also third in the 300.
“We were hoping for top five, but we knew it was going to be difficult,” said SHS head coach John Marchand. “The girl from Moses Brown had a tremendous day, but our girls did do great.”
Smithfield  collected 10 points in the shot put with Amanda Clark taking third (36-1) and Georgia Elgar placing fourth (35-3 ½). Clark and Elgar each attained PBs in the event. In the 4x200, the Sentinels placed third overall as the quartet of  Katie Palumbo, Michelle Krol, Rachel Valerio and Kim Ezeama combined for a school-record clocking of 1:48.68.
Lincoln High collected just eight points for 15th overall in the meet, but it was a good eight points. Ariana Lefebvre placed second in the high jump with a height of five-feet even. She lost in a jump-off with South Kingstown’s Shannon Meehan, who won at 5-1. Lefebvre, the talented Lion sophomore, was third in the state in the event in both the indoor and outdoor state meets last year.