East Providence High School cross country teams rebuild on the fly

Townies' numbers increase as season moves along

By Mike Rego
Posted 9/23/16

EAST PROVIDENCE — The East Providence High School cross country teams reached the midpoints of their respective Eastern Division dual meet regular season schedules last week, the boys with a …

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East Providence High School cross country teams rebuild on the fly

Townies' numbers increase as season moves along

Posted

EAST PROVIDENCE — The East Providence High School cross country teams reached the midpoints of their respective Eastern Division dual meet regular season schedules last week, the boys with a 2-3 record and the girls with a 2-4 mark.

The boys' roster includes seniors Colby Amaral, Jarin Bento and Eliot Charron; juniors Alex Botelho, Matthew Maini, John Pezza, Tyler Germano, John Lameiro and Robert Watson; sophomores Evan Berger and Constantino Capobianco; and freshmen Prince Peixoto and Troy DeAndrade.

"The numbers are growing a little bit. It's more than I thought we would have. We only had three kids the first day of practice, so I was worried there for a while. We had seven or eight at the start the season and now we have 12 or 13. It looks like it's going pretty good," said first-year boys' head coach Bob Lyons, a former football assistant coach for the Townies who has for over a decade been the head coach of the EPHS boys' indoor and outdoor track teams.

Amaral and Charron have the Townies' top runners to date, averaging in the 20 minute range over the 3.1-mile cross country layouts. Peixoto, a fine runner at the middle school level, broke his arm in the off-season and has only recently been cleared to return to the team, according to Coach Lyons.

"They've been a good group of kids. They're doing what they're supposed to," the coach added. "We're pretty much about where I expected us to be. I would have liked to have been 3-2 instead of 2-3. Realistically, I would like to at least finish .500. Of course you want to win, but the kids are showing up every day, they're working hard, they're having fun. We'll see what happens the rest of the way."

The EPHS girls are also under the direction of a new coach, district teacher Pati Piros. The Townies' roster includes seniors Jenna Anthony and Precious Ivy; juniors Hasna Badjim Lily Cayce and Kendra Piros; sophomores Sarah Downes, Jenna Macnie, Gabrielle Patrone and Ellen Phillips; and freshmen Michaela Discullio, Danielle Durfee, Madison Durfee, Meagan Heatherton and Christy Long.

"The team is growing. We started out with only four girls, but now we're up to around 12," said Coach Piros, an instructor at the E.P. Career and Tech Center. "They're a young team. They're working hard. I like the teamwork, the camaraderie they showing with each other. They've really bonded together well so far. And they're showing great sportsmanship, which is what it's all about."

Long is one of those youngsters who has been an early surprise for East Providence. She finished sixth overall in 22 minutes in the Townies' meet last week against Bay View, St. Patrick's and host Mt. Hope at Colt State Park while taking two minutes off her previous best time. Piros also ran 30 seconds better than her previous best in the meet.

"Jenna has been phenomenal. I only expect her to get better and better the rest of the season," Coach Piros said. "They're all putting in the time. They're running as many as seven miles a day, the lowest being four. We're also getting them into the gym, doing some cross training and core training. We've been on the track doing speed training. We're giving them a variety of training, and that's why I think the times are improving."

— Photos by Rich Dionne

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A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.