By STEVE MAZZONE

Sports writer

CUMBERLAND – This one wasn’t supposed to be close. This one wasn’t supposed to come down-to-the-wire.
For the Cumberland High girls’ track team, the day it had circled on the calendar as the most important was this afternoon when the Clippers take on Smithfield in a meet that could very well determine the league champion.
But on a cold, damp and miserable Wednesday at Tucker Field, Lincoln High made its neighbors to the north sweat it out.
With a victory in the final event of the meet, the 4x400-meter relay, Cumberland avoided a potential (and very surprising) upset by the Lions to earn a 69-59 decision. The Clippers and Lions easily swept by Johnston and Burrillville in the Northern Division quad meet.
In the boys’ competition, held simultaneously, Cumberland easily defeated Lincoln, 90-46.
The highlight of the afternoon certainly was the battle between the Lincoln and Cumberland girls. With the meet postponed from Tuesday due to the inclimate weather, CHS coach Chris Fernandes had to do a little juggling with his line-up to assure that he would have some fresh legs for today’s Smithfield meet.
That’s partly what created the nail-biting finish for the Clippers. 
“I figured the meet was going to be close just because of the way I had to shuffle to split the athletes up,” Fernandes said. “Popping in and out (of the press box) and seeing the scores I kind of saw that we were split back and forth. Until the very end, I knew it was going to be close and would come down to the (4x400).
It was tricky to kind of motivate the girls (in the relay) without putting too much pressure on them and saying it’s all or nothing here.”
With the Clippers ahead by a score of 64-59, the 4x400 quartet of Sophie Klippstein, Heather Lefaivre, Brooke Duhamel and Krista McCann took the guesswork out of the outcome with a convincing four-second victory, combining for a time of 4 minutes, 53.8 seconds.
“I just said, ‘It’s cold. It’s rainy. Just give me what you have left,’” Fernandes said. “And they did. They ran excellent. They ran a great race.”
Lincoln scored a considerable amount of points in the field events and out-scored the Clippers, 12-6, in the final two (discus and shot) to make the last event an important one for their rival.
The Lions’ Alyssa Musket, a first-time track & field athlete for the Lions, scored six of those points, capturing the discus with a toss of 63 feet, 2 inches and finishing third in the shot put with a distance of 23-5 ½.
“We have a lot of weight throwers this year,” said LHS coach Sue Carlson. “I’ve had a ton of them, and they have been coming on strong, especially Alyssa Musket.”
Cumberland’s depth played a big part in the outcome of the meet. The Clippers had overall victories in just six of the 16 events. The long and the triple jumps were not contested due to the excess water in the sand pits.
Junior Emily Trudeau was a triple-winner for the Clippers, taking the hammer (93-6), the javelin (80-11 ½) and the shot put (32-6 ½).
“The hammer and the shot she did very well in and she’ll make it to the (state championship) the way that she has been practicing, the way that she has been looking this year,” Fernandes said. “Thankfully, she stayed with us. She was supposed to go to lacrosse this year, but she ended up sticking with track, and she’s only a junior.”
The Clippers also snared triumphs from junior Becca D’Andrea in the 100 dash (15.3), Lefaivre in the pole vault (6-0) and the 4x100 squad of Lefaivre, senior Alyssa Gauvin, freshman Taylor Lopes and senior Taylor Smith, who combined for a time of 54.9.
Lincoln (3-2) had multiple victories from sophomore Arianna Lefebvre and Emily Payne. Lefebvre captured the high jump with a leap of 4-8 and held off the Clippers’ McCann down the last stretch to cop the 300 hurdles with a time of 53.5. Payne earned gold in the 800 (2:46.1) and the 3,000 (12:42.6).
Naomi Takita had the lone victory for Burrillville, breaking the tape in the 1,500 with a 5:49.5 clocking.
As for the Clippers, they’ll be trying to keep their perfect record intact when they travel to Smithfield this afternoon.
 “That’s our division meet right there,” Fernandes said. “(Smithfield head coach) John (Marchand’s) a great coach. They got a lot of depth this year in a lot of events. It should be a matter of putting our three best in every event. We will really load up on the sprinting and jumping events. That will be our strong point, which wee are doing every well in this year. It should be a very close meet (today).”
In its league-opener, Cumberland captured 12 events as it coasted by the Lions. Senior sprinter Brandon Aikens and senior weightman Dave Linback were each multiple winners for the Clippers.
The meet was the second on the Clippers’ league slate to be the result of a postponement – it was supposed to take place on Tuesday. Cumberland returns to the oval this afternoon when it faces a tough Ponaganset squad at The Reservation.
The way the remaining schedule works out, Cumberland has to bunch all of its league meets in a 13-day span that ends on May 4 in a meet against Cranston West and Mount St. Charles. With that predicament and his upcoming match-up with the Chieftains, the Clippers did compete to its fullest potential to conserve some extra energy.
But it still had some impressive performances.
Aikens captured both the 100 and 200. Despite the elements, the senior speedster managed a strong 11.2 clocking in the 100. He followed that effort by coasting to the 200 with a time of 23.9. Aikens was also the anchor leg for the Clippers’ triumphant 4x100 relay squad that was timed in 46.3.
“I didn’t think to tell him to coast in the 100 and he coasted in the 200 and still ran 23.9,” Kenwood said. “He’s run a 22.3 leg in the relays.”
Linback captured the discus with a toss of 112-2 and the hammer with a 160-7 effort.
Justin Gaudette (300IH, 45.2), Andrew Baglini (400, 56.0), Tyler Duhamel (pole vault, 10-6), Cole Bentley (javelin, 127-8 ½) and Nick Nunes (110HH, 16.7) also won for the Blue and White.
The Lions’ Sam Carlson also copped two events. He broke away from the Clippers’ John Morgan the final straightaway to take the1,500 in a time of 4:35.6 and was an easy victor in the 800 with a 2:09.5 clocking.

***
Boys
Cumberland 90, Lincoln 56
Individual/Relay winners
4x100 – C (Brandon Aikens, Mo Allam, Justin Gaudette, Brian Ferreri) 46.3
110HH – 1. Nick Nunes, C, 16.7.
100 – Aikens, C, 11.2.
1,500 – Sam Carlson, L, 4:35.6.
3,000 – Nate Fillion, L, 10:17.6.
Hammer – Dave Linback, C, 160-7.
Javelin – Cole Bentley, C, 127-8 ½.
400 – Andrew Baglini, C, 56.0.
300IH – Justin Gaudette, C, 45.2.
800 – Carlson, C, 2:09.8.
Discus – Linback, C, 112-2.
HJ – Dylan Faucher, C, 5-6.
Shot – Scott Leech, L, 40-8 ½.
200 – Aikens, C, 23.9.
PV – Tyler Duhamel, C, 10-6.
4x400 – L (Sam Carlson, Nate Fillion, Nick Engle, Jeff Conklin) 3:57.2

Girls
Cumberland 69, Lincoln 59
Cumberland 116, Johnston 0
Cumberland 106, Burrillville 15
Lincoln 108, Johnston 0
Lincoln 107, Burrillville 12
Burrillville 23, Johnston 0
Individual/Relay winners
4x100 – C (Alyssa Gauvin, Heather Lefaivre, Taylor Lopes, Taylor Smith) 54.9.
100HH – 1. April Daugherty, L, 17.2.
100 – Becca D’Andrea, C, 15.3.
Hammer – Emily Trudeau, C, 93-6.
200 – Kayla Bourbonniere, L, 30-9.
Discus – Alyssa Musket, L, 63-2.
Javelin – Trudeau, C, 80-11 ½.
HJ – Lefebvre, L, 4-8.
1,500 – Naomi Takita, B, 5:49.5.
400 – Emma Clavet, L, 1:15.2.
300IH – Lefebvre, L, 53.5.
800 – Emily Payne, L, 2:46.1.
Shot – Trudeau, C, 32-6 ½.
3,000 – Payne, L, 12:42.6.
PV – Lefaivre, C, 6-0.
4x400 – C (Sophie Klippstein, Heather Lefaivre, Brooke Duhamel, Krista McCann) 4:53.8.