The Mt. Hope High School cross country teams made their first of what was hopefully two treks to Burrillville's Covered Bridge Trail Saturday, Oct. 31, to compete in the 2026 Class B Championships. The trail is also the site of this weekend's state meet, Saturday, Nov. 7.

To go back, the Huskies needed to place high enough at class to be among those squads who hadn't already qualified for states via their regular season performances. And Mt. Hope's eighth-place finish on the girls' side did indeed punch their return ticket to Burrillville.

The Huskies wound up with a score of 170 points in the girls' class meet on a sunny, mild mid-fall morning, which was won by Barrington with 31. The Eagles placed their five scoring runners in the top 11 finishers.

South Kingstown's superb freshman Emma Morrissey was the individual winner over the 5,000-kilometer course with a time of 18 minutes, 24.22 seconds. Barrington's Carly Gill was several strides behind in second with an 18:31.75. Her Eagle teammate Evelyn Lefort was third in 18:57.08.

Sophomore Jourdan Cicchinelli led the locals, finishing 23rd overall in 21:45.26. Mt. Hope's own frosh Raegan McGinn was next in for the Huskies, running 27th in 22:02.77.

Senior Kara Pisasale was the third of the five scorers for the Huskies, running 38th in 23:01.77 followed immediately in 39th by freshman teammate Abigail St. Pierre with a 23:08.97. Senior Evelyn Towers was fifth for MHHS in 43rd with a 23:28.32.

"Overall, it was a great day. We had beautiful weather, and the course was in excellent shape," MHHS co-head coach Neale Ross said. "The girls did an outstanding job, earning another trip to the state championship. (Co-head) coach (Margaret) McCaffrey and I couldn’t be prouder of them.

The Huskies also finished in eighth place in the boys' section of the meet, though it unfortunately wasn't enough for the locals to break into states.

Mt. Hope ended up with a score of 211 point led by the 35th overall finish of junior Jacob Lopes with a time of 18:05.78. Lopes was able to earn a spot in the boys' state meet field as an individual.

"We're incredibly proud of Jacob and all the hard work he’s put in this season. He’s come a long way, and it’s been wonderful to see his progress," Ross said of Lopes.

Junior Alexander Deal led the rest of the scorers for the locals with his 40th-place run in 18:24.39. Freshman Noah Rozea ran 43rd in 18:27.2. Sophomore Chase Aiksnoras was 48th in 18:44.5 and junior Adam Cobb was 50th in 19:05.28.

Barrington made it a sweep of class team titles, winning the boys' trophy with 25 points led by the first-place run of senior Brooks Mello in 15:52.6. Eagle runners actually placed 1-2-3 then 9-10 to capture the title.

"The boys ran exceptionally well, with many turning in their best performances of the season and setting personal records on this course," Ross added. "Unfortunately, the competition was particularly tough this year. The good news is that everyone returns next season, and we have plenty to build on. We’ll continue working hard, improving and preparing for another successful season."

The 2026 Rhode Island State Cross Country Championship Meets on November 7 begin at 11:30 a.m.