Big win for McIntosh; Ionata, Cooper take NE weight

 

R.I. athletes were busy (and prosperous) at the beginning of the week.

On Monday night at the Armory in New York City, Hope High sophomore Quashira McIntosh set a state record by winning the 200-meter dash at the Eastern States Championship with fast time of 24.60 seconds. The Blue Wave speedster broke the old mark of 24.82, set last year by former teammate and multiple record-holder Royal Cheatham at the New Balance Indoor Nationals.

McIntosh, who will compete in the 55, 300 and 4x200 relay at Saturday’s New England meet, was comfortably ahead of junior Olivia Baker of Columbia High in New Jersey, who was second at 25.05. The Hope standout’s time ranks No. 5 nationally.

Also at the Eastern States, Bay View Academy senior Erica Johnson came just .06 from snaring the individual title in the 800. Johnson finished second behind eighth-grade phenom Kameron McIntosh of Suffern High in New York with a time of 2:11.86. That time was just a shade off Johnson’s second-place effort of 2:11.57 at the Yale Track Classic.

The Providence Career and Technical Academy field house was the venue on Tuesday night for the New England Weight Throw Championship. The meet is held separately from this weekend’s New England meet because not all regional states compete in the event.

Recent state champion, Barrington senior Charlie Ionata, captured the 25-pound weight with a distance of 75 feet, 8.5 inches. Ionata, who ranks No. 2 in his specialty, was more than six feet ahead of sophomore teammate and second-place finisher Adam Kelly at 69-4.5. Clarence Gallop, a senior from Central, was third at 67-10.5.

Ionata also came a few inches shy of the meet record in the 35-pound weight, an apparatus thrown at the collegiate level. His distance was 55-6.5. Former Classical star and 2012 grad Joe Velez holds the meet record of 55-9.5.

In the girls’ 20-pound weight, state champion Martha Cooper, a senior, proved victorious with a heave of 54-1.5. Narragansett junior Leia Mistowski was the runner-up with a distance of 50-3.