Portsmouth’s Morgan Casey is state’s high jump champion

Aidan Chen takes second in the event for the boys

Posted 6/5/23

PORTSMOUTH — Portsmouth High senior Morgan Casey continued her dominance in the high jump by winning the event at Saturday’s Track and Field State Championships with a best effort of …

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Portsmouth’s Morgan Casey is state’s high jump champion

Aidan Chen takes second in the event for the boys

Posted

PORTSMOUTH — Portsmouth High senior Morgan Casey continued her dominance in the high jump by winning the event at Saturday’s Track and Field State Championships with a best effort of 5 feet, 2 inches.

She was the only first-place winner among the Patriots at the meet, which was held at Conley Stadium in Providence.

Boys’ results

The PHS boys came in 14th place as a team, collecting 23 points. Bishop Hendricken was the overall winner.

Aidan Chen, a sophomore, tied for second in the high jump with a best effort of 6 feet, 2 inches. “He cleared every height clean from 5-6 and had a really good look at 6-4,” said Shaun Horgan, the boys’ head coach. “What a season for this guy. On to New Englands and then Nationals.”

Chen was also part of the 4x400-meter relay team, along with Nate Deconto, Landon Rodrigues, and Nikolai Loyola, which came in second in a time of 3:31.16 — less than a 10th of a second behind Bishop Hendricken. “It was a battle from start to finish — very proud of these boys,” Horgan said.

Tristan Thomas placed fourth in the pole vault with best effort of 11 feet, 6 inches. “What a comeback from a month ago at Classical Classic with a no-height, and then yesterday he was a contender to win the whole thing. Big things ahead from this guy,” said Horgan.

Landon Rodrigues placed sixth in a loaded field of 110-meter hurdlers with a time of 15.81 seconds. “He’ll have one last shot to improve upon his school record next week at the New England championships,” the coach said.

Sean Gray placed 10th in the 3,000 meters with a personal best of 9:08.12. “The conditions were just about as bad as it gets, but he pushed through — a gritty and gutsy race,” Horgan said.

Other notable performances: 

• The 4x100-meter relay team of Nate Deconto, Jack Voute, Jackson Fox, and Nikolai Loyola took 10th place with a time of 45.55 seconds.

• The 4x800-meter relay team of Kevin Sullivan, Wake Zani, Chris Vachon, and Sean Gray came in 11th place with a time of 8:53.48.

• Sean Wilkey came in 12th in the 300-meter hurdles (44.04 seconds).

• Nikolai Loyola took 13th place in the high jump (5 feet, 8 inches).

• Landon Rodrigues came in 16th in the long jump (18 feet, 11.75 inches).

• Wake Zani took 17th in the 400 meters (55.62 seconds).

Girls’ results

The PHS girls came in 16th place as a team 20 points, while West Warwick took top honors.

Besides Morgan Casey’s win in the high jump, here’s how some of the other girls did:

• Emily DeConto, a freshman, took fourth place in the 300-meter hurdles, clocking a time of 49.3 seconds.

• Allie Kaull, a sophomore, came in sixth in the 3,000-meter run in a time of 10:41.71.

• Two relay teams each took eighth place: The 4x100-meter team in a time of 52.33 seconds, and the 4x800-meter squad in a time of 10:29.97.

• Sophomore Rowan Snyder managed 7 feet, 6 inches in the pole vault, good enough for a 10th-place tie.

• Eleni Drosinos, a freshman, ran the 3,000 meters in 11:16.48, good enough for 13th place.

• Junior Claire Hook leaped 14 feet, 10.5 inches in the long jump for a 14th-place finish.

Full results can be viewed here.

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Jim McGaw

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.